Daigle Engineers was commissioned to provide full structural engineering services for the 2007-2008 renovation and addition to Emerson Hospital in Concord MA. This project involved the addition of 35,000 square feet of hospital space which surrounded the existing North Building of the hospital, extended around the West Wing of the facility, and over the existing Wheeler Building. The project included renovations to 15,000 square feet of existing space, and allowed for 10,000 square feet of future floor space.

Special considerations included deep excavations adjacent to existing foundations, significant underpinning, and seismic considerations where the new and existing construction intermingled. Gravity loads were threaded down through the existing space where the new construction was built over the existing. Lateral bracing was designed to support the loads of the new construction and also to supplement the existing buildings where deemed necessary. The structure consisted of composite steel/concrete slabs with steel columns and braces. Much attention was focused on justifying where load could be added to existing footings and where new foundations had to be added. Since the architectural floor plans had little flexibility, a number of transfer girders were used to step around program space and reunite with the column grids below.

The estimated construction cost was $38 million.



Architect: DiGiorgio Associates, Inc.

Contractor: Delphi Construction, Inc.