Modern Steel Construction • November 2025 • Steel on Schedule

Close coordination between project team members maximized structural steel’s cost and construction speed advantages.

A MEDICAL CENTER in Philadelphia had a non-negotiable budget and five-year schedule, and choosing structural steel for its frame helped the architect and structural engineer adhere to both.

The project team for the Jefferson Health Honickman Center, a 20-story, 450,000-sq.-ft medical building, leaned on tight coordination and leveraged partnerships to find schedule savings and stay within the budget. Design began in 2019, and the key schedule-reducing measures—and by extension, cost reductions—came in design and fabrication. More than 5,700 tons of steel were included in the bid, and the mill order was fast-tracked using quantities from the 100% design development drawing package. The design team simultaneously worked towards producing the 100% construction documents, all with the aim of reducing the overall schedule and procuring steel ahead of the economic challenges of COVID.

Structural engineer of record IMEG and fabricator Cives Steel collaborated to complete all connection design. Cives hired IMEG to design non-major connections that were part of the fabrication package rather than hiring another engineer to design and stamp those connections for IMEG to then approve. By hiring IMEG for all parts of connection design, Cives received connections optimized for its shop standards and enhanced by IMEG’s knowledge of the building design. Their partnership helped avoid costly RFIs and delays, reinforcing the time- and budget-conscious approach throughout construction.

The Honickman Center’s success also hinged on structural steel’s unmatched ability to address the building’s robust programming scope. The building brings together 19 previously dispersed specialty clinics—including oncology, urology, cardiology, and digestive health—into one integrated hub. It had a demanding structural program, including rigorous serviceability criteria for imaging and procedure spaces and similarly demanding criteria to meet acoustics privacy needs, complex truss transfers, high floor-to-floor levels and challenging façade support requirements. Steel’s high strength-to-weight ratio enabled longer spans and minimized the number of columns, allowing for larger, open clinical areas that support project goals like flexible room layouts and future reconfigurations.

Zoning requirements mandated the building have vertical setbacks to keep a sightline to Philadelphia’s historic City Hall. This meant IMEG’s structural design needed to accommodate building setbacks with transfer beams and special detailing to horizontally transfer some of the building’s lateral force-resisting frames. The architect used one of the setback areas as an outdoor roof terrace space at the 15th floor, which required IMEG to provide special support details for an 8-ft-tall glass screen wall.

The superstructure design implemented structural steel with a minimum LOD of 350 as the basis of design instead of typical industry standard LOD of 300. Due to intense mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems, gusset plates, bolts and angles for truss and braced frame connections were 3D-modeled to coordinate with those systems. The coordinated model saved time by discovering potential conflicts during design, avoiding costly field conflicts and modifications. High ceiling heights meant beam web penetrations and beam end notches were required in Level 2 beams to allow for MEP distribution.

IMEG also undertook vibration analysis to ensure imaging, surgical, and exam floors met Facility Guidelines Institute (FGI) guidelines for outpatient facilities. The steel design needed to meet strict vibration criteria, especially for imaging floors with MRI and CT scanners, which are located over a mechanical room of 2,000 P-in. per second. IMEG provided criteria on the structural drawings to restrict the direct attachment of mechanical systems to the fourth floor’s steel.

The rooftop mechanical systems needed catwalk framing at the roof and within the mechanical rooms. A 42-ft-deep mechanical well required vertical truss frames to support the tall mechanical screen walls and shield large rooftop equipment such as emergency generators and cooling towers sitting on dunnage framing.

Eight transfer trusses supporting Level 4 range from 15 ft to 30 ft deep and transfer columns above, accommodating an open ground-level lobby. Likewise, the rooftop mechanical penthouse and third-floor mechanical room demanded careful integration of steel framing and building systems to support heavy equipment and meet acoustic performance targets.

The building rests atop the concrete columns and walls of a 120,000-sq.-ft, three-level, below-grade cast-in-place concrete garage. The transition from concrete to steel required meticulous structural planning, including the use of a full-building mat foundation up to 8 ft thick. IMEG developed details to transfer gravity and lateral loads into the concrete structure, using embedded W12×279 members as drag struts for the transfer.

The building’s western plaza was also designed with adaptability in mind. The below-grade structure includes overbuild capacity on its west side for future office or residential space, along with a connecting bridge, a strategic investment in long-term flexibility. Above this base, structural steel provided the versatility and ease of integration that enabled the team to overcome both technical and spatial constraints.

Grade 65 steel was used for W-shape columns, ranging from W14×90 through W14×730 sections. Because of high loads from transfers and tall floor heights at ground level, the largest-rolled W14 columns were not sufficient at all column locations. Box columns weighing more than 1,000 lb/ft were built-up from plates to support the loads at a few locations. Plates were up to 6 in. thick in the built-up shapes and some baseplates. IMEG also provided built-up I-shaped columns as alternatives to W14×808 and W14×873 sections. All plate thicknesses were sourced as grade 50 A572.

Architecturally, the building’s sculpted glass façade—resembling pleated fabric—pays tribute to Philadelphia’s textile heritage. The façade design choice enhances the urban skyline while also improving thermal performance through strategic fritting and shading.

IMEG studied multiple design options to support the curved curtain wall façade, including straight slab versus faceted slab edges, rotation of floor deck at the perimeter, “diving board” plate detail, and the chosen scheme, HSS outriggers off spandrel beams. Due to the curved nature of the curtain wall façade system, more than 1,000 HSS outriggers of various lengths and miscellaneous bracing were required. Estimated tonnage for façade support steel was over 50 tons.

Design of the spandrel beams to support the façade required careful analysis, as the curved nature imposed significant torsional moments on W-shape beams. IMEG used finite element and hand calculations to size spandrel members for strength and stringent deflection limits.

Coordination of this façade system required significant effort with tower architect Ennead Architects, envelope consultant Heintges, and design assist façade contractor New Hudson Facades. IMEG participated in more than 80 coordination meetings for the façade and developed more than 20 unique perimeter support details.

Inside, the structural layout enabled design elements, such as expansive “sky lobbies” featuring natural light, floor plate transitions to preserve city views, and garden-integrated oncology suites. These elements could only be realized with steel’s flexibility and spanning capabilities.

The Honickman Center opened in March 2024—meeting the five-year-schedule—as the final piece of a $1 billion East Market redevelopment in the heart of Philadelphia. Through early collaboration and strategic structural design, the project team delivered a high-performance healthcare facility symbolizing how steel can turn ambitious visions into reality on time, on budget, and with enduring quality.