Kadean Preparing Queeny Tower for Demolition

Kadean Construction is moving forward with interior work begun in 2019 to prepare the 18-story Queeny Tower at Barnes Jewish Hospital for demolition as part of the Campus Renewal Project for BJC HealthCare, a long-term program to transform the Washington University Medical Campus (WUMC) through new construction and renovations.  Due to uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, the project was placed on hold in the Spring of 2020, but work on site resumed in September and will be completed this month with issuance of a structural demolition permit. 

Project work provided to date includes the installation of permanent fire rated partitions, and new exterior envelopes to provide a full separation of Queeny Tower from connecting buildings prior to full scale ‘white-boxing’, where the building is cleared to its structural elements and exterior skin.  This involved isolating and ‘detangling’ the building’s mechanical and electrical systems from the remaining campus while installing new primary electrical feeders to adjacent buildings to ensure existing electrical service be maintained at all times for continued operations. In addition, all mechanical piping, air ducts, fire alarms, communications systems and other services required careful identification and were strategically revised and reconnected to bypass Queeny Tower or were disconnected completely.  Detailed phasing of the work was required to minimize any operational impacts.

“The safety and the wellbeing of patients, visitors and workers is a primary concern with all projects on this campus, and the demolition of Queeny Tower is no exception,” said Matt Breeze, Vice President of Operations at Kadean and principal in charge of the project.  “Many precautionary measures are being taken to protect the surrounding buildings, streets and thoroughfares, as well as the people who use them.”

Kadean is providing construction management services for the project.  Major subcontractors include Ahrens Contracting, Inc., TD4/Guarantee Electric, Clay Piping Systems, Murphy Company, Wayne Automatic Fire Protection and Sledroc Construction.

“The complexity and sensitivity of this project requires the highest caliber workforce,” Breeze added.  “We are fortunate to have top notch management, tradespeople and laborers all working together to bring this project to a successful conclusion.”