JB&B transforms SUNY old Westbury gym and athletic field into alternate care facility : By Christopher Pell : Photo credit AECOM
Jaros, Baum and Bolles (JB&B) recently completed an ambitious project to transform the gym and athletic field at SUNY Old Westbury from a college athletic facility into a 1,000+ bed alternate care facility (ACF). This project, tasked by FEMA to the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), was conceptualized with the goal of providing relief to hospitals in the area whose resources had been particularly stressed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To achieve this, AECOM–the multinational engineering firm awarded the design-build contract–partnered with JB&B for MEP design, commissioning, and field services.
JB&B and USACE were faced with unique challenges with these renovations, including the project’s particularly tight timeframe of 28 days. With just under a month to design, construct, test, and ultimately turn over the project, JB&B’s team worked around the clock to implement the most expedient strategies possible without sacrificing the quality afforded to more lenient schedules. This involved identifying equipment that could be sourced, built, and delivered as quickly as possible, with the design team working in tandem with the construction team 24/7 alongside TAB technicians and project managers.
“This mission was different from a standard construction project, and had to be treated that way, said Ryan Lean, Associate Partner, JB&B. “While most projects grant weeks or sometimes months to build relationships with the team and meticulously source materials, our team hit the ground running at full speed and did not stop until the job was done. This was an indescribably important project due to the impact it has on public health and safety, and JB&B could not be prouder to have done its part to combat this global pandemic.”
The project, 195,000 square feet in total, included a scope of work requiring the installation of numerous systems and assemblies befitting an ACF. These include pressure relief fans, diesel engine-operators, automatic transfer switches, a nurse call and fire alarm system, air-packaged air handling units with electric reheat and UV disinfection, and more. In lieu of a traditional commissioning-based design review, the commissioning team provided real-time coordination between the design and construction teams on site, helping to develop the design into one that marries functionality and feasibility. The super agility demonstrated by JB&B in these regards cannot be overstated; the resulting fully functional 1,000+ bed ACF was ultimately completed and turned over on time and remains in active standby mode today, able to be activated to fully operational status within 14 days if necessary.
In contrast to the majority of projects undertaken today, the transformation of SUNY Old Westbury served a higher purpose than benefitting a single market sector; instead, the market served was simply the greater good. By prioritizing the public well-being, JB&B demonstrated its commitment to the betterment of the community, its team’s expertise and adaptability, and the firm’s capacity for efficient and expeditious work. JB&B’s team worked tirelessly 24/7 in service of a noble purpose of particular timeliness and importance, and the result is a state-of-the-art standby facility that has the potential to save countless lives. Such an undertaking could only have been accomplished by a mechanical and electrical consulting engineering firm with a sterling reputation for quality design, innovation, and project-specific engineering solutions, and JB&B has once again proven its mastery of the practice and broad range of services.
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