Unique curtain wall for Ohio hospital

Wheaton & Sprague Engineering (WSE) of Stow, Ohio, has been awarded a contract from Huron Valley Glass (HVG) for the system design, structural engineering, detailing, and thermal analysis work for the exterior cladding systems on the new Cancer Hospital underway on University Hospital’s Case Medical Center (UHCMC) campus in Cleveland. Cannon Design Structural is the engineer of record for this project.

The new Cancer Hospital will concentrate all of the current UHCMC Ireland Cancer Center departments and services under one roof to optimize patient care. This 375,000-square-foot facility will triple the square footage that cancer services currently encompass in seven different locations. The Cancer Hospital will have 120 inpatient and outpatient beds, with the ability to expand to 150 beds, up from today’s 60 to 75 beds. The St. Louis office of renowned health care architect Cannon Design is the design architect for the building.

The exterior cladding for this project is comprised of approximately 92,000 square feet of curtain wall, slope-wall, windows, and storefront—the exterior glass cladding of the building and the primary architectural component that identifies the structure. The exterior cladding also includes 44,000 square feet of composite panels and 4,000 square feet of louvers. The unit wall and slope-wall are both custom systems designed to meet the project requirements. The panel system will be a rain-screen system supported by a light gage stud wall anchored to the building. The dominant feature on the building is the sloping wall system on the west elevation.

WSE provided initial concept proposal drawings for the unit-wall and slope-wall in April, which serves as the base of design for the project-to-date. Design phase will conclude by the end of June. Mock-up phase will begin shortly thereafter.

WSE will work in partnership with and for HVG, in collaboration with the architect, owner, and contractor, through the design assist phase to develop the customized wall systems and their applications and transitions to the building and each other.

Huron Valley Glass, based in Ypsilanti, Mich., will fabricate and install the curtain wall system. HVG is a nationally ranked curtain wall contractor, with proven expertise in monumental and high-rise curtain wall projects.

According to John Wheaton, P.E., principal at WSE, "this project has begun the way all projects should go. The cooperation, collaboration, and communication between architect Canon Design, contractor Gilbane, glazing subcontractor HVG, and WSE as the curtain wall systems designer and structural engineering firm has been stellar. This is the way you desire a project to work on the front end, and we are pleased to be a part of the team to bring this 21st Century facility of patient-focused design to University Hospitals and to the city of Cleveland."