AECOM was mandated by the Corporation d’hébergement du Québec of the construction of a new ambulatory services center at the Pierre Le Gardeur hospital in the city of Terrebonne, located on the North shore of the island of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. AECOM was in charge, amongst others, of the 140 million dollar project’s preparatory studies, design and preliminary as well as final drawings and specifications. AECOM also developed of a fungi decontamination protocol for Block A and provided construction surveillance with residence throughout the project.

Divided in three sections, the 52,000 square-meter building has a reinforced concrete frame consisting in a bi-directional slab system with projections and extra thickness to add to bank rigidity. The care units wing (Block A) is designed to accommodate 272 beds with a possibility of 72 additional beds. Block B houses the external private clinics and one day surgery, whereas Block C houses the treatment rooms and the operating rooms of the ambulatory complex.

Because of the building’s civil protection role, the seismic analysis was a crucial aspect of its structural design. Three different structural systems where retained to ensure an increased resistance to earthquakes: a dissipation of energy system using shock absorbers by friction from Pall Dynamics Ltd (Block A), a system of ductile walls (Block B), and a system of rigid framework coupled to wind-bracing walls (Block C).The wings’ foundations are conventional and resting on dense to very dense moraine. However, the presence of pyrite with a high rate of aggressiveness in the bedrock called for a different building material; a special concrete was developed to prevent an eventual weakening of the foundations. Over the next few years, two additional steel levels, in order to minimize the weight on the foundations, will be added to Block A.

During its 2007-2008 fiscal year, the hospital’s ambulatory services center recorded over 83,000 visits, serving eleven of the province of Quebec’s seventeen administrative divisions.