Exterior shot of South Sound Behavioral Hospital.

US HealthVest / South Sound Behavioral Hospital Fit-Out

US HealthVest / South Sound Behavioral Hospital Fit-Out | Lacey, Washington

The South Sound Behavioral Hospital is an anchor project for DPR’s newly re-opened Seattle regional office, and a first in the Olympia, WA submarket. Completed for DPR’s national healthcare client US HealthVest in April 2019, the project converted a formerly vacant office building into a state-of-the-art facility that provides behavioral health and addiction treatment services to children, adolescents, adults and seniors.

The new, four-story, 78,000-square-foot facility fosters a safe and nurturing environment through its open spaces, broad windows and direct views of nature. The 108-bed facility features safety glass and anti-ligature design selections, such as hard lid ceilings, plumbing fixtures, doors, hinges and furniture. The building received new elevators and upgraded amenities for use as activity rooms, therapy spaces, a dining area, and indoor and outdoor recreational spaces. Adult and adolescent patients are separated with no line of sight. DPR also performed extensive seismic and shear wall upgrades using Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) to bring the existing office building up to code.

Exterior shot of South Sound Behavioral Hospital.

Trust and Collaboration

The project team focused on delivering predictable results, while maintaining the project’s expected budget, schedule and quality goals. To achieve this, DPR worked closely with the client, who is based in New York; the Houston-based client representative; as well as the design partner, GLMV Architecture, located in Wichita, KS, to establish a strong environment of trust and collaboration, from preconstruction through turnover.

Miro Petrovic, executive vice president of US HealthVest, commended DPR’s on-schedule and on-budget project work, commenting, “DPR delivered a successful project, on time and on budget. Conversion of a four-story, 80,000-sq.-ft. office building into a psychiatric hospital turned out to be more challenging than initially anticipated. Unforeseen conditions and complex seismic structural upgrades were challenging. DPR handled these challenges proactively, identifying issues early and working with consultants and ownership to minimize cost and timing impact. As a result, a majority of the corrective work was completed simultaneously within regular project schedule. USHV leadership was very happy with the overall performance and the final result.”

The

Challenges

Transforming and seismically upgrading an unremarkable, Group B occupancy office building built in 1985 into a modern, Group I occupancy hospital proved to be challenging. That challenge was amplified by the need to perform required structural upgrades without heavy equipment since all existing elevated slabs were made with three-inch-thick concrete without rebar to support heavy loads. Scissor lifts or any other heavy equipment could have overloaded the existing building.

Photo: Transforming and seismically upgrading an unremarkable, Group B occupancy office building built in 1985 into a modern, Group I occupancy hospital proved to be challenging.

The project was located in an extremely busy local labor market approximately 60 miles south of Seattle in suburban Olympia, and that, too, created challenges regarding labor procurement and cost containment.

Photo: Extra care was taken to ensure trade partners fully understood the scope and were aligned with budget requirements to avoid any surprises down the road.

Exterior progress shot of South Sound Hospital.
Exterior shot of South Sound Behavioral Hospital.
The

Challenges

Exterior progress shot of South Sound Hospital.

Transforming and seismically upgrading an unremarkable, Group B occupancy office building built in 1985 into a modern, Group I occupancy hospital proved to be challenging. That challenge was amplified by the need to perform required structural upgrades without heavy equipment since all existing elevated slabs were made with three-inch-thick concrete without rebar to support heavy loads. Scissor lifts or any other heavy equipment could have overloaded the existing building.

Photo: Transforming and seismically upgrading an unremarkable, Group B occupancy office building built in 1985 into a modern, Group I occupancy hospital proved to be challenging.

Exterior shot of South Sound Behavioral Hospital.

The project was located in an extremely busy local labor market approximately 60 miles south of Seattle in suburban Olympia, and that, too, created challenges regarding labor procurement and cost containment.

Photo: Extra care was taken to ensure trade partners fully understood the scope and were aligned with budget requirements to avoid any surprises down the road.

The

Solutions

DPR introduced a number of creative solutions to the project group, such as using fiber reinforced polymer in lieu of adding steel or concrete beams to strengthen the existing slabs.

Photo: DPR introduced a number of creative solutions to the project group, such as using fiber reinforced polymer in lieu of adding steel or concrete beams to strengthen the existing slabs.

In order to ensure DPR met the cost goals and secured the most competitive bids possible during a busy and new subcontractor market, the team expanded subcontractor outreach beyond the immediate region. Extra care was taken to ensure trade partners fully understood the scope and were aligned with budget requirements to avoid any surprises down the road.

Photo: In order to ensure DPR met the cost goals and secured the most competitive bids possible during a busy and new subcontractor market, the team expanded subcontractor outreach beyond the immediate region.

DPR carefully cultivated a strong relationship with the remote client and owner’s representative, and maintained team focus to meet every schedule milestone and cost goal from day one.

Photo: DPR carefully cultivated a strong relationship with the remote client and owner’s representative, and maintained team focus to meet every schedule milestone and cost goal from day one.

interior of office with desks
Exterior shot of South Sound Behavioral Hospital entrance.
Interior shot of cafeteria room.
The

Solutions

interior of office with desks

DPR introduced a number of creative solutions to the project group, such as using fiber reinforced polymer in lieu of adding steel or concrete beams to strengthen the existing slabs.

Photo: DPR introduced a number of creative solutions to the project group, such as using fiber reinforced polymer in lieu of adding steel or concrete beams to strengthen the existing slabs.

Exterior shot of South Sound Behavioral Hospital entrance.

In order to ensure DPR met the cost goals and secured the most competitive bids possible during a busy and new subcontractor market, the team expanded subcontractor outreach beyond the immediate region. Extra care was taken to ensure trade partners fully understood the scope and were aligned with budget requirements to avoid any surprises down the road.

Photo: In order to ensure DPR met the cost goals and secured the most competitive bids possible during a busy and new subcontractor market, the team expanded subcontractor outreach beyond the immediate region.

Interior shot of cafeteria room.

DPR carefully cultivated a strong relationship with the remote client and owner’s representative, and maintained team focus to meet every schedule milestone and cost goal from day one.

Photo: DPR carefully cultivated a strong relationship with the remote client and owner’s representative, and maintained team focus to meet every schedule milestone and cost goal from day one.

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