Technology Drives Progress on Ground-Up Hospital Project

A new rehabilitation hospital for UCI Health in Irvine, comprising a four-story facility with 52 patient beds and a 92-space underground parking structure, was designed to meet stringent clinical needs while complying with California’s Office of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI) procedures. Advanced technologies provided the means to meet these requirements and avoid costly delays or rework.

Viewing complexity as a catalyst for innovation helped DPR forge strong partnerships with the owner, design teams and trade partners. In this highly adaptive project culture, digital tools such as Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) helped the team anticipate changes, assess constructability in real-time, and make informed decisions early.

“From the outset, this project presented opportunities for growth and innovation,” said James Ramos, DPR project manager. “So, we leaned into our strengths of collaboration, flexibility in execution and strategic application of technology to bridge the gap between building in real-time and navigating regulatory procedures.”

As construction projects become increasingly complex and collaborative delivery methods increase the fluidity of teams, the linearity of HCAI requires teams to be more flexible and adaptive. This project requires seven incremental approvals, and each phase must be approved before work begins on the subsequent phase. Design iterations, evolving site conditions, stakeholder input and construction duration must be managed within this sequenced process.

“Innovation and technology are no longer optional in construction—they are the driving force reshaping how we build. From BIM and prefabrication to AI-driven scheduling and robotics, the industry is undergoing a transformative shift,” said Petra Azar, who serves as a senior project engineer. “As builders, we have a responsibility to stay on the forefront, pushing the needle forward with every advancement. Embracing cutting-edge tools not only improves safety, efficiency and quality, but ensures we are building smarter, faster and more sustainably for the future.”

On a project where every decision must be validated through a regulatory framework, progress hinges on precise coordination, seamless communication, and the ability to make informed decisions quickly. VDC helped drive momentum, giving the team the foresight and flexibility to adapt, align and deliver with precision. By facilitating alignment between project and regulatory teams at all phases of the project, VDC minimized the risk of costly rework.

BIM, a key component of VDC, accurately portrays project conditions, dynamically updating all views to incorporate changes. Partners engaged with the model in real time, preserving scope and constructability, while synchronizing compliance efforts. Having the ability to push 3D models ahead of traditional drawing sets kept the project moving. This agility was particularly important in an environment shaped by HCAI.

“Early in the project, it became clear that traditional drawing-based workflows were not going to provide the agility needed to meet schedule demands. The model’s dynamic nature became invaluable,” said Xiaoxiao Zhou, who served as a BIM manager on the project.

Zhou explained how the model facilitated near-instant updates across disciplines and drove the design process, especially in areas like above-ceiling coordination—critical components in healthcare settings with dense overhead MEPs. The model also rerouted many utilities around structural elements, avoiding disturbances to the structural steel, while also ensuring those systems weren’t affected for code compliance.

One of the biggest HCAI conditions the team knew to accommodate was that the project had to be fully designed and approved before construction could proceed. Numerous delays were forecast given the tight procurement timelines, various field conditions and pending permit approvals. Instead of letting these delays hold up progress, the team turned to the model to help coordinate with the subcontractors, owner and design team to stay on track.

Zhou points to the mechanical ducting design, where entire floors were modeled during the BIM process through cross-team collaboration to maintain the basis of design but work around other trades. “We’ve applied everything we learned in coordination to update the federated model, so our drawings reflect both the design intent and what’s buildable,” said Zhou.

Modeling options enabled the team to accurately visualize and address field conditions, leading to smarter phasing strategies, improved communication with reviewers, and a faster response to Requests for Information (RFIs) and change directives. BIM coordination meetings allowed the team to discover and correct potential challenges before they could become obstacles in real time.

With little room for error, digital coordination proved critical to driving innovation on-site. It transformed potential obstacles into opportunities for smarter, faster delivery. Advanced field technology ensured alignment between models and real-world conditions, helping the team avoid costly disruptions.

The value of this approach became clear early when the field technology team discovered a previously undocumented 12kV electrical line running through the building’s planned footprint. Using integrated survey and scanning workflows early in the project allowed the team to quickly assess the impact of this discovery and develop mitigation strategies that preserved the project schedule.

Throughout construction, technologies such as concrete scanning and precision surveying were instrumental. These tools verified that embedded elements and layout points matched the coordinated digital model, ensuring that downstream work could proceed with confidence. Continuous field data collection helped validate the alignment between design intent and in-place conditions.

“We are still using our model to help with our in-wall device coordination, which is critical to code compliance, user ease and owner standards,” said Ramos. In addition to the team’s onsite capabilities, Vconstruct, a DPR strategic partner, is helping the team out in the field by generating elevations off the model and overlaying them with subcontractor markups to come up with constructable layouts that meet the design intent.

Automated layout systems also played a major role in keeping the project on track. Leveraging robotic total stations and digital models, the team streamlined layout activities for framing and MEP systems, reducing human error and enhancing efficiency.

Notably, this project marked the first use of Dusty Robotics’ FieldPrinter by both the project team and the owner. Richard Repp of ACCO Engineered Systems observed, "Seeing wall openings and penetration locations directly on the slab with wall layout was a great way to head off conflicts during installation. Early recognition and resolution of field issues allowed our field crews to stay focused and on task during installation."

In a project shaped by stringent regulations, evolving field conditions and high-performance expectations, technology proved essential. From early design coordination through construction, digital tools provided the structure and agility needed to navigate building and regulatory requirements while preserving quality and schedule. The integrated use of VDC and field technologies enabled early issue detection, avoided costly rework and met HCAI requirements.