Children's Medical Center Legacy celebrates opening

Children’s Medical Center Legacy, North Texas’ newest pediatric specialty hospital, celebrated its grand opening September 25, 2008. Located in Plano, Texas, Children’s Medical Center sits on a 155-acre site and provides specialized medical care for families in rapidly growing Collin County and its surrounding areas.

Austin provided construction management services for the entire 184,000 square foot, $147 million project. The hospital offers 60 medical surgical beds, 12 intensive care unit beds, four operating rooms, a full-service diagnostic including CT and MRI, an urgent/emergency care center and a medical office/ambulatory services building.

Children’s Medical Center Legacy was specially designed with patients and families in mind. From the many outdoor healing gardens and horses grazing in adjacent fields to the preserved 90-year-old oak Story Tree, a symbol of Children’s healing environment, Children’s Medical Center Legacy embraces and enhances the natural beauty of the site while encouraging a healthy, quick recovery.

The building is certified through the Green Guide for Health Care. Throughout the design phase and construction process, many efforts were taken to ensure a sustainable project. The Children’s project established an on-site recycling program for construction waste. Instead of merely discarding metal, wood, concrete, gypsum and cardboard; waste materials were separated and sent out for recycling. The project recycled almost 70 percent of all debris. As a result of these efforts, Children’s Medical Center Legacy garnered attention from local municipalities. The City of Plano recognized the project with the 2006 Outstanding Commercial & Demolition Recycling Award. The North Texas Corporation Recycling Association presented this team the 2007 Environmental Vision Award.

The new hospital has also been recognized for excellence by the Construction Owners Association of America (Project Leadership Award), Associated Builders & Contractors (Excellence in Construction Award), Texas Construction Magazine (Best of Texas Award) and Topping Out 2008.

The success of this project can be largely attributed to the cohesiveness and mutual respect between the members of the project team. Team members were challenged with complex opportunities and ultimately delivered a hospital that will heal children and families with capabilities that reach beyond medical technologies.