August 2, 2007
Demolition of Health Sciences Building’s G&H wings in progress
Before work on new systems and interiors can begin, the old ones have to be demolished.
In the two-year project to renovate the G and H wings of the Health Sciences Building, the demolition process is well under way. Demolition of interior spaces is now taking place on the second floor and will be moving upward floor by floor from now until October.
Abatement work to remove asbestos and other materials is being done on the third floor now, and will also move upward floor by floor.
At the same time, interior demolition of concrete flooring on the first floor, which began in mid-June, will continue until mid- August. Most of this very noisy work is being done at night, with the contractor working from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Monday through Thursday.
The first floor work is part of the seismic refitting to make the building more resistant to earthquakes. New flooring and foundation supports will be placed once the demolition is done.
On the fourth floor, the main public corridor remains open during the day.
On the fifth floor, the F wing south corridor, which had been scheduled to close this summer, will remain open until fall.
The project has established a Web site at http://ghrenovation.org. The site includes current information on the work being done, detour maps, some photos, a construction term glossary and a section for questions.
A complete renovation, including new walls, wiring, plumbing, heat and air conditioning is being done for floors three through five, according to Jill Morelli, director of facilities for the School of Medicine.
Those areas had been occupied primarily by the departments of Biological Structure, Microbiology and Physiology & Biophysics. Microbiology is now in the K wing, vacated last year by the Department of Genome Sciences. Biological Structure and Physiology & Biophysics will return to the G and H wings after the renovation work is complete.
The basic work for the project is part of the UW’s “Restore the Core” initiative, which renovates older campus buildings.
The School of Medicine is also contributing funding, and funds from the National Institutes of Health are being used for new laboratories and equipment.
The G and H wings were part of the original Health Sciences Building, completed in 1949.
