St. Louis-based McCarthy Building Cos. has reached a major milestone in its hometown with the completion of the new Plaza West Tower at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. The 16-story, 660,000-square-foot tower marks one of the most significant additions to the hospital’s growing medical campus, expanding cardiovascular care, radiology services and patient capacity.
According to a Dec. 3 news release sent to Construction Dive, the expansion includes 224 private inpatient rooms and 56 private ICU rooms, supported by state-of-the-art clinical areas that were planned and designed beginning in December 2019. Full construction began in November 2021, transforming a formerly landlocked and heavily trafficked corner of the campus into a modern medical facility. The project was built on the site of the former Queeny Tower, a longstanding structure removed to make way for the new addition.
Barnes-Jewish Hospital, one of the country’s largest and most respected medical centers, serves as a major referral hub for the Midwest. The Plaza West Tower is a key piece of BJC HealthCare’s broader Campus Renewal initiative — a multi-phase redevelopment effort that aims to modernize the Washington University medical campus through new facilities and extensive renovations. The university reports that the initiative has already contributed nearly $2 billion in economic impact.
What sets the Plaza West Tower apart is the scale of prefabrication used throughout its delivery. McCarthy turned to an aggressive prefab strategy to reduce congestion, improve quality and shorten installation time. The company relied on 280 fully finished bathroom pods manufactured offsite by St. Louis-based T.J. Wies Contracting. Each pod arrived complete with plumbing, electrical, tile, fixtures and finishes. After delivery, cranes hoisted each pod floor by floor into its final location. McCarthy said this approach ensured more consistent quality than field-built methods and helped the team maintain workflow despite the tight, high-traffic jobsite.
Because the tower sits at one of the busiest intersections on the medical campus, the team had to navigate challenges related to pedestrian flow, emergency access and dense vehicle activity. That meant meticulous coordination of deliveries, crane movement and structural sequencing — all while ensuring hospital operations continued uninterrupted.
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“Working on a landlocked site in the heart of a major medical center required us to rethink every step of the construction process,” said Kris Mannen, senior superintendent for McCarthy, in the news release. “Through prefabrication, creative logistics, and close collaboration with our partners, we were able to deliver a world-class facility while minimizing the impact on daily hospital operations.”
Most partners on the project were based in St. Louis, underscoring the region’s deep bench of construction and engineering talent. CannonDesign, BJC HealthCare, BR+A Consulting Engineers and Castle were among the local contributors, while structural engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti supported the project from its New York headquarters.
However, the project did encounter challenges beyond construction logistics. One trade partner, BRK Electrical Contractors, filed an $819,692 mechanic’s lien against the project on Oct. 4, according to reporting from First Alert 4. McCarthy confirmed awareness of the lien but declined to comment further due to the ongoing nature of the issue.
Despite these complications, the completion of the Plaza West Tower represents a major step forward for BJC HealthCare’s long-term campus transformation. The facility will significantly enhance patient care capabilities and support growing demand for specialized cardiac, vascular and radiology services — marking an important investment in St. Louis’ healthcare landscape.
Originally reported by Matthew Thibault in Construction Dive.
