Medical / Technology

Owner:

New Orleans Regional Medical Center

Design:

Kessels Diboll Kessels

Size:

286,000 square feet

Budget:

$12,400,000

Completion:

August, 2000

NORMC Thermal Plant

The New Orleans Regional Medical Center (NORMC) Parking Garage and Entergy’s Thermal Plant are housed in the same facility located at 1661 Gravier Street in downtown New Orleans. The project began in November, 1998, with the demolition of four buildings and was complete in August of 2000, with almost two years of work in the heavy downtown traffic. Woodward Design+Build was needed to develop innovative ways to handle materials and construct the building with such tight site logistics and time constraints. It is the only facility of its kind, providing parking to the hospitals and chilled water for air condition systems in the neighboring hospitals, medical facilities, and offices. A 1,100,000-gallon concrete tank was constructed as part of this structure, in which water is chilled to 34 degrees Fahrenheit and this, in turn, cools a chilled water closed circuit piping system that supplies chilled water for the air conditioning systems in neighboring buildings. The mechanical equipment occupies 40,000 square feet of the first level and the 46,000 square foot on the roof. The second level houses the offices which manage the plant, and levels three through six holds 600 vehicles, all of which are contract parking for NORMC. The design team of Kessels Diboll Kessels, Wink Engineering, and Zehner and Bouchon had the task of incorporating industrial and commercial aspects as well as satisfying the Downtown Development District’s criteria for aesthetics.