The full-service hospital and integrated healthcare system is scheduled to open to patients in December 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Mayor Muriel Bowser, Universal Health Services (UHS), George Washington University and Children’s National Hospital broke ground today on the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health in Ward 8 on the St. Elizabeths East Campus.

“This is the start of a new chapter for health care in Washington, DC, especially for our neighborhoods east of the river,” said Mayor Bowser. “And I hope the message we’re sending is loud and clear: while DC Government is rightfully getting out of the business of running a hospital, we are fully present at St. Elizabeths East and fully committed to all the Washingtonians who will come to the Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center GW Health to get world-class care.”

Made possible through a public-private partnership between the Government of the District of Columbia and UHS, the $375 million project includes a 136-bed, 285,000-sq.-ft. full-service hospital, a 77,000-sq.-ft. ambulatory pavilion for physician offices, clinics and community space, a 500-car parking garage and a helipad for emergency transports.

Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health will be the first inpatient facility to be built in the District in more than 20 years. The project is being designed by HOK and McKissack & McKissack and built by Turner Construction Company and MCN Build.

Services at the medical center will include newborn delivery and a neonatal intensive care unit, academic medicine and pediatric care, women’s health services, adult and children emergency departments, a certified trauma center, behavioral and mental health, specialty care and outpatient services.

“The new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health at St. Elizabeths East is a groundbreaking project that will have a lasting impact on our community and the city,” said Mitchell Collin, regional leader of Healthcare for HOK. “The design and services offered will improve health outcomes, mitigate disparities and provide residents access to much-needed health services that are transformative for residents in Wards 7 and 8.”

The new medical center and urgent care facilities will establish a robust system of care for all District residents, especially in communities east of the Anacostia River. These health assets and investments will aim to change the trajectory of the District’s communities of color, whose health outcomes are consistently lower. A resident born in Ward 8 has a life expectancy that is 15 years less than a resident born in Ward 3.

The plan integrates the hospital into the 10-acre campus with welcoming plazas, outdoor spaces for rest and retreat, and generous green space. Materials including the classic red-brick facade take cues from historic campus buildings. Large expanses of glass will draw light into the space to promote healing while connecting patients, staff and visitors to their surroundings.

Assuring access to care, especially in underserved communities, takes more than providing adequate medical facilities. Architecture and design can help caregivers and service professionals engage everyone in the community and put them on the path to wellness,” McKissack & McKissack CEO Deryl McKissack said. “Every aspect of this project has been designed to elevate care for some of the most vulnerable communities in the district, mostly Black and Brown people who have suffered disparities disproportionate to the larger population.”

The project is part of a larger campus redevelopment plan and is designed to accommodate future growth. An expansive community engagement process will ensure the design reflects and supports the community. The project design and community engagement strategies will ensure the hospital is a good neighbor and a driving force for population health.

“The new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center will have a broad reach and positive impact on the District’s businesses and residents. Local businesses will have the opportunity to build capacity with the significant revenue from the construction and local residents will have tremendous opportunities to work on a marquee project that will benefit their own community,” said Darien C. Grant, Vice President & General Manager for Turner Construction Company – Mid-Atlantic. “Most importantly, these residents will have access to healthcare that will improve the quality of their lives. On behalf of the Turner-MCN Joint Venture, we are proud to be the Construction Manager.”

Nearly $100 million will be spent with District Certified Business Enterprises (CBEs) during construction. The project will support nearly 2,000 jobs and create at least 50 apprenticeships, with more than 300 workers on-site daily at the peak of construction.

“The new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center, GW Health at St. Elizabeths East will significantly advance healthcare access for the Ward 7 and 8 communities,” said Rudy Seikaly, CEO of MCN Build. “We are excited to be a part of this landmark project that will not only enhance healthcare equity in the District but also support the District’s Certified Business Enterprises and create careers for residents.”

The Washington-based team includes nationally recognized firms with local offices, including WSP as the MEP engineer, Delon Hampton & Associates, Chartered as the civil engineer and Walter P Moore as the structural engineer. To support Washington businesses, more than 40% of the design and engineering team will be made up of local CBEs. The design and construction team pairs a majority firm with a minority firm for every discipline. This strategy aims to give area MWBEs meaningful experience in the healthcare sector to pursue future work in the District.

“WSP is proud to partner in creating quality and equitable healthcare services for the families of Wards 7 and 8. My colleagues and I are inspired with a sense of purpose to connect our most vulnerable neighbors with quality healthcare at the new Cedar Hill Regional Medical Center,” said Gary M. Hamilton, Senior Vice President and East Coast Healthcare Leader at WSP. “We deeply appreciate our partnership with HOK and McKissack & McKissack on a holistic design that will enhance the quality of life in these communities.”

The project is anticipated to open in December 2024.

