Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU Wonder Tower

The project called for a multi-story vertical expansion of the existing outpatient pavilion, but the building was never designed to support an addition of such scale. 

The Commonwealth of Virginia updated its seismic codes after a series of earthquakes. The expansion’s structure needed to account for the increased lateral demands specified in the updated code.

The project needed to efficiently connect VCU Wonder Tower to the main CHoR building over one of the city’s busiest intersections with minimal clearance.

CHoR is the region’s only comprehensive pediatric hospital. Even though the expansion had to be built atop the existing outpatient pavilion, shutdowns were not an option.

Walter P Moore and Dunbar made a major structural pivot and switched from a seven-story vertical expansion to a two-story vertical and 16-story horizontal addition to avoid overloading the existing foundations. 

We strengthened diaphragms and load paths, so both buildings behave as one system under seismic demand. Using performance-based seismic engineering, we reconciled old and new structures. 

We designed a 280-foot-long enclosed pedestrian skybridge between the two buildings under extremely tight geometric constraints. To optimize off-site and on-site assembly, we examined 17 different bridge layout scenarios.

We delivered a structural approach that ensured the hospital would remain fully operational throughout construction. Our traffic engineers also leveraged their knowledge to ensure smooth traffic flow. 

Our solutions helped the design team to achieve the full program without overloading the structure, which increased CHoR’s inpatient bed capacity and emergency services access by 40%.

VCU Wonder Tower was the first major project in Richmond to follow the new seismic regulations, delivering a structurally resilient, seismically compliant tower despite site constraints.

Our bridge solution kept the hospital running during construction. The bridge now allows staff, physicians, patients, and equipment to move quickly between facilities during medical emergencies. 

By consistently fine-tuning quantities for structural elements across design permutations and preserving hospital operations during construction, the structural team was able to complete the project on schedule, within the owner’s budget.