Curing Client Challenges: Riser Rack Prefabrication in Healthcare

Large construction projects can quickly devolve into chaos: corralling trades, coordinating contractors, and organizing installation schedules can cause confusion and complications, often pushing back timelines or driving up costs. Our team was recently involved in a large hospital construction project and we were able to tame the chaos through our prefabrication process.

About the Client

The client, a large northern Ohio hospital system, was in the midst of a new construction project when they turned to our team for our expertise in modular structural supports. The client needed assistance designing adequate supports for their critical systems while juggling trade schedules and meeting the demands of the predetermined utility location.

The Unistrut Midwest Solution

Because our team joined the project after designs had already been determined, our first step was to analyze a BIM model of the project. Using that model, we were able to both identify the predetermined location for the utilities and see a full picture of additional services in the building. The specs of the desired utility location, mapping out where those utilities needed to run, and the final load requirements were critical to designing the ideal solution.

As our team knows, ongoing construction means constant adjustments and tweaks to a design. We worked with the client as they made these changes, joining in coordination meetings with the owners to make sure we were able to give them exactly what they needed. As components were added and subtracted, room purposes altered, and project needs were finalized, our team maintained constant communication to make sure that the project stayed on track.

With design changes, load requirements, and the additional contractors on site in mind, the Unistrut Midwest team designed a prefabricated riser rack solution that includes both horizontal and vertical racks using Unistrut and Sikla materials.

Riser Rack Prefabrication

With the location restraints and load requirements of some of the utilities, our team determined that vertical Sikla support racks were the ideal solution for part of this project. The utilities supported by these racks ran between floors and needed to be located in areas that were already rather tight. By supporting them vertically, all necessary plumbing, electrical, and HVAC could run through the predetermined locations. In total, 17 vertical Sikla riser racks were designed to support these heavy loads alongside 250 horizontal Unistrut riser racks for the remaining utilities. 

Our team has long recognized the improved quality control, reduction in risks and safety hazards, and time savings that come along with prefabrication, so we were excited to hear that this client has a dedicated prefabrication shop for their construction projects. With this resource in mind, the Unistrut Midwest team designed the riser racks to be kitted in our warehouse and then efficiently shipped to the client’s prefabrication site for final assembly.

The kitting process included having the racks partially assembled by Unistrut Midwest trades before they were flat-packed and shipped to the client site. Transporting the racks in semi-assembled kits was much more efficient than delivering completed racks, allowing more parts to be delivered on a single truck. The client team received these kits at their dedicated prefabrication shop and completed the assembly before having their union trades install the appropriate utilities. From there, the complete rack was delivered to the construction site and craned into place.

With so many in the industry still facing labor and materials shortages, leveraging prefabrication allowed our part of this construction project to remain on schedule. The extensive advanced planning, constant communication with the client, and time savings of prefabrication created a "plug and play" solution that not only met the demands of the required solution but stayed within the timeline and budget of the overall project. We were very proud to find out that our solution was one of only a few in this large construction project to deliver on schedule.

Building into the Future

Thanks to the hard work and dedication our team put into these riser rack solutions, the client entrusted Unistrut Midwest with the medical support engineering and fabrication in this building. That continued trust is a direct result of our team delivering on our promises of time savings, labor savings, and increased safety. Unistrut Midwest has the means, methods, and expertise to develop efficient solutions that meet any project's demands, and we look forward to continuing to deliver for this client in the future.