November 20, 2015

$22.5M health center opening in North Seattle

Photos from Lease Crutcher Lewis [enlarge]

Meridian Center for Health was built on a tight site.

Neighborcare Health next month will open its $22.5 million Meridian Center for Health at North 105th Street and Meridian Avenue North in Seattle.

Lease Crutcher Lewis built the 45,000-square-foot building less than 20 feet from the clinic that it replaces. The old clinic remained open during the 12 months of construction.

NBBJ designed the steel-and-concrete building with an enclosure made of masonry, rusting steel, metal panels and cedar siding.

A unique feature inside is “Healing Wall” created by Whidbey Island-based Live Edge Woodworks. It consists of thousands of strips of salvaged wood assembled in a background with slabs of western red cedar standing in front. Stone columns supplied by Marenakos accent the wall.

Lewis reports the site was small and confined — complicating construction, deliveries and staging.

Lewis was brought in at the schematic design phase to work with the owner and design team. Early involvement of design-build and design-assist subcontractors allowed the team to use virtual design and construction for mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems prior to development of construction documents.

The project was finished on time and under budget.

The design team was Lund Opsahl (structural engineer), KPFF (civil engineer), Glumac (mechanical and electrical engineer), Site Workshop (landscape architect) and Candela (lighting).

Specialty subcontractors were NW Wind & Solar, Tube Art Group, Columbia Fire (design-build fire protection), Emerald Aire (design-assist HVAC), Auburn Mechanical (design-assist plumbing) and Nelson Electric (design-assist electrical).

Site subcontractors were Fruhling, Modern Sewer, Appian, Specialized Landscaping and L&M Industrial Fabrication.

[enlarge]

Thousands of wood strips make up a feature wall accented by stone columns.

Building structure subcontractors were SunSteel, Coastal Steel and CalPortland.

Exterior enclosure subcontractors were Northshore Sheet Metal, Goldfinch Brothers, J&S Masonry, SQI and DeaMor.

Interior subcontractors were PCI, Grund & Co., Spectra Contract Flooring, WAH, Genothen and Forrest Sound Products.

The development manager was Spectrum Development Solutions.

The center is expected to serve at least 14,000 patients seeking medical, dental and behavioral health care. Valley Cities and Public Health—Seattle & King County will also operate in the building.

Neighborcare Health cares for more than 55,000 low-income patients in 26 clinics throughout Seattle. It recently hired Lewis to renovate its Rainier Beach clinic, starting in January.