Niagara Health and EllisDon are reporting steady progress on their $3.6-billion, 1.3-million-square-foot South Niagara Hospital project currently rising in Niagara Falls, Ont., with the two-year mark surpassed this summer and project principals declaring the job to be on time and on budget.
EllisDon Infrastructure Healthcare was awarded the 12-storey megaproject in February 2023, groundbreaking on the 50-acre Biggar Road site was five months later and completion is targeted for the summer of 2028. The fixed-price contract encompasses design, build, finance and maintenance of the facility.
The team includes EllisDon Capital and Plenary Americas as leads and Parkin Architects Ltd. and Adamson Associates Architects as designers. The proponents are seeking both LEED and WELL certification.
“Managing a project of this size, we made sure we had really senior people on the team who have done hospitals before and who can bring forward their knowledge to make sure we manage the project effectively,” said EllisDon senior project manager Patricia Wheeler recently.
Wheeler said much of the focus in-house is on wellness goals – South Niagara Hospital is set to be Canada’s first WELL-certified hospital.
“We approached this project from inception to be one that uses the past lessons learned and things that worked well,” said Wheeler. “Many of our design and trade partners engaged on the product have completed hospitals with EllisDon in the last 10 years.
“For example, in the patient rooms, the layout of the room, the visibility of the patient from the corridor or the nursing workstations, the views the patient has, is something Parkin Architects has worked to refine and bring forward with them to their hospital projects.”
WELL precertification was achieved last year. The standard focuses on 10 elements: air, water, nourishment, light, movement, thermal comfort, sound, materials, mind and community.
“Everything from building materials used to how the building was designed plays a part in WELL,” explained Wheeler. “Features such as improved air and water quality, greater access to nature through gardens and terraces, encouraging walkability through the placement of feature stairs, greater access to natural daylight by incorporating larger windows and open-concept office layouts are all examples of WELL elements that were incorporated in the design.”
Life-size mockups created
The twin health and wellness goals – for design certification, and for optimum patient care – required multiple phases of digital design using BIM and other systems as well as layers of physical mockups using life-sized paper and cardboard cutouts simulating health care settings.
“Our owner partners, Niagara Health and Infrastructure Ontario, had pre-selected rooms that were often repeated in the hospital, that had unique aspects that would provide meaningful input and decision opportunities from the stakeholders, which included clinical staff, patient partners and community members,” said Wheeler.
“We designed the spaces in the model and on paper, then printed the rooms out at a one-to-one scale for the floor footprint, taped all the rolls of paper together for each room, and had the stakeholders stand in the space, lay on the bed and get a sense of scale, access to and spatial awareness of equipment and furniture.”
Subsequent design phases involved low-fidelity then high-fidelity mockups to gather further feedback, finishing with actual equipment, furniture and finishes installed, Wheeler said.
The unique process is being hailed as a new learning tool, Wheeler said, with other hospital development designers visiting the site to take notes.
Wheeler said EllisDon’s digital project delivery team worked closely with both the client and project operations team to define BIM requirements.
“They ensure those requirements are tied to the right digital solution that delivers real impact, whether through automation or streamlined workflows or stronger connection between the design and construction teams,” she said.
Construction milestones
Construction milestones reported in Niagara Health’s most recent newsletter include forming up to level 10 on the east and west side of the building, the completion of slab-on -grade for levels zero and one, installation of curtainwall windows on levels one and two and precast installation on levels three to five.
Roofing work was nearly complete up to level six and block wall installation was completed from levels one through five. Mechanical and electrical equipment has been delivered and placed up to level four.