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About MCN Build, Inc.
MCN Build, Inc. is a privately held S corporation in Washington, DC, offering preconstruction, construction management, general contracting, and consulting services. The firm specializes in developments that enhance the community, including transformational projects that promote economic sustainability, including healthcare, education, recreation, affordable housing, and institutional spaces. With more than six million square feet constructed, MCN Build delivers outstanding quality, exceptional value, and an absolute commitment to an on-time and on-budget delivery for its clients – while staying true to its mission of serving the community. For more information on MCN Build, please visit www.mcnbuild.com.

About Turner Construction Company
Turner is a North America-based, international construction services company and is a leading builder in diverse market segments. Turner’s core purpose is to make a difference in the lives of our people, customers, and community through values of teamwork, integrity, and commitment. The company has earned recognition for undertaking large, complex projects, fostering innovation, embracing emerging technologies, and making a difference for their clients, employees, and community. With a staff of 10,000 employees, the company completes $12 billion of construction on 1,500 projects each year. Turner offers clients the accessibility and support of a local firm with the stability and resources of a multi-national organization. Turner’s vision is to be the highest value provider of global construction services and technical expertise. For more information, please visit www.turnerconstruction.com.

About HOK
With offices around the globe, HOK designs diverse buildings and spaces that respond to the needs of people and the environment. HOK designers are rooted in technical excellence, driven by imagination and focused on a solitary goal: to deliver solutions that inspire clients and communities. hok.com

About McKissack & McKissack
McKissack & McKissack is a national architecture, engineering, program- and construction-management firm with more than 30 years of experience working with clients to envision and deliver building and infrastructure projects that enrich people’s lives and empower communities to flourish. Based in Washington, D.C., with offices in Austin, Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles, the firm is ranked by Engineering News-Record among the top 50 Program Management firms and top 100 Construction Management For-Fee firms in the nation. Learn more at mckinc.com.

About WSP USA
WSP USA is the U.S. operating company of WSP, one of the world’s leading engineering and professional services firms. Dedicated to serving local communities, we are engineers, planners, technical experts, strategic advisors and construction management professionals. WSP USA designs lasting solutions in the buildings, transportation, energy, water and environment markets. With more than 12,000 employees in 200 offices across the U.S., we partner with our clients to help communities prosper. wsp.com

Contact:
Catherine Pratt
MCN Build, Inc.
[email protected]

Banneker Academic High School is one of the first Net Zero Energy (NZE) Public Schools in the
District. The high-performing school was built to align with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Sustainable
DC Initiative to make “the District the healthiest, greenest, most livable city for all District
Residents.” Sustainable DC outlines goals with actionable targets spanning from energy and
water to equity and education, addressing the sustainability needs of the environment and the
concerns of residents and community disparities. Specifically in this plan is an action item for
Net Zero schools.
The District’s NZE manual for green building will be based on the groundbreaking practices from
Banneker. The new educational facility was brought up to date to the current District education
specifications, including specific square footage per student, minimum cubic feet per minute
(CFM) of outside air coming in, and specific educational tools and layout characteristics all
brought to this standard.
The state-of-the-art facility has an open atrium at the heart of the school, well-lit classrooms,
collaboration areas, gymnasium, auditorium, cafeteria, coffee shop, science labs, studio and
performing arts spaces, and outdoor learning areas. The District has a stormwater management
manual, a green building management manual, and various other guidelines that were also
followed.
An NZE school is a building whose total energy usage is equal to or less than the energy it
generates, meaning the building does not take energy from the grid and is self-sustaining. A
building typically achieves this through two main strategies: reducing its energy usage demands
and producing any energy needed through renewable sources.
Key components that accomplish these strategies on an NZE school are solar elements,
supplemented by other features that allow end-users to monitor the building performance
needs. There is also an opportunity for the school even to return power to the grid when their
solar panels produce excess power not needed to operate the school.
Solar Panels
Banneker is currently classified as NZE Ready, which means we have installed all the
infrastructures in the building to allow it to meet NZE criteria. All that remains is the installation
of solar panels. Solar panel racks are in place in preparation for when the District awards the
school solar panels as part of their city-wide solar strategy. Once the panels are installed and
functioning, the school will be operating as an NZE building.
Solar panels contribute to our NZE goals as renewable energy credits (RECs), which are the
energy generated by renewable energy sources and are the real value in NZE.

