Wausau, Wis. -- Wausau Window and Wall Systems teamed with long-time customer, J.R. Butler, Inc., to create the University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) new inpatient tower’s high-performance, serpentine curtainwall with sun shades.. Opened in April 2013 and completed two months ahead of schedule, the $300 million, 12-story tower will add approximately 276 patient beds plus more operating and diagnostic rooms. Situated on the Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, the hospital is committed to achieving the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED® Gold certification for this 734,000-square-foot building. Wausau’s unitized curtainwall minimizes installation time, maximizes daylight and views and optimizes condensation resistance and thermal performance to achieve energy efficiency. Further contributing to the project’s green goals, Wausau’s 7250i-UW unitized curtainwall systems’ extruded aluminum frames and ClearStory™ exterior sun shades contain recycled content averaging 70% or greater. Linetec finished the majority of the aluminum in a VOC-free, clear anodize for easy maintenance and durability. Viracon supplied the high-performance, low-e, insulating glass to match Colorado’s challenging climate. Located off East Colfax Ave. and Peoria St. in Aurora, the new inpatient tower rises alongside the existing inpatient pavilion tower. The expansion urgently was needed as the initial tower has been fully occupied since 2007 and ambulances have been diverted because there was no room for additional patients. To serve this immediate need, the new tower broke ground in early 2011 and had an aggressive 24-month construction schedule. This was nearly one year ahead of what most general contractors were willing to estimate, according to Jeff Kleinschmidt, senior project manager with Denver-based glazing contractor J.R. Butler. Accepting the challenge, Haselden Construction worked closely with J.R. Butler, to help brainstorm solutions to overcome the timeline. J.R. Butler proposed a series of design charrettes held at HDR, Inc.’s architectural firm headquarters in Omaha, Neb. Wausau’s sales and market managers, engineers and estimators were involved early in these discussions and throughout the design-assist approach. Building Information Modeling (BIM) 3-D imaging tools assisted in the project’s fast-track completion. Using BIM, the building components for each floor are analyzed. This helps save time and costs by identifying issues digitally, before the physical materials are fabricated and on site.
