CAM Magazine
May 2009
By David R. Miller, Associate Editor
Photos by Beth Singer Photography, Courtesy of SmithGroup
Comedian Steve Martin played to the fears of many with his over-the top portrayal of a sadistic dentist in Little Shop of Horrors. Fortunatly, a real-life version of Martin’s character has never been documented, but memories of proceudres that were a little too intense can still keep otherwise reasonable adults from seeking out proper dental care. When they do succumb to common sense, or perhaps simply a nagging toothache, most are amazed at the great technological leaps that have transformed the practice of dentistry in recent years. Gentle dentistry can produce winning smiles without creating frowns during treatment.
Of course, years of training are required to create these results and the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM) School of Dentistry has a proud history of providing this instruction. Architect and engineer SmithGroup, Detroit, and construction manager White Construction Co., Inc., Detroit, recently renovated an existing facility to house this program. Much like dentists, members of the project team employed all their skills and expertist to make this process as painless as possible for UDM.
MAKING SMILES
The first step in performing a renovation that would bring smiles to the faces of UDM students and faculty was finding a suitable building. Detroit’s former Kindred Hospital was a good candidate for a variety of reasons.
“The building’s strengths included a plethora of patient rooms that could be used as offices,” explained Bob Varga, AIA, LEED AP, design principal for SmithGroup. “In certain areas, we could reuse entire floors with minor modifications, and that was very attractive for UDM. They could provide nice offices for their faculty at a minimal cost. It took some thinking to realize the opportunities, but when you are creative, and a little tight on money, you start to see things that you wouldn’t see otherwise.”
Although the hospital was no longer in use, maintenance and security personnel kept the facility intact and the equipment in good working order. The four-story structure was converted into office and clinic space, while an adjacent four-story modular office building was adapted into classrooms and laboratories. A location near downtown also facilitated UDM’s desire to provide needed dental services for the surrounding community. The team committed to an aggressive schedule at the onset of the project, but the vital nature of the facility and a solid reputation with the city combined to help ensure that inspections and permits were handled in a timely fashion.
“I try not to cry wolf and say that we need every inspection right now, but we have a 20¬year relationship with the City and we know who to talk to when we need to get things done,” said Bernard White, president of White Construction. “They followed the rules and inspected everything in accordance with the code requirements, but we did very well with getting approvals, even up to and during the holidays. I think they would do that for almost anyone,you just need to know who to talk to.”
The layout of the modular building and the upper floors of the hospital lent themselves well to the renovation, but the lower floors were more problematic. The structure of the second floor, for example, was not sufficient to carry the weight of the books that would be placed in the new library. Adding beams underneath the existing beams would have taken up valuable ceiling space needed for new mechanical and electrical systems on the first floor, so the project team wrapped the existing concrete “Ts” with a Kevlar material that added tensile reinforcement to meet the loading requirements. The project team also had to contend with the existing configuration of the first floor, which bore little resemblance to the clinics planned for the space.
“The first level was a big downside,” said Varga. “It was the hospital’s diagnostic and treatment block, so it was a maze of corridors with smaller treatment and testing spaces.”
This floor was converted into two large clinics, one for third year students and one for fourth year student. Each of these main clinics was assigned a bold primary color, blue or red, while smaller specialty clinics inside were finished with complementary colors to assist with wayfinding. Even though many interior walls were removed to facilitate the new layout, there were few structural issues because of the institutional, multi-level design. Obstructions from columns were somewhat problematic, but the project team minimized their profile while celebrating the history of the building by removing the gypsum board surrounding them. Solutions to some other problems were not quite so simple.
LIKE PULLING TEETH
Overhead space is a scarce commodity in any healthcare space because medical equipment often needs complex mechanical and electrical support to operate. Training spaces compound this issue by adding several stations where students can learn procedures in the space where only one piece of equipment may be needed in a facility that is solely focused on treatment. This was further compounded by the desire to create a welcoming environment by raising the ceiling as far as possible in the clinics.
“We were haunted by the ceiling clearances throughout the whole project because the architect designed for as high of a ceiling as he could get,” said Harold Bundrent, lead project superintendent for White Construction. “We had to route some of the piping underneath the structural beams of the floors above, and the existing piping put us into a few situations where we had to lower the ceilings.”
