Maine Medical Center has evolved to be the tertiary care hospital for the entire state, receiving more complex health cases every day. As the Center reaches the limits of its facility space, our modernization and expansion project has helped staff deliver the expert care that patients have come to expect. Colliers Project Leaders is serving as the overall project manager for Maine Medical Center’s multi-phase, $588-million project set for completion in 2023 – with sustainability in mind.
The project includes a 290,980-square-foot inpatient tower to increase the number of single rooms available to patients and add high-tech procedural space, a visitor parking garage providing 225 additional spots, a three-story expansion to the Coulombe Family Tower, a 110,000-square-foot medical office building for various medical specialties, and a 2,450-car parking garage for staff.
The Coulombe Family Tower Overbuild, the first clinical phase of four total phases, achieved LEED Silver Certification in October 2021. Yet even with forward-thinking design, this certification was still a challenge as credits were unattainable due to the lack of sitework on the vertical addition.
- Design for flexibility: A component unique to the LEED for Healthcare rating system with the aim of keeping clinical buildings functioning even when patient needs change. Having such versatile space open just prior to the COVID-19 outbreak proved to be an urgent, timely need.
- Fundamental and enhanced commissioning and regional priority credits for optimized energy performance: Early planning and client commitment toward a high-performance building envelope allowed the project team to pursue these credits and ensured proper detailing and installation of the envelope system. This is incredibly important in a healthcare setting where lack of attention to quality assurance and control for wall systems, windows, and roofs can lead to long-term problems with energy, comfort, and contaminant controls.
- Healthy buildings, materials, and environmental product declarations: New LEED requirements focus on the use of low-emitting materials and environmental product declarations. Healthy building materials were specified for permanent construction. With Colliers’ support, the property owner was able to ensure that nearly half of the furniture and medical furnishings purchased would be certified to a high level of ingredient transparency, while eliminating harmful chemicals from the hospital environment to help maintain indoor air quality.