It’s hard to exhaust superlatives when it comes to the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, the new medical center created by the former Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.
Each floor of the 1.2-million-square-foot space in Chicago contains AbilityLabs, where real-time biomedical science research is integrated with the clinical environment to help treat patients who have suffered injuries to the brain, spinal cord and more. A large therapy pool is forever heated at 97 degrees. Overall, the new facility focuses on fostering a patient’s ability rather than simply rehabilitating his or her disability.
ESD provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection and technology engineering services for the $550-million project. Since equipment for research and rehabilitation is constantly evolving, the MEP systems for the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab are configured to allow the space to have adaptive use.