WJE PROJECTS

Drexel University College of Medicine at Tower Health

 
CLIENT
Aegis Property Group/ EQUUS Development
LOCATION
West Reading, PA

Building Enclosure Consulting

WJE was engaged by the owner’s representative to provide design peer review, on-site quality assurance, and other building enclosure consulting services. The WJE team worked in close collaboration with the project team in later parts of design and throughout the construction phases of the project to assist in delivering a quality new education and healthcare facility that effectively manages heat, air, and moisture transfer through the building enclosure.


BACKGROUND

The Drexel College of Medicine at Tower Health, West Reading Campus is a 178,000-square-foot, six-story medical education building built to serve the needs of the Tower Health System and Drexel College of Medicine. The steel-framed building is primarily enclosed with an aluminum composite material panel rainscreen and curtain wall and is host to classrooms, lecture halls, offices, and laboratory spaces.

SOLUTION

WJE provided building enclosure consulting services for the new medical school building, including a peer review of design documents, enclosure submittal and shop drawing review, and on-site construction observation of the enclosure and field-installed mock-ups. The WJE team performed computer thermal analyses of exterior enclosure at select conditions with a focus on thermal bridging and the potential for condensation development within the enclosure assemblies. WJE also participated in pre-installation design meetings, performed walk throughs of the wall panel and curtain wall fabrication facilities, and witnessed performance verification testing during construction.