“The topping off of the Hardt Foundation Tower is not just about reaching new heights in the construction of our new patient tower project, but elevating care for our growing community. Every beam is a promise and a commitment to the future of medical services in Bakersfield.”
That was a comment from Mercy Hospitals president and CEO, BJ
Predum, at the topping off of the new Hardt Foundation Tower at
Mercy Hospital Southwest in Bakersfield, California. The four-story tower, whose construction is led by Layton, adds 106 new patient beds, 160,000sf of space, and an expanded operating room and imaging suite.
As Predum notes, that kind of investment in a facility is an investment in the community—where every minute and every dollar counts. The Layton team has taken that notion to heart, adding a new technology to their toolbox to help the project team be even more accurate, more efficient, and more collaborative: The HP SitePrint layout robot.
“The HP robot is able to reduce the amount of time it takes in the field to perform all of the layout among all of the different trade partners that we have here,” says Karina Russell, senior project manager at Layton Construction. “It allows 100% accuracy as to what we have coordinated previously in the model and translates it to the field, reducing the need for rework in the future.”
In very simple terms, the robot combines project models and total station control points to map out the floor plan in question, controlled through an interface on the user’s tablet, phone, or laptop. Users can choose different ink colors to show different layouts and share files through the interface. The project team is using the robot to lay out the walls and wall penetrations on the Mercy Hospital Southwest project, marking where the frames will be and labeling each room by name—which, says Jeff Armada, chief operation officer at Mercy Hospitals of Bakersfield, is a game-changer.
PROJECT DETAILS
Location: Bakersfield, CA
Size: 160,000sf
Client: Dignity Health/ CommonSpirit Health
Design Team: Cuningham Group, Devenney Group
Sector: Healthcare
“We’re very visual, and the robots really help us grasp the layout. Being able to see what is going where and actually walk through is extremely important.”
As they saw the tool in action, the trades jumped on board as well.
“A lot of the trades were skeptical,” says Justin Parker, foreman for Pan Pacific Mechanical, who introduced the HP robot to the Layton team. “But as they’ve been able to see how it works, how fast it is, and how much easier it’s going to make it for all of us as a whole, it’s been very exciting to see everyone jump on board and want to get involved.”