In This Issue

 

Greetings!
  
In this issue we are focusing on Closing out a Ground-Up Senior Care Building.  We value your opinion.  Tell us what you think.  We look forward to hearing from you.

 
"Always Be Closing" - Closing Out a Ground-Up Senior Care Building
  
Closing Out the construction of a major ground-up building is almost as complex as designing it. If that building happens to be a senior care facility, multiply that complexity by a value of ten. As the architect for the recently completed Five Towns Premier for Rehabilitation and Nursing in Woodmere New York, I can assure you that this is a true statement.
 
Closing out a large building is akin to dancing with multiple partners simultaneously, each with their own style and tempo.  The architect is the choreographer of this controlled chaos, trying to synchronize the efforts of a multitude of stakeholders; contractors, design professionals, operational and clinical staff, vendors and governing agencies to name a few.
 
The goal of closing-out the construction process of course is to be able to legally occupy the building.  Preparation for closing out a major building begins many months and sometimes even a year or more before the intended date of occupancy.  Each set of stakeholders have their own critical paths which intertwine on and off during the close out process. These paths all converge at close-outs most important and final milestone, the health department pre-opening survey.
 
We hope you enjoy this issue. Do you have questions or feedback about the information provided or regarding your facility that we can answer?  Contact us and we will be happy to provide you with any additional information you may need.  We want to continue to offer content that interests you, our readers. Please drop us a line and let us know what topics you might want to learn more about. As always, we love hearing from you.
  
Sincerely,
 
John W. Baumgarten, RA, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Principal & President
 
Michael A. Sciara, RA, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
Principal & Vice President