The new Nantucket Cottage Hospital scheduled to open by year's end is being built to survive hurricanes, according to an article on the Cape Cod Times website. The 106,000-square-foot, 14-bed hospital is being built to hurricane design specifications established by Florida's Miami-Dade County.
Building according to the Florida code will allow the hospital to withstand Hurricane Irma-strength winds of 185 mph, rather than 150 mph as specified by Massachusetts building codes.
Massive 5-foot-by-5-foot concrete footings fortified by mesh, "Stormwatch" windows and a double-hulled exterior building shell will help the new hospital stand up to Category 5 winds, hospital officials said.
The boiler room, located in the basement of the existing hospital, will be shackled to the flat roof of the new hospital, hidden behind peaked mansard roof lines along with other mechanical works.
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