The Mott Children’s Center at Good Samaritan Hospital is shaped like an ark and includes portholes in its nautical theme.

Absher Construction work-ed with the ZGF Partnership and Good Samaritan Hospital through preconstruction and construction phases of this new physical therapy unit devoted specifically to meeting the needs of infants, children and teens in Pierce County and beyond.

The $8.9 million project replaced an inadequate and outdated children’s therapy section at the main hospital.

The building uses many glu-lam beams in its construction. Photos by Sean Lewis/Absher Construction

The 43,500-square-foot building is primarily wood-frame construction with CMU and concrete. Finishes include exposed glu-lam vertical support beams, glass, brick veneer, cedar siding and composition roofing.

The center features a complete range of facilities and services, including a therapy pool, computer lab, a large treatment room as well as smaller private treatment rooms, an aerobics room, a gross-motor skills center, multiple-use classrooms, exam rooms, a clinical research area, a specialty skills room, a sensory-skills center and more.

One of the center’s most notable features is the prosthetics lab facility, which allows for complete building/rebuilding, repair and cosmetic enhancement of prosthetic devices of virtually all kinds. The area includes a fabrication workshop, a sewing center, molding and grinding facilities, and a woodworking and material-forming area.

The center also provides auxiliary services such as a daycare center, kitchen facilities, administrative offices, an outside play garden and a quiet Zen garden area.

Pool therapy is turned into a playful underwater adventure for kids.

Absher faced several challenges in building the center, including its complex design — which required straight-line, canted, cylindrical and radiused-wall elements. Throughout the building, straight planes intersect radiused and canted surfaces, making almost every joint and intersection unique.

Separate mechanical and electrical systems were needed for the building’s fabrication lab, its therapy area and its daycare. After the mechanical, electrical and fire systems were designed, about 50 locations throughout the facility were earmarked for structural elements to secure fasteners and connectors of heavy physical-therapy equipment.

A new type of HVAC duct work made of heavy canvas-type material was used on the facility. Not only does the duct work eliminate the creaking associated with metal duct systems, it softens the aesthetics of the treatment room, blending in with the room’s soft textures and carpets. The duct work is also removable, every two to three years, for cleaning — providing a quick and cost-effective method of maintaining optimum health standards for the center.

Absher had only one recordable injury on the job, a cut finger, and no time-loss injuries or citations.