BWBR and construction firm Adolfson & Peterson Construction (AP) recently were selected to renovate and improve the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Facility located in Saint Paul, Minn. A single story, 10,688 gross-square-foot building immediately adjacent to Regions Hospital, the $2.5 million project is scheduled to start in late 2017/early 2018.
Staffed by 20 full-time employees and operating 24 hours a day, 365 days per year, the project is driven by growing caseloads, case complexity, rising expectations, and use of the Medical Examiner services. The project will improve health and safety standards in the facility by expanding the size, upgrading the security and storage, and enhancing its operational elements. Serving Ramsey and Washington County, as well as 14 additional greater Minnesota Counties, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s office has a growing need for facility efficiency and staffing.
This project consists of renovations to the county morgue, including autopsy and autopsy-related processes and storage spaces; administrative offices and support space; building mechanical systems and related space; and, areas accessible to the public. This project includes the possibility of vertical expansion to facilitate the relocation of mechanical systems and could also include the alternative possibility of connecting the building to District Energy.
BWBR designed the original Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office in 1993, performed a Facilities Needs Assessment in 2014, and teamed up with AP to submit on this design-build project. The BWBR/AP team is grounded in common values and an approach that is collaborative, hands-on, and committed to sustainability and design excellence. The two firms have worked together on numerous government, medical, and secure environments projects previously, including the Minnesota State Security Hospital in St. Peter and the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Faribault.
Together, the BWBR/AP team is looking to build on previous health care experience and continue targeting this sector of the construction market. Both firms have seen large successes with health care projects across the country and as the market continues to grow, the firms hope to grow with it.
