McCarthy is providing full construction services for the $20 million project for the San Diego Community College District. The project is funded by Proposition S Construction Bond, which was approved by San Diego voters in 2002.
San Diego-based Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker is the project architect. Construction manager Richard Burkhart is providing oversight on behalf of the San Diego Community College District.
The three-story Allied Health building will include a computer lab, classrooms, a clinical dental lab, physical therapy lab, medical lab, plus faculty and staff offices. Situated at the college's main campus entry off Mesa College Drive, the building will serve as a prominent landmark for the college. Completion is slated for August 2009.
Because the building site is significantly compact, a three-story building layout was necessary to accommodate all of the uses required by the faculty, staff, and students. This made it paramount in the exterior design to reduce the vertical emphasis of the tall building by incorporating multiple horizontal design elements such as a continuous ribbon window curtain wall system with integral horizontal window eyebrows that also play a significant role in shading the glass and reducing the amount of internal solar gain inside the building.
Another important design element is the introduction of stone cladding on the more powerful vertical elements such as stairs and entry areas. This will be the first building on the campus to use stone elements on the exterior.
Part of the project scope involves extensive realignment of an existing roadway, which posed the challenge of deciphering how to perform the majority of the work without interrupting the access/egress requirements of the campus. The McCarthy project team worked with the district to save several months on the district's original schedule and sequencing plan. Collectively they came up with a shorter phasing plan that will significantly reduce the campus disruption and ultimately save the district a considerable amount of money.