Geothermal Wells
In addition to solar panels, Banneker has super-efficient systems in place. Heating and cooling
for the building are run through geothermal pumps. The geothermal well system is a water
source system that loops water down 500 feet underground where there is a consistent
temperature all year round. This constant temperature cools or heats water depending on if the
temperature outside is hotter or colder than that underground. That water will return to the
building at the new temperature, either cooling or heating the air. This system uses significantly
less energy than a traditional HVAC system.
At Banneker, there are 125 geothermal wells on-site to help heat and cool such a large building.
The school has heat pumps for every three to four rooms, so there isn’t a sizeable central
system – no large fans or cooling towers that you would typically see.
Effective Environments
The building incorporates a series of strategies around daylight, thermal comfort, acoustics, and
indoor environmental quality to generate a high-performance learning center. Outside air is
brought into the school through a massive piece of equipment that regulates the fresh air
through CO 2 sensors.
Remember getting drowsy during class in the afternoon? This is because the oxygen levels in
the classroom fall. We’ve incorporated a sensor system that detects the CO 2 levels in the
classroom. Once they get low, fresh air is circulated back into the classroom – one of the many
features contributing to our LEED strategy on this project. The primary focus is the health of the
students and ensuring a safe environment. We also perform indoor air quality testing to ensure
no residual volatile organic compounds (VOCs), harmful odors, or contaminants before the
school is turned over.
How does the design-build team incorporate NZE into a building? It all starts with the
preconstruction team. When the requirement is NZE or NZE Ready, the preconstruction team
performs checks and balances to ensure the pricing and costs match the delivery ask. Going
over budget with NZE is easy, so the preconstruction team needs to monitor costs and
implications. All the crucial decisions relative to NZE are made during the preconstruction
process.
Honoring a Legacy
Banneker Academic High School’s design honors the legacy of Benjamin Banneker and
compliments the neighborhood’s architecture. Benjamin Banneker was an African American
scientist, surveyor, almanac author, and farmer. While working in the District, he became
associated with the law enforcement who laid out the original city.
Throughout the school, there are several design elements to honor and celebrate Benjamin
Banneker. Maps of the District, which he helped design, are showcased on the floor of several
collaboration areas throughout the school – Andy can touch more on this piece. Banneker was
also a watchmaker, and in the school’s atrium, there is a global watch hanging sculpture to

celebrate his achievements. The state-of-the-art high school also features a rooftop terrace
with a garden for students, a community skatepark, and a community dog park. Banneker high
school

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– MCN Build (MCN), a purpose-driven construction company headquartered in Washington, D.C., announced that two of its projects, Lubber Run Community Center and Jefferson Middle School, were awarded Engineering News-Record (ENR) MidAtlantic 2021 Best Projects Awards.

The ENR annual awards program is dedicated to honoring the best construction projects and the companies that designed and built them. Independent juries of industry professionals in design and construction from each of ENR’s ten regional editions assessed the projects based on innovation, teamwork, and safety.

The Lubber Run Community Center, located in Arlington, Virginia, was awarded Best Project in the Sports/Entertainment category. The state-of-the-art facility includes new outdoor recreation spaces and provides the community with programming for all ages, including a pre-school and senior center. Designed and built with extensive community feedback, the structure seamlessly integrates with the surrounding landscape and maximizes open community space. This Net Zero Ready facility is filled with sustainable features that optimize the building’s energy performance – even trees that were felled during construction were milled and used to clad the primary circulation pathways inside the building.

Jefferson Middle School Academy, located in Washington, D.C., is an Award of Merit Honoree for ENR’s K-12 Education category. Located adjacent to The Wharf, this modernization created educational environments that support 21st-century learning, also doubling as community spaces for the neighborhood. The school is housed in a historic building originally designed for two separate entities – the Southwestern Branch Public Library and Jefferson Junior High School. MCN worked closely with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Historic Preservation Office throughout this project. The modernization was the building’s first major renovation since its original construction in 1939 and is LEED Gold Certified.

“The ENR MidAtlantic 2021 Best Project Award is a prestigious honor recognizing the best of innovation, quality, and safety. The judges reviewed nearly 90 projects located throughout the region, including Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia, to make their selection. Being recognized brings MCN one step closer to fulfilling our vision of being the most respected builder in the MidAtlantic Region,” says CEO of MCN Build, Rudy Seikaly.

ABOUT MCN BUILD

MCN Build, Inc. is a privately held S corporation in Washington, DC, offering preconstruction, construction management, general contracting, and consulting services. The firm specializes in developments that enhance the community, including transformational projects that promote economic sustainability, including education, recreation, healthcare, affordable housing, and institutional spaces. With more than 6 million square feet constructed, MCN Build delivers outstanding quality, exceptional value, and an absolute commitment to an on-time and on-budget delivery for its clients – while staying true to its mission of serving the community. For more information on MCN Build, please visit www.mcnbuild.com.

Contact:
Catherine Pratt
MCN Build, Inc.
202.704.1843

Today, the Mayor cut the ribbon at the District of Columbia International (DCI) and Latin American Montessori Bilingual (LAMB) Public Charter Schools, officially opening the first public building on the Parks at Walter Reed, formerly the Walter Reed Army Medical Center campus.

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Designed by Studio27 and constructed by MCN Build, the state-of-the-art Achievement Prep opened in the Washington Highlands neighborhood. This new facility brings new educational opportunities to one of the poorest neighborhoods in the District.

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FEMS No. 16, the fire and emergency medical service facility is in the midst of a multi-million renovation and the Washington Post has had a front row seat to its transformation.

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In Construction Today, MCN Build elaborates on its uncommon approach to the construction industry and its focus on building projects that significantly benefit its market, particularly communities and educational work.

Learn more here.