Children’s Patient Tower

Salas O’Brien provided engineering design for the only hospital in Connecticut dedicated exclusively to caring for children. This new eight-story patient tower will include three critical care patient floors and a shelled future patient floor. Our system designs included a new low-temperature hot-water boiler plant and a new chiller plant with year-round heat recovery. Two new utility power services will feed new double-ended switchgear, two new generators (N+1), and emergency power distribution. In addition, new medical air and vacuum systems, including a new bulk oxygen system, will replace the existing system. Medical gas systems will support increased ventilator use during pandemic operations.

We also designed the building air-handling systems, including three new custom air-handling systems (AHUs) serving the patient care areas, to accommodate the loss of a single AHU. A pair of redundant surgical AHUs will serve the two C-Section and Fetal Surgery ORs, as well as an infant resuscitation room. The project also includes a pair of redundant AHUs for the new pharmacy compounding areas. Acuity adaptable rooms will switch to 100% exhaust in the event of an airborne infectious event.

Award
2026 ENR New England – Best Project (Healthcare)