Pediatric Interim Care Center
Architect: Omicron
Owner: Pediatric Interim Care Center
ABC members: Northshore Paving, Heiberg Inc.
Donovan Brothers built an 11,800-square-foot facility for Pediatric Interim Care Center, which provides short-term medical care between hospital and home for infants suffering from prenatal drug addiction.
The building, which resembles a mansion for babies, combines the solidity of a secure residential medical facility with the softness of a nursery. It has a residential-looking brick façade with hip-framed roof lines and faux window shades. The building’s vaulted entry centers around a grand staircase and the walls have raised panel veneer. The lobbies on both floors have gas fireplaces, and the first floor has paneling and bookshelves similar to a mansion’s library.
The care center contains a security system with cameras, motion detectors, automatic door locks, entry sensors on the upstairs windows and impact-resistant film on the exterior windows.
The project was subject to several unusually restrictive requirements, and frequent field inspections, because it did not fall into a specific category and was constructed within two blocks of Kent City Hall. The city also specified a massive stormwater retention system, requiring Donovan Brothers to install a 50,000-gallon concrete detention vault because there was no space for a pond.
The project’s Polish-made tilt-turn windows were significantly delayed due to Hurricane Katrina wiping out ports of entry. By the time they arrived, rainy weather caused further delays on the project. Working with the brick mason, the Donovan team devised a plan to sheath and paper through the window openings and cut them in later to reduce schedule impact.
Additional challenges included the architect closing its U.S. office shortly after the project began, and the client releasing its construction manager to save money. Donovan Brothers self-performed a significant portion of the work — including all structural concrete and interior/roof framing — due to an extremely busy subcontracting market.