The contractor only lowered the ceilings where it absolutely had to be done, and the end result did not compromise the warm and inviting space envisioned by the architect. A trellis ceiling in the lobby area is particularly striking, but it could not have been installed without the dedication of every contractor involved. Bundrent complimented his entire project team on this effort, but particularly those who contributed to the overhead work – Edgewood Electric, Inc., Madison Heights, and Macomb Mechanical, Inc., Sterling Heights. He also had high praise for the architect, who maintained a strong presence at the site responded to over 300 RFIs throughout the course of the project. The architect likewise appreciated the contractor’s approach to the job.
“Part of the reason White [Construction] was chosen for the job was that they came into it with a pretty ‘gung-ho’ attitude,” said Varga. “They approached it with a holistic point of view and they made it very clear that they were going to get it done instead of dickering over every little thing that got uncovered.”
The project also represented several exciting prospects for White Construction.
“We wanted this job for a lot of reasons,” said White. “We thought it was a great opportunity to do some healthcare work, which is an industry we are pursuing. We were also excited to work in the City of Detroit on a project that would benefit the community. We wanted our name to be associated with that. We were very eager and we gave them some of our best team members to get the job done. They had my personal commitment, as well as the commitment of everyone on the team.”
Aspiring dentists at the school will put gleaming smiles on many faces over the years, but the first grins at the site undoubtedly came with the on time and on budget completion of the project that resulted from the tireless efforts of the entire project team.
THE FOLLOWING SUBCONTRACTORS AND PROFESSIONAL CONSULTANTS CONTRIBUTED THEIR SKILLS TO THE PROJECT:
- Caisson Inspection, Engineering – Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc., Plymouth
- Carpentry/Gypsum Wallboard – City Renovation & Trim, Inc., Auburn Hills
- Ceramic Tile-Musante Tile, Inc., Macomb
- Concrete – B & B Concrete Placement, Inc., Romulus
- Concrete Reinforcement – Structural Group, Inc.,Trenton
- Demolition – Detroit Dismantling Corp., Detroit
- Dental Equipment Supplier – Benco Dental, Warren
- Duct Cleaners – Sani Vac Service, Inc., Warren
- Dumpster – Capital Waste, Inc., Detroit
- Electrical – Edgewood Electric Inc., Madison Heights
- Expansion Cover – Architectural Building Components, Oak Park
- Fire Protection – SimplexGrinnell, LP, Farmington Hills
- Glass and Glazing – Christy Glass Co., Inc., Ferndale
- HVAC – Eastern Mechanical, Sterling Heights
- HVAC – Macomb Mechanical, Inc., Sterling Heights
- Lockers – Steel Equipment Company, Pontiac
- Masonry – Akins Construction, Inc., Sterling Heights
- Masonry – Rambus Brick Services, Oak Park
- Masonry – Robovitsky Inc., Southfield
- Masonry, Waterproofing/Caulking – D.C. Byers Company Detroit, Detroit
- Mechanical – Controlled Temperature, Inc., Walled Lake
- Mechanical – Dennis Heating & Cooling, Melvindale
- Metal Casework – Architectural Systems Group, LLC, Holland
- Metal Doors and Frames – Tupper Door & Hardware, Inc., Farmington Hills
- Millwork – Rice and Werthmann, Inc., Detroit
- Mobile Office – American Mobile Office & Containers, Inc., Warren
- Overhead Doors – Overhead Door West, Waterford
- Owner Representative – Hines, Detroit
- Painting/Wallcovering – Midwest Pro Painting, Inc., Livonia
- Portable Toilet – Acee Deucee Portable Can, Carleton
- Resilient Tile Flooring – Master Craft Carpet Service, Inc., Redford
- Revolving Doors – Fuller & D’Albert, Inc., Fairfax, VA
- Roofing – Schreiber Corporation, Detroit
- Specialties – Rayhaven Group, Inc., Southfield
- Steel Erection – Matheny Steel Erectors, Inc., Flint
- Structural Steel -Taft Steel, New Hudson
- Telecommunications – Center Line Technologies, Inc., Centerline
- Toilet Accessories/Partitions – International Building Products, Co., Livonia
- Unistrut Supports – Unistrut Detroit Service Company, Wayne
Subcontractors and professional consultants listed in this feature are identified by the general contractor, architect or owner.