At just 22 feet tall and 11 feet wide, the mockup of the Memorial Hospital patient tower is a tiny building with a big job.
First, the structure allows the hospital, construction and architecture teams to see the building’s key components at scale.
“The most visual reason for the mockup is to allow everyone to see what the building will look like in the end — color of brick, color of windows, glass and the slope of the top parapet along the roofline,” explained Natalie Petzoldt, AIA, EDAC, LEED AP, CLGB, Principal at CannonDesign.
The mockup also serves as a proving ground to test the function of the construction materials such as grout, caulk, drip edges and waterproofing membranes using high-pressure water hoses.
“Behind the scenes, we meet weekly with all the various subcontractors doing the work to go through all the details to make sure everything within the wall assembly is done correctly and in the correct sequence to avoid leaks,” she added. “This way, all subcontractors involved understand the end goal and how the wall is to look and perform.”
Built to last for the next 100 years
“We’ve built all of this as a way to test that assembly [of materials] so we know when our tower goes up, she’s going to be spic and span and will stay dry,” said Brian Spencer, Beacon Vice President of Facilities, Construction and Real Estate.
It’s a common practice to build and test a mockup structure for a large commercial building. And considering that the new 10-story patient tower will need to support and serve our patients, visitors and teams for decades to come, the attention to detail in this mockup is especially critical.
Patient tower construction components
Visible exterior materials include: brick, cast stone sills, aluminum windows, aluminum louvers, aluminum glass curtain walls and sealants.
Materials included within the structure of the walls include: metal stud framing, exterior sheathing, air/vapor barrier, mineral wool wall insulation and steel angle brick supports.