Construction Blog

Building Cure reaches a significant milestone April 26 with the placement of the Level 7 columns. Once placed, we’ll have made it to the halfway mark for the above-grade building structure. Including the structural work below grade, 11 floors of building structure have been completed, representing approximately 400,000 square feet of space for Seattle Children’s quest to eliminate childhood disease. Twelve contractors working on-site and across teams have completed more than 225,000 hours of work on Building Cure.

This weekend, crews will place mechanical units onto the second floor of the building. To facilitate their placement, a large mobile crane will be set up on Terry Avenue on April 28 and 29. Work will begin at 8 a.m. each day. Terry Avenue will be closed to vehicle traffic, and a detour will be set up to adjacent streets. The sidewalk on the east side of Terry Avenue will be closed to pedestrians. Foot traffic will be diverted to the sidewalk along the west side of Terry Avenue, which will remain open. Please follow the direction of flaggers and detour signage this weekend, as they are in place for your safety.

On Saturday, April 21 through Monday, April 23, Seattle City Light will replace electrical feeds on Seattle Children’s hospital campus. Large vehicles will enter and exit the hospital campus along Sand Point Way; we do not anticipate impacts to traffic. This work is taking place in the middle of campus and normal construction noise levels are expected. Work will occur daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. For questions or concerns, please call the construction pager at 206-469-5860. Thank you for your patience.

Seattle Children’s Research Institute is beginning the Master Use Plan (MUP) process for Research Building 4 (RB4), which would be located between Virginia Ave. and Stewart St., adjacent to Boren Ave. The MUP process will begin with Seattle Children’s submitting an Early Design Guidance (EDG) package to the City of Seattle on April 23.

As another key component in our journey to treat, prevent and cure pediatric disease, the building would add approximately 600,000 sq. ft. of research, clinical and administrative space. Next to the institute’s Building Cure facility which is currently under construction and slated to open in 2019, it will be the fourth building owned by Seattle Children’s on our downtown campus.

Construction of RB4 would begin after Building Cure is close to being at space usage capacity. While there is no exact timeframe for when that will occur, we are starting the RB4 MUP process now to plan for our future growth.

On Saturdays, March 3 and 10 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., work will take place at Seattle Children’s on the south side of the Forest loading dock to remove old modular trailers and install new ones. A crane will be placed near the ambulance bays to complete this work, and some street parking along 40th Avenue NE will be unavailable during work hours to enable safe removal and installation of trailers, and easy entry and exit for ambulances. Normal noise levels are expected. For questions or concerns, please call the construction pager at 206-469-5860.

The electrical upgrades that were scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 10, through Monday, Feb. 12, have been canceled due to high patient volumes. Patient safety is our top priority, and we feel it is in the best interests of our patients, families and workforce to postpone this upgrade. We will provide updated information when the work is rescheduled.

For questions or concerns, please call the construction pager at 206-469-5860. Thank you for your patience.

On Saturday, Feb. 3, a large crane will be delivered at 8 a.m. to support ongoing construction work at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Large vehicles will enter and exit the hospital campus along Sand Point Way; we do not anticipate impacts to traffic. This work is taking place in the middle of campus and normal construction noise levels are expected. Work will occur from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. For questions or concerns, please call the construction pager at 206-469-5860. Thank you for your patience.

Building Cure reached a significant milestone the week of Jan. 8. Construction crews placed the final zone of the Level 1 slab, completing the below-grade, or below street-level, structure. Since shoring work began in March 2017, crews have placed more than 13,000 cubic yards of concrete and worked over 75,000 hours — all with no recordable safety incidents. The project is tracking on schedule, which is notable given the complexity of the below-grade work.

Construction crews now move to above-grade work, and Building Cure will slowly begin to rise in the Seattle skyline. Sidewalk and street closures are planned to accommodate new construction activities. Pedestrian protection will be installed on the sidewalks along Terry Avenue and Virginia Street throughout January. Terry Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic the weekend of Jan. 20 and 21 for Seattle Public Utilities to make connections to utilities in the street and place vaults in the future sidewalk.

Beginning the week of Jan. 22, contractors will work on Terry Avenue to install the utility connections to the building. Drivers and pedestrians can expect intermittent closures and delays to traffic on Terry Avenue as this work is completed. Please be alert and abide by all street and sidewalk closures for your safety until the areas are complete.

On Tuesday, Dec. 12 and Wednesday, Dec. 13, a private geotechnical company will drill some large holes at different locations in the River parking lot on the Seattle Children’s campus to take soil samples. Each drilling will take about a day to complete, and work will take place between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. They will bring in a large drill rig to complete the work, and there will be some noise and possible vibration during morning hours only. They will return on Dec. 18 and 19 to do some testing. If you have questions or concerns, please email construction@seattlechildrens.org.

The upcoming Forest B expansion has a name: Building Care. You may recall that Forest A was named “Building Hope,” and our newest research building downtown is “Building Cure.” Groundbreaking for Building Care is scheduled for fall 2018, with anticipated completion in 2021. As the demand for Seattle Children’s services continues to grow, we need additional space to adequately care for our patients and families. Building Care will help us meet many of those needs. Stay up-to-date on Building Care progress by subscribing to this blog. For questions or concerns, call the construction pager at 206-469-5860.

On Saturday, Nov. 18, a large crane will be delivered at 8 a.m. to support ongoing construction work on the hospital campus. Large vehicles will enter and exit along Sand Point Way; we do not anticipate impacts to traffic. Work will take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the middle of campus; normal construction noise levels are expected. For questions or concerns, please call the construction pager at 206-469-5860.