Best of 2005 Awards

Coney Island Hospital

Award of Merit: Health Care and Hospitals

Coney Island Hospital has come a long way from its 19th Century beginnings as a first-aid station for the popular Brooklyn beach.

The public hospital moved to its current location, a few blocks inland, in 1909. With the current facility nearing its 100th birthday, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. launched a $91 million modernization drive in 2002 to rehabilitate the existing structure and build a new seven-story bed tower.

The judges lauded the successful completion of the project in June, despite bureaucratic hurdles such as state contracting rules that require multiple prime contractors as well as the hospital corporation's demanding specifications.

"The coordination was stellar," one juror said. "HHC is not necessarily the easiest client. You have the central office, the network people, and the facilities people, and they get intimately involved."

Thanks to a decision to proceed on a fast track, the corporation issued contracts in three phases, each with four separate prime contractors, as required by law. The strategy allowed work to start earlier than it otherwise would have and to progress rapidly.

Despite staging advantages, the fast-track strategy also invited hassles. At certain points during construction, three electrical contractors, three plumbing contractors, and three mechanical contractors were on the jobsite at once.

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The judges felt the project team handled those complications with aplomb.

"There were three different GCs and 12 prime contractors including the subs," one judge said. "With all of those contractors working together, there were some major coordination issues."

Beyond organizing work with fellow contractors, the project team - led by Skanska USA Building of Parsippany, N.J., as construction manager - also had to

coordinate staging and construction with the needs of the hospital and its surrounding residential neighborhood. The facility remained operational throughout the project, and crews had only a parking area for staging.

"It's a tough site," one judge said. "To keep the hospital functioning, you're just working in this teeny, tiny parking lot."

The end result includes the 128,000-sq.-ft. bed tower, which has 212 private and semiprivate inpatient rooms as well as medical care space. The new structure also has connections to the adjacent building on each floor.

The tower has a structural steel frame with metal decks and a concrete elevator core. It is built on auger cast piles and structural slab on grade. Masonry-insulated metal panels and a glass curtain wall comprise a stylish, modern façade.

The project also involved the renovation of the existing cardiac catheterization lab and ambulatory care suite. As with construction of the new tower, the work took place amid the hospital's daily business.

Beyond the construction successes, the judging panel also lauded the social importance of the effort.

"Coney Island is not one of the premier hospitals, so it doesn't get the attention within the system that Bellevue gets," one judge said. "But for down there, it's the only health care resource for quite a distance. It's an important project."

Key Players

Owner: N.Y.C. Health and Hospitals Corp.

Developer: Dormitory Authority of the State of New York

Architect: Hillier Architecture

Construction Manager: Skanska USA Building

Structural Engineer: Ysrael A. Seinuk

Mechanical-Electrical Engineer: BR&A Consulting Engineers

Geotechnical Engineer: Langan Engineering & Environmental Services

General Contractor-Tower: MA Angeliades

Plumbing-Tower: W.D.F. Greene

Electrical-Tower: Positive Electrical

General Contractor-Tower M-E-P: Rashel Construction

Plumbing-Tower M-E-P: Lafata Corallo Plumbing & Heating

Mechanical-Tower M-E-P: R. Maric Piping

Electrical-Tower M-E-P: Tru-Val Electric

General Contractor-Tower Fit-Out: Stonewall Construction

Plumbing-Tower Fit-Out: JM Botto

Electrical-Tower Fit-Out: Unisys Electric

Mechanical-Tower Fit-Out: RJR Mechanical