Opening of the massive new $1.03 billion Fort Belvoir Community Hospital at Fort Belvoir, VA culminates five years of interservice collaboration as one of the largest and most involved medical Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) projects. The 1.27 million square foot facility will replace DeWitt Army Community Hospital and will also absorb some services and patients from the recently closed Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
Fort Belvoir Community Hospital includes a nine-story main hospital building, two three-story clinical buildings and two two-story clinical buildings. The project has achieved LEED Silver certification and is striving to attain LEED Gold.
Designed by the architectural team HDR/Dewberry, the new world-class facility combines technology and data to advance healthcare services for active duty U.S. military members, retirees and their families.
More than 36,000 Dri-Design panels covering 120,000 sq. ft. were utilized. The 1mm VM Quartz Zinc panels clad five structures in the complex. The patented Dri-Design Wall Panel System is an affordable dry joint, pressure-equalized rainscreen system.
The Dri-Design panels interface with a terra cotta façade which also utilizes a rainscreen assembly. Leading hospitals have been moving toward the rainscreen system as a method of dealing with the increased performance requirements for medical and laboratory buildings.
A limited amount of painted aluminum Dri-Design panels were also used on interior applications including stairwell entry areas.
The facility was built by Turner Gilbane, a joint venture between Turner Construction and Gilbane Building Company.
With the normal 10-year procurement cycle needing to be reduced to a five-year process in order to meet the BRAC timeline, the hospital was designed and constructed using Integrated/Design/Bid/Build (IDBB). The facility was constructed in just over three years—half the time it normally takes to build a facility of its magnitude.
According to Col. Susan Annicelli, commander of Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, “This is America’s newest, most extraordinary, most technically advanced facility and we are proud to have it in the military health system.”
Dri-Design panels are 100% recyclable and can be made from a variety of materials including zinc, copper, stainless steel and painted and anodized aluminum. Panels are available in any Kynar color and are sized and detailed to meet the specific requirements of each project. This cost effective system is Dade County and AAMA 508-07 approved.
