Structure Tone Southwest

Architect:

Bridges & Lavin Architects

Scope Of Work

Building medical facilities of any kind can involve a host of special circumstances, from intense infection control practices to incorporating leading-edge equipment and systems. But when that medical facility is also a teaching institution, the equipment, technology and user population adds a whole new level of challenges.

Pavarini Northeast helped Touro renovate over 80,000sf on two floors of an existing building, creating a state-of-the-art 112-seat simulation lab, an 8-clinic, 81-chair clinical practice facility and a testing and exam area. Each of these areas require specialized equipment which comes with an abundance of supporting infrastructure and coordination. Every patient chair installed required nearly a dozen service lines, including piping for CPVC vacuum, cold and tempered water lines, cast iron waste and vents and brazed copper for compressed air, nitrogen, oxygen and nitrous oxide lines. Even with drawings to work off of, fitting all of those necessary services into the same corridors to reach the patient chairs was one of the team’s biggest challenges.

Pavarini Northeast faced this challenge head-on. Once the ceiling was opened and the existing duct work and MEP systems were visible, the team adapted their plan of action. The services were all run through the floor up to each chair through core holes drilled into the ceiling of the floor below. Each chair unit involved 10 or 11 core holes, which had to be laid out meticulously to correspond with the exact location of the dental furniture and equipment.

If that wasn’t challenging enough, the team also had to contend with working through the ceiling of an active office space. To maintain normal operations, the team broke the drilling into four phases to relocate staff in each area. They worked quickly and carefully to avoid any damage to the workstations.

Students began training in the simulation lab in 2016, and the college’s clinical training facilities are nearly complete. As the first venture into dental medicine for both Pavarini Northeast and Touro College, the process was challenging but together they achieved Touro’s goal of building a premiere dental school that will educate and inspire the country’s next generation of dental health professionals.