Duke Central Tower
Durham, NC

Project Strategy

Duke Central Tower | Durham, NC

It’s not every day you get to be involved with a project that is literally saving lives. This $265 million dollar addition expands the critical care and pediatric services of Duke University Hospital and Duke Children’s Hospital. With 11 additional floors and 350 new beds, Duke Central Tower is able to provide exceptional care and comfort for both children and adults.

This addition features ten stories of patient rooms for pediatric, ICU, and post-operation recovery. These spaces accommodate technologically advanced medical equipment to support oncology, transplant, orthopedic, and neuroscience care services. Additional spaces include two pediatric cardiac catheterization labs, new state-of-the-art pharmacy services, designated family zones and children’s activity rooms.

The Bonitz Raleigh team is grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside some of the best in the industry. By joining forces with the talented teams from Perkins + Will and Skanska USA, we were able to develop and execute thoughtful design solutions that helped shape this world class facility. After four years of commitment and collaboration, the end result is a facility that provides some of the world’s best clinical care in an environment that promotes healing and well-being to patients and their families.

We are proud to highlight a wide variety of Starnet’s quality manufacturers throughout this installation. There were a lot of critical functional requirements that had to be met, alongside ensuring the project stayed on time and on budget. Spray-Lock, Ardex, Daltile, Armstrong, Mohawk, Tarkett Johnsonite, and Mapei are products that were selected based on high performance and sustainable design.

These products were an integral part of the following scopes:
• Concrete Moisture Management – Spray-Lock
o We applied Spray-Lock to all 11 floors on this project totaling almost 450,000 sq ft. Due to the escalated schedule, options were needed to ensure concrete moisture would not impact the schedule and Spray-Lock provided the best option. This allowed the concrete to be treated at the time of placement and potentially be ready for flooring installation as soon as 14 days after pour.

• Floor Prep – Ardex
o Due to the specified flooring having a very strict floor flatness tolerance, additional concrete prep was required to meet the requirements. Over 4,000 bags of Ardex V1200 were used as well as hundreds of bags of Ardex Feather Finish to ensure the flatness requirements were met.

• Ceramic Tile – Daltile (and others)
o All patient and common area restrooms received hard tile as well as accent walls at entry vestibules. The Daltile products on the project were 6x6 Modern Dimensions white wall tile and 2”x2” Keystones mosaic for a simple and sleek aesthetic.
o *NOTE – All setting materials, grouts, and waterproofing were Mapei Products.

• Resilient Flooring – Armstrong
o 95% of the project has resilient floor coverings. Armstrong sheet vinyl was installed specifically in the Cath Labs, where life-saving heart procedures take place daily.

• Carpet Tile -Mohawk
o All waiting rooms and private offices were specified using Mohawk Gravitational Plank from the Expedition Collection. This collection uses the Duracolor advanced stain-resistant fiber technology. This Red List Free flooring selection is forever sustainable, reducing the environmental impact by extending the product life. The color palette was custom-designed by the Perkins + Will design team.

• Tarkett – Johnsonite
o Rubber base was used in several areas throughout the project, creating smooth and seamless transitions.

This 490,000 square foot facility will serve and protect our community for years to come. It already played a key role in fighting the battle against Covid-19 as the lower 4 floors were opened well ahead of the construction schedule to allow for additional bed space as the cases continued to grow. Our collective team is beyond proud to have been involved in such a rewarding project and are thankful to the team, the community, and our Starnet partners for supporting this major effort.


Professional photos coming soon!

Unique Installation Challenge Strategy

1. Concrete Moisture Management – Spray-Lock
We applied Spray-Lock to all 11 floors on this project totaling almost 490,000 sq ft. Due to the escalated schedule, options were needed to ensure concrete moisture would not impact the schedule and Spray-Lock provided the best option. This allowed the concrete to be treated at the time of placement and potentially be ready for flooring installation as soon as 14 days after pour.

2. Floor Prep – Ardex
Due to the specified flooring having a very strict floor flatness tolerance, additional concrete prep was required to meet the requirements. Over 4,000 bags of Ardex V1200 were used as well as hundreds of bags of Ardex Feather Finish to ensure the flatness requirements were met.