I had the opportunity to tour the recently completed Rex Heart and Vascular Hospital. This project is one of the more complicated projects to come through Development Services in some time.
The new facility is 300,000 sq. ft. at a cost of $230 million, which includes $24 million in of state-of-the-art equipment, $300,000 in North Carolina art, and a 400 vehicle parking deck.
One of the more interesting parts of the tour was the insight I gained into the work that happens well before site plans are drafted. The team at Rex took into consideration things like the positioning of receptacles so that the nursing staff doesn’t have to bend over constantly, windows in every room so that patients and guest feel connected with the outdoors, and a strong infrastructure so that as technology changes that the facility will be equipped to hold the load. photo gallery >
As our city grows so does the complexity of the projects. Which is why Development Services has recently created a new inspections team to deal with complex project like this one. The Special Project Team consist of four seasoned inspectors:
- David Utter, Senior Building Inspector
- Joe Whitney, Senior Electrical Inspector
- James Merrill, Senior Plumbing Inspector
- Jeremiah Weckesser, Senior Mechanical Inspector
The team will be focused on high-rise, large assemblies, commercial and intuitional facilities. The idea behind this dedicated team is that the inspectors will take proactive approach. They will be assigned exclusively large projects allowing them the opportunity to attend construction meetings with the contractor. This way they can help to resolve any issues in the field before they affect the project timeline. Assignments for this team will begin March 1, 2017.
