B47 Fisher House II is an eleven-room “home away from home” for the families of seriously ill or injured patients receiving treatment at the nearby San Diego Naval Medical Center. The structure didn’t completely provide a second means of egress, however, because the second floor of the Fisher House could not be used for overnight stays. As a result, the current facility was underutilized with only six of the possible eleven rooms not being fully employed. The scope of this project included adding an additional second stairway to the building so that it was brought up to current code and the additional rooms could be used for overnight habitation, providing fire alarm strobes in the bedrooms, and installing a fire sprinkler system over the air condition units.
The structure was an approximately 9500-square-foot, neo-Mediterranean building with a stucco exterior, clay tile roof, and symmetrical north elevation. Interior construction was typical gypsum board over stud partitions, moldings appear throughout. The primary importance to the Fisher House was to have a new staircase to blend seamlessly with the current structure and minimize the loss of current use.
We responded by designing, fabricating, and constructing the staircase following the various codes and standards in accordance with Executive Order 13423, NAVFAC Engineering & Construction Bulletin (EBC) 2008-01, and other pertinent directives. We integrated sustainable principles into the design, development, and construction of the project. We reduced the total cost of ownership of the facility using a whole building life cycle approach. We also provided site analysis, evaluated the existing site conditions, assessed site development, and engineering systems requirements. Our project involved evaluation of the foundation, basement construction, superstructure, exterior enclosure, exterior windows, stairs, handrails, guardrails and accessories, fire escape stairs, exterior doors, roofing and its covering, fire-resistant requirements, roof specification, and detailing.