Dive Brief:

• PCL Construction Management has secured a $1.1 billion contract to build the Calgary Cancer Centre in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
• The 2-million-square-foot medical center will include 160 beds, 15 radiation vaults, outpatient clinics, research labs and a clinical trials unit. A 984-foot walkway will connect the cancer center to a 1,650-space parking garage.
• The project is the largest design-build, lump-sum contract in PCL's history. Work is expected to begin later this year, with completion set for 2022. 

Dive Insight:  

PCL is also a part of the Plenary Health CAMH consortium that is building the $685 million Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto under a public-private partnership (P3) with CAMH and Infrastructure Ontario. The new 655,000-square-foot, 235-bed facility will provide outpatient, research and educational facilities, emergency services, parks and other green spaces.

Health systems are often in a position in which getting their hospitals, outpatient centers and clinics up and running as soon as possible is important for their bottom line as well as for the communities they serve. Delivery methods like design-build, which can also be part of a P3, often allow stakeholders to see a more streamlined construction process with fewer change orders because of early collaboration.

Last year, Santa Clara County, CA, CEO Jeff Smith placed much of the blame for Valley Medical Center project woes on the shoulders of its design-bid-build agreement with Turner Construction and said the job could have avoided delays, cost overruns and a much publicized feud with Turner by using design-build.