Sometimes opportunities arise in strange places! In 2007, VAA was engaged to provide structural engineering for a new nine-story hospital building in Dubai, UAE. Working for Ellerbe Becket and coordinating closely with an Engineer of Record in Dubai, VAA provided design calculations and construction drawings in metric using European material standards and the IBC code. 

This 240 bed, inpatient bed tower is built using cast-in-place concrete around a seven-story glass atrium and includes two floors of below sea-level parking garage. Using mass concrete, VAA's team incorporated linear accelerator foundations and a waterproof design for the lower levels. Thomas Murray, American Hospital, Dubai (AHD) CEO says "It is a world class facility and ... extends our ability to offer high quality secondary and tertiary healthcare to the community." 

VAA is proud to support AHD's effort to reach their vision "To be the best private healthcare institution in the Gulf Region operating under American accredited standards." AHD was the first hospital in the Middle East accredited by the Joint Commission International Accreditation, and the first private laboratory accredited by the College of American Pathologists.