“How do make this 1953 vintage Nursing Home Comply with the 2020 Life-Safety Code?”
Mid-Century Modern Nursing Home in Oak Park, Illinois
“How do make this 1953 vintage Nursing Home Comply with the 2020 Life-Safety Code?”
The State of Illinois was going to close the facility and a lot people would have been homeless unless we came up with a cost-effective solution to fix it.
So we went to work.
The principle issue the 9 foot, 3 inch floor to ceiling height. Originally the hallway had a drop ceiling (@7’-8”) creating a plenum that a fan head pushed conditioned air into. Each full-height room had a damper above the door and the resident could open and close it to temper the air. This drop ceiling could also function as an avenue for fire and a disaster. So we needed to find another way to heat and cool the rooms.
We specfied a PTAC window unit, did the mechanical calculations and hired an engineer to design the new electrical service as the new window units consumed far more electricity than the building’s orginal system could handle. Being cost conscious we reused the existing furnace and fan head in the hallway closet and ran new duct work in the existing drop ceiling.
Problem solved and the residents experience a minimal convenience. #oakpark #flwright #midcentury #midcenturymodern #heatpump
The State of Illinois was going to close the facility and a lot people would have been homeless unless we came up with a cost-effective solution to fix it.
So we went to work.
The principle issue the 9 foot, 3 inch floor to ceiling height. Originally the hallway had a drop ceiling (@7’-8”) creating a plenum that a fan head pushed conditioned air into. Each full-height room had a damper above the door and the resident could open and close it to temper the air. This drop ceiling could also function as an avenue for fire and a disaster. So we needed to find another way to heat and cool the rooms.
We specfied a PTAC window unit, did the mechanical calculations and hired an engineer to design the new electrical service as the new window units consumed far more electricity than the building’s orginal system could handle. Being cost conscious we reused the existing furnace and fan head in the hallway closet and ran new duct work in the existing drop ceiling.
Problem solved and the residents experience a minimal convenience. #oakpark #flwright #midcentury #midcenturymodern #heatpump