If ever there was an appropriate time for a new health education facility to come on line, it’s during a once-in-a-century global pandemic. But as new vaccines begin turning the tide on COVID-19, the 73,039-sq-ft Betty Engelstad School of Health Sciences at the College of Southern Nevada (CSN) in Henderson is poised to help the region handle a full gamut of health care needs for decades to come.

耗资5000万美元的设施将在六年的发展过程和两年的建设后，将于今年秋天开放，是多功能功能的模型。三层楼的教室，实验室和医院模拟室还拥有一个7,000平方英尺的校园图书馆，将支持学校的医疗和外科助理培训课程以及附近的内华达州立大学的护理教育计划。该设施的资金来自内华达州和私人捐款。

“There’s a big need in the area for health care technicians, with demand for classes higher than the availability for classrooms,” says Benton Marshall, regional manager for the state of Nevada’s Public Works Division. “We needed something that allows us to fill these roles locally, rather than recruiting from out of state.”

项目建筑师Knit Studios的项目经理兼负责人Dennis Panars补充说，该建筑物旨在通过其布局和与CSN学生会的近距离为通勤学校创造急需的社区感。

Panars说：“因为学生将在那里度过一天的大部分时间，所以我们在整个建筑物中编程了多个区域，他们可以团结起来，合作或找到自己的学习空间。”新利luck分层设计为建筑物提供了单独的入口 - 二楼的主要大厅面向北部的校园购物中心，而地下楼层的入口面向南部的主要校园停车场。

随着2019年11月的工作开始，“最大的挑战是摆脱困境，”拉斯维加斯核心建设现场负责人吉姆·马基切维奇（Jim Markichevich）说。除了两个入口水平之间有14英尺的差异外，较小的6,759平方英尺的一楼截面还需要另外7英尺的电梯基础和5英寸厚的MAT板。

Markichevich补充说：“然后，我们不得不为剩余的粉底削减了约40英尺的45度大幅度。”该建筑物利用甲板和钢梁支撑系统，混凝土砌体单元墙壁在某些地区支撑托梁。

CORE project manager Avery Hacker adds that isolated spread and continuous footings with multiple steps integrated the foundation with the elevation change. Braced structural steel frames for the building’s larger sections required footings as large as 10 ft wide and 42 in. thick, including one that required nearly 130 yd of concrete.

Hacker说，总的来说：“这有点像在三个部分中建造。”

Learning-oriented Layout

虽然建筑物随着建筑物的向上发展而变得更加简单，但项目团队结合了许多旨在最大化太空利用率和运营效率的功能。顾问说，主要大厅是该建筑物的中央节点，本质上是将两所学校的学术课程分开，两层楼的高性能玻璃墙为校园提供了广阔的视野。

大厅与宏伟的浮动楼梯一起，还具有嵌入墙壁的全长发光灯具，该灯具旨在模仿心电图和周围山脉。将二楼与图书馆连接起来的“社交”楼梯可以作为小组演示和活动的地方。

Panars补充说：“功能和数据连接的分布也很大，因此学生可以从任何地方工作。”

建筑系统包括四管水力加热和冷却，实验室空气阀排气，生物安全柜，烟雾罩和智能教室墙壁。将实验室互相堆叠有助于巩固机械系统的需求，同时还确保了负面的气压并允许中央去离子水系统。护士培训计划的仿真实验室包括61张床，包括几个功能齐全的床头板，这些床头板提供医疗气体和大多数医院中发现的其他技术。

One unique building element is the liquid linoleum flooring, a sustainable system designed to provide the same degree of durability and sound dampening without the need for heat welds. “It’s fairly new to the U.S. and a first for us, but we got up to speed on it pretty quickly,” Hacker says.

For the exterior, CORE installed nearly 13,400 sq ft of fiber cement and ultra-high-performance concrete paneling, which are complemented by decorative masonry block. Other exterior features include a three-piece, 4,290-sq-ft perforated metal screen structure on the building’s north plaza that creates a private space for students and a demonstration garden comprised of regional medicinal plants.

然而，与该地区的其他承包商一样，核心必须迅速适应COVID-19的限制。Hacker说：“似乎每天都在改变协议。”“当我们调整工作以遥不可及的要求时，到处都有很多延误，但是对时间表没有很大的影响。”

黑客说，项目团队总是对与活跃校园相关的安全考虑。他说：“尽管我们没有任何站点大小或访问限制，但保留安全环境总是在我们的脑海中。”

“惊人的伙伴关系”

尽管没有任何项目完全没有问题，但健康科学大楼的项目团队成员同意，建筑经理处于危险中，为了实现相对平稳的途径。

核心执行副总裁马克·霍瓦卡（Mark Hobaica）观察到：“由于复杂性，不同的用户和不同的资金来源，这一过程对于这座建筑确实是正确的。”他补充说，以前与Knit的合作也发挥了作用。“我们每周的现场项目会议是30分钟，这是闻所未闻的，这证明了整个团队范围的努力，以创造一个将更加精致的最终产品。”

Marshall agrees, though he admits to some initial skepticism about the use of CMAR delivery. “I quickly saw cohesion on the team, which was a night-and-day difference compared with other delivery methods,” he says.

最重要的是,指出CSN亨德森校园教务长Patty Charlton, the CMAR process yielded significant cost savings in the midst of what has been an active construction market for the region. “Having so many multibillion-dollar projects in the area heightened demand for subcontractors and materials,” Charlton says. “But we never had any labor or supply-chain issues. This has been an amazing partnership.”

As the Health Sciences Building undergoes its finishing touches and building system commissioning, Charlton looks forward to the role it will play as a catalyst for change at the campus as well as in the community.

她说：“甚至在大流行之前，医疗保健也是这里的重要经济发展驱动力。”“通过与州和内华达州立大学制定更一体化的教育策略，我们正在建立从高中到医疗保健和科学的途径。这是一座变革性的建筑。”