In response to an urgent need for more hospital beds during the coronavirus pandemic, an alternate care facility was created at the State University of New York (SUNY) College at Old Westbury to ease the strain on existing medical facilities and house patients with coronavirus.
To support a mission assignment with FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, we worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District, offering design and construction management services to transform this university facility into a temporary medical facility with more than 1,000 beds.
Our team was tasked to provide a full range of digital solutions to multiple aspects of this project from coordination and collaboration efforts to designing and developing digital tools and creating an experience video.
Coordination
At the start of the project, the team implemented a BIM workflow that enabled us to fast track generating drawings, quantity take-offs, and 3D multidisciplinary coordination efforts. Organizing around a cloud-based data environment allowed for a fast-paced model and drawing creation through simultaneous user operation. Using Revit software enabled designers to produce design elements through parametrically controlled families, allowing for a quick turnaround on design iterations. Our BIM workflow streamlined coordination efforts of data transfer between multiple design software and enabled us to consistently publish the latest design data out to the field team in a cohesive and organized manner.
Coordinating data collected by field inspectors on site with technical staff in the office during unprecedented times was a new challenge for the digital solutions team. Within days, the product and cloud team established an automation pipeline of data being collected with Autodesk’s PlanGrid survey forms. A quality assurance/ quality control (QA/QC) gate was incorporated which only permitted cleaned data to flow into high quality inspection reports available in PDF and Web for SUNY Old Westbury’s records. This greatly sped up the confirmation of data collected with a significant reduction in rework and manual efforts due to the cloud hosted technologies.
Design and development
The project team utilized ARA (Automated Reporting Application), a cloud-based reporting and user driven platform to collect content and support collaboration with automated output. This application was developed by the software and analytics team and designed by the digital design team. It was the primary tool to format and structure the daily reports, project manual and program manual. The output design of the automatically generated reports could be customized to client requirements such as logos, brand colors, cover images, and format styles. Utilizing ARA provided solutions for automated reporting, document management, and content collection, all the reports and content writers were centralized in one hub and empowered the team with successful report deliveries.
Marketing and legacy
The digital design team filmed interviews of team members from partners that were integral to this project. An experience video was created to tell the story of the project’s uniqueness, challenges, memorable moments, experiences of the individuals involved and their accomplishments.
This integrated design-build project was unique because it was completely fast-tracked, requiring that it be built while it was still being designed. The team leveraged resources from across the country and implemented seamless virtual processes. More than 100 of our design professionals and more than 30 subcontractors immediately began working in two 10-hour shifts, with a two-hour break between shifts for thorough sanitizing. At peak, more than 500 workers were on site. Because of our robust on-site safety protocols, our entire workforce avoided coronavirus infections.
The construction effort led by our Tishman division was completed in only 28 days.
Awards
American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of New York, 2021 Platinum Engineering Excellence Award, Category B: Building/Technology Systems
Society of American Military Engineers (SAME), New York City Post, Civilian Award in recognition of significant contributions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in service to New York City, the State, and the Nation