Chicago, Illinois | 26,646 SF
Under TKB’s retainer contract with the University of Illinois Chicago, TKB provided architectural services for a flooring replacement in the corridors and connecting bridges of the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System’s multistory Outpatient Care Center, replacing a failed tile floor. TKB was engaged to study a full range of flooring options with associated costs and implementation issues. Ultimately, terrazzo was chosen for the primary corridors and resilient flooring resembling the terrazzo was selected for secondary corridors to streamline the construction and reduce the cost.
The project challenges were almost wholly logistic: the project corridors are the main streets for the clinics. A safe patient path and exit-way, including for wheelchairs and gurneys, had to be maintained whenever patients or staff were working in the building. To address the dust from grinding, tile demolition and terrazzo operations and their contaminating effect on air quality; TKB developed tight specifications for protection and containment.
The project had to be completed at night and on Sundays during all clinic hours. Corridor widths needed to be maintained for safe exiting, and the entrances to each clinic suite needed to be accessible for clinic hours and after-hours cleaning. Vibration was a concern for certain research occurring in the building, narrowing the window of time available for work on certain floors. These logistics were reviewed together with the university and healthcare safety specialists, then specified in detail, and finally refined with the selected contractor.
New millwork reception desks were developed for waiting areas. Optimal placement at corridor junctions was considered to ensure oversight of the adjacent corridors.
TKB successfully budgeted this project after carefully considering schedule extensions for multiple phases and the associated protection. Bids came in under the budgeted sum, allowing the project to move forward.
