Ronald McDonald
House of Austin

"A strong mind. A strong body. And a safe, supportive place to grow. These are things that every child needs – and deserves." This is the Ronald McDonald’s motto and the goal of our design.

Located next to the Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas, this project was designed to provide a "home away from home" for families with critically ill or injured children recovering or undergoing treatment in Austin area hospitals. Due to a limited budget, architecturally creative design, and Platinum LEED objective, the project proved to be challenging; requiring extensive coordination with the design team members.

The building has two curved two story residential wings with a four story central "core". The approximate 19,500 sf guest house was designed with 30 guestrooms, multi-use common areas, administrative offices and extensive and intensive roof top gardens which are located throughout the elevated floor areas. 54 Photovoltaic solar panels provide10.8kW, which power up to 15 rooms and offset over 30,000 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

An environmentally sustainable approach to the structure led to the use of recycled steel framing members supporting a high pozzolan content concrete floor system. The allowance of a high substitution of Portland cement with fly ash allowed the project to achieve a credit in Innovation in Design and helped keep the project on track for its green building objectives. Noted structural challenges included the framing systems to support the cantilevered roof garden and the large amount of structural beam penetrations required by the MEP systems to achieve a very shallow floor plenum depth.

Austin’s Ronald McDonald House is the first LEED Platinum Ronald McDonald House in the world. It was the first building in the City of Austin and only the third in the State of Texas to attain LEED Platinum NC (New Construction) certification, the highest level of green building awarded by the United States Green Building Council.

Owner

Ronald McDonald House Charities

Architect

Eckols & Associates

Contractor

Beck

Size

19,500 sf

Location

Austin, TX

Sustainability

LEED Platinum NC (New Construction)