Building Renovation or Rehab
The Mayo Clinic Second Floor Radiology

Building an imaging center with multiple MRI machines is always a challenge. Putting it on a second floor is a whole other story.

Mark Herron, founder of The Herron Group, led a $32 million 28,000 sq.ft expansion of the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Davis Building from 1997 to 1998, helping advance medicine in Northeast Florida, and building the Herron name in the process. 

At the time (2002), the Mayo Clinic’s Davis building was the only place in the world with a MRI machine on the second floor. Moving a unit like this to the second floor required the use of advanced materials in construction. 

MRI machines are housed in radio frequency shielding rooms to limit interference from outside the room. These RF shielding rooms require a steel plate in the floor to neutralize the magnetic field of the surrounding environment. With four magnets facing each other in a 2,500 sq. ft. space, this was a huge step in the advancement of medical imaging.

Imaging machines also need to produce clear images, which is why vibration isolation pads are installed. These pads absorb any vibrations from the building before they get to the machine in order to create a stable platform for imaging. 

Mayo Clinic is the number one hospital in Florida, and known worldwide. Due to the prestige of this project, it was also important to ensure the highest quality work. This project included high-tech medical equipment, cutting edge material, and coordinating materials from all over the world. Working with the Mayo Clinic on this groundbreaking project was a milestone in Mark’s career as it shows his level of organization, professionalism, and knowledge in the industry.