Magnificent Metal Monday travels to Columbia, South America to highlight how this once war-torn and one of the most violent places on Earth, is now focused on saving lives. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the country so Colombian real estate development and construction company, Construcciones Planificadas, decided to lead the fight against the disease by sponsoring and building a new, state-of-the-art and sustainable cancer facility in Bogotá.
Recently featured recently in Redshift by Autodesk‘s newsletter, the facility is in the beginning stages of construction and scheduled to open in 2021. The 100,000-square-meter (1,076,391-square-foot) Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo Cancer Treatment and Research Center (CTIC) will initially serve more than 7,000 cancer patients every year with facilities comprising 128 hospital rooms, 30 intensive-care beds, eight radiotherapy bunkers, six operating rooms, 60 chemotherapy chairs, a hematology and bone marrow–transplant clinic, and a 10,000-square-meter (107,639-square-foot) research building.
The article explains that In order to build such a large-scale integrative facility, the project team turned to BIM (Building Information Modeling) to collaborate with many subcontractors and stakeholders, including international health-care vendors and consultants whose oncological expertise. The project team opted to use Autodesk Revit for design creation and coordination, Navisworks for budgeting and quality control, and BIM 360 Docs for project management. A traditional 2D model would not be sufficient for this type of project.
Sustainable and Uplifting
Better care for the planet is also a primary goal for the Center. Focusing on sustainability, the project will seek LEED Healthcare v3 certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its many green features, including: dedicated parking spaces for low-emission vehicles and carpooling; bicycle racks; native-species landscaping with an efficient drip-irrigation system; energy-efficient medical equipment; an on-site treatment plant for gray water and rainwater, which will be recycled for toilets and urinals; a solar water-heating system; low-VOC paints, sealants, and adhesives; a backup electricity system that uses a flywheel instead of batteries; and a modular facade with alternating blank and glazed zones for optimal energy performance.
Both directly and indirectly, sustainability will help CTIC improve patient outcomes. Being efficient with resources, for example, will help the hospital reduce costs, ensuring that more money is spent on care and less on overhead. Likewise, sustainable design elements do double duty.
Architect Rafael de la-Hoz designed the hospital in the shape of two human lungs—two oblong towers connected by a central atrium, the top of which will be a year-round outdoor terrace for patients to use. The towers’ curved geometry, orientation toward the mountains, and organization around interior gardens maximizes sunlight to reduce energy consumption—while also lifting patients’ spirits.
Today’s technology is paving the way for facilities like this to exist. Using the available tools to create a precise architectural and construction plan will save valuable time and increase productivity. METALCON is excited to launch its new CONTECH area on the show floor at this year’s show in Pittsburgh. REGISTER TODAY for METALCON 2019, October 16-18, 2019.
