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Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (SFGH) has a 23-acre campus consisting of 13 buildings. SFGH has the city’s busiest emergency room and operates as its sole trauma centre. The main acute care hospital comprises two structures, built in 1974, which are not up to seismic code. The acute care hospital will be relocated into a seismically safe structure to ensure continued hospital operations in compliance with state law while nearly tripling their emergency department space.
Arup designed the new base-isolated structure using triple-friction pendulum isolators. This base isolation will allow the hospital to glide 30 inches in any direction, making it the most advanced seismic resistant design in existence and able to withstand large earthquakes in this highly seismic region. The triple-friction pendulum isolators saved 3,000 tons of steel in comparison to a traditional fixed-base seismic system, greatly reducing construction costs.
Arup also provided daylighting and electric lighting design services for all of the public areas of the hospital site. The exterior lighting provides a safe and pleasant setting for the hospital while meeting strict LEED requirements to reduce light pollution. The lighting design also reduces maintenance costs by using longer-lasting lamps and fewer types of lamps to reduce required replacement stock.
LEED Gold certified, the new hospital uses 40% less water and 20% less energy. The 40% potable water savings is through efficient flush and fixture technologies, and is compared to baseline flow rates of conventional technologies, for same user demand in the building.
In total, Arup provided structural engineering, lighting design, and sustainability consulting.
SFGH was recently named a Northern California Best Project in the Health Care category by Engineering News-Record.