The Covid pandemic of 2020 effected many parts of life across the world. It would be hard to argue that the healthcare system was not one of the most effected and most challenged. With that in the back of their minds, the designers at Firelands and Prospectus envisioned a building that would be warm and welcoming with natural light to be a place that the community could feel safe and comfortable coming to for years to come.

The owners and designers of Firelands Regional wanted an elegant, naturally lit entryway for their new community health center. A building “when folks drive by, they look at the building and are proud of their community” – President and CEO Jeremy Normington-Slay. The use of glass for the ceilings and lobby walls means the hot-dip galvanized structural pieces will be very visible. The structural components need to be strong and beautiful to ensure Firelands Healthcare Center can live up to the expectation of a building to be “proud of.” Novum Structures has been operating in Wisconsin since 2005 and is known in the Midwest for their ability to deliver on a building design such as this. Their galvanizer put extra care into ensuring the aesthetic appeal of the columns would be unrivaled. By putting in extra quality control standards and expedited completion for Novum’s project, the two companies worked closely to ensure the 45,000 sq ft building would meet the vision outlined by Firelands.

“Our physical environment must promote teamwork and communication. We are striving for integration here.” This statement from Firelands Director of Quality Katherine Smith led Novum to plan for hot-dip galvanizing and paint to be used on the project. The overhang at the entryway is duplex coated to allow for the large steel structures to endure the cold Ohio winters that require salted parking lots and walkways. Duplex coating is great for the synergistic effect that paint and galvanizing have together, extending the life expectancy of both coatings and increasing the time to first maintenance of the project drastically. Time to first maintenance for HDG alone in this atmosphere is close to 70 years. The paint system used would last close to 12 years. With the two coating systems working together, the time to first maintenance on the paint is closer to 18 years while the hot-dip galvanizing is expected to be around 105 years. This combination immensely reduces the life cycle cost of the project and helps reduce the total carbon footprint as there will be less need for maintenance overall. This is a truly sustainable use of materials and with a $25 million-dollar total project cost, getting longevity out of the investment is important.

When planning for materials to be used on the project, the Firelands design crew needed to pick an option that would be environmentally friendly and safe for people to be around with multiple state and metro parks near the new building. The HDG used on the project is over 99% zinc. Zinc is mined directly from the earth and is found to be the 27th most abundant element with 5.8 million tons naturally cycled through the environment annually. Steel and zinc are infinitely renewable resources and are a perfect match when a structure needs to stand the test of time outdoors while also being conscious of the environmental footprint we are leaving for the future generations. The owners noted that the Covid pandemic highlighted the need for excellent community health systems for years to come. With their pick of materials at Firelands Health Center, they are sure to have their plan come true.