WBCM provided structural engineering services for the construction of an inpatient tower and women’s center at the Baltimore Washington Medical Center. WBCM designed the reinforcement of approximately 245,000 square feet of space across seven occupied floors, two shell levels, and a mechanical penthouse on the roof resulting in a more than 50% increase in usable space.
WBCM also designed connections between the existing patient tower and the new tower to provide efficient access between departments. The floor-to-floor height of the existing tower coupled with the complex geometry of the floor plans of the new tower structure forced the architect to design a floor plate with irregular shapes and a non-symmetric column grid to allow floor elevations to match up. WBCM used cast-in-place reinforced concrete to solve the resulting challenges, such as the need for a thin floor structure, required fire ratings, and design flexibility, while still being cost effective.