National Institutes of Health
Clinical Research Center

Bethesda, MD

The National Institutes of Health is the nation’s medical research agency, making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives. After World War II, Congress provided the funding necessary to build a research hospital on the Bethesda campus. Now known as the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, the hospital was opened in 1953 with 540 beds. 2005 saw the opening of the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center, an 870,000 square foot addition to the Clinical Center that created the nation’s largest hospital devoted solely to clinical research.

Over the course of the four year project, NFP installed approximately 17,000 sprinklers and 105 fire hose valves to protect the addition. The facility is protected by a wet standpipe system, wet pipe sprinkler systems, and dry pipe sprinkler systems. Above each patient care or laboratory area, there is an interstitial space that contains the majority of piping and equipment the space below requires. Special sprinklers designed to provide a fire resistant rating for glass were installed throughout the project. The fire protection systems are supplied by the existing fire pumps, which are located in the Clinical Center.