The new $92 million instructional building is being funded by the $1.555 billion Propositions S and N construction bond program, which is providing for new teaching and learning facilities, major renovations and campus infrastructure projects at Mesa, City and Miramar colleges, and six continuing education campuses.  Construction is expected to begin in early September 2010, with completion slated for November 2012.

This is the second major project McCarthy has been awarded by the San Diego Community College District at San Diego Mesa College. The company also built the new three-story, 50,000-square-foot Allied Health Building, which was completed in August.

“McCarthy was well-positioned for this project based on its extensive experience with laboratories and higher education construction projects,” said David Umstot, vice chancellor of facilities management for the San Diego Community College District.  “The stellar performance of the McCarthy team on the adjacent Allied Health project at Mesa College factored heavily into their being selected for this technically complex project.”

Designed by Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building will house four floors of classrooms, laboratory space and offices for the departments of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physical sciences.  Additionally, several faculty/student interaction areas will be incorporated into the building’s design. The new Math and Science Building will be constructed of structural steel with concrete shear walls and an exterior curtain wall.

The $92 million San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building is designed to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification under guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council. Many of the latest sustainable design features will be incorporated into the building’s design in an effort to achieve LEED Silver certification.

The new Math and Science Building will occupy the area immediately east of the existing Learning and Resource Building and south of the I-300 Building on the San Diego Mesa College campus. Two existing buildings will have to be demolished to make room for the new facility.

According to McCarthy Project Director Robert Betz, the biggest challenge facing the construction team is the project’s location on a compact 200,000-square-foot site right in the middle of the campus.

“Project access is a major issue that will pose ingress/egress as well as subcontractor scheduling challenges,” said Betz. “We are in the process of devising a plan that will allow us to work within the site constraints while minimizing disruption to ongoing traffic and activities at the campus during the construction period.”

Project team consultants for the new San Diego Mesa College Math and Science Building include Hope Engineering for structural engineering, and X-nth for mechanical and electrical engineering. The program manager for the Propositions S and N construction program for the San Diego Community College District is Gafcon.

About San Diego Mesa College
Among the largest community colleges in California and the nation, San Diego Mesa College is a fully accredited two-year college offering 160 Associate degree and certificate programs. Recognized in 2007 as one of the top 100 producers of associate degrees in the nation, Mesa College ranks as San Diego’s top transfer institution. The college also serves as an important economic catalyst for the region. Its career programs and industry alliances offer graduates almost immediate job placement in the fields of allied health, biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, business technology, consumer studies, and more. Other top specialized career programs include fashion, architecture, multimedia, animal health technology, American Sign Language, interior design, and hospitality and event management. More information is available online at www.sdmesa.edu.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and is ranked among the top five education builders by Engineering News-Record. The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Soka University has invited university officials, local dignitaries and the entire design and construction team to attend the event.  Special guests will have the opportunity to sign the truss before it is lifted by a 300-ton crawler crane and secured to the roof of the Performing Arts Center. Students and visitors on the campus will also be able to witness the project milestone from the campus greenbelt which overlooks the construction site.

“Typically, a building tops out when the last structural steel beam is placed,” said McCarthy project manager Nate Ray. “However, the Soka Performing Arts Center has four massive roof trusses which span the width of the performance hall, so it seemed appropriate to celebrate the placement of the final truss. At 16.5 feet tall and 114 feet wide, these trusses are so large that they will be delivered at night with a California Highway Patrol escort.”

Junior Steel of Gardena, Calif. is the specialty contractor who will be conducting the placement of the roof trusses.  The process will begin on September 28 and will culminate during the event on September 29 at 12:30 p.m.

“We’re delighted to share this historic moment with our students, staff, faculty and community,” noted president Daniel Y. Habuki of Soka University.  “This is our chance to thank the hundreds of construction workers who have done such a good job that construction is ahead of schedule for our new 1000-seat Performing Arts Center.  We look forward to dedicating it in May 2011 as part of our 10th anniversary celebration for our  Aliso Viejo campus.”

McCarthy is serving as general contractor for the $73 million project which began in December 2008. The project includes construction of a three-level, 47,836-square-foot Performing Arts Center housing a reception lobby, support spaces and a 1,000 seat auditorium as well as a 48,974-square-foot Academic Building located adjacent to and providing support for the Performing Arts Center. The new four-level academic building will house 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, four dressing rooms, a rehearsal/dance studio, musician warm-up spaces and other support areas.

Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP of Los Angeles, the new buildings will provide visual continuity with the existing buildings and the Mediterranean hill town design theme of the campus. Built on a sloping site, the first level of both buildings will be at the same finish grade as the perimeter road that circles the University exposing only the south side of the structure. The Performing Arts Center and Academic Facilities buildings share a loading dock and locker room area which will connect the two buildings. Both structures are being built with a combination of a structural concrete and structural steel frame. The buildings’ exteriors will feature smooth plaster walls, travertine stone bands, aluminum curtain walls, clear glass glazing and clay tile roofs.

The project’s design and construction team are pursuing United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Certification for the buildings. In order to
achieve a lofty LEED rating, McCarthy is using sustainable construction methods throughout the project such as minimizing unrecyclable construction waste, maintaining proper indoor air quality and ensuring that the subcontractors install the specified “green” materials. Likewise, the design of these structures incorporates numerous sustainable and energy efficiency solutions. The academic building will feature operable windows, ceiling fans, displacement ventilation and radiant panels. The Performing Arts Center’s “green roof” and sunshade structure surrounding the lobby will use photovoltaic (solar) panels, and a bioswale will help manage storm water runoff. McCarthy is using building materials made from recycled content and that are locally extracted, processed and regionally manufactured. Additionally, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood and low emitting adhesives, sealants, paints, carpets and composite wood products will be incorporated in both structures.

Once completed in fall 2010, the new Performing Arts Center will serve the campus and South Orange County as a venue for lectures, assemblies, concerts and theater productions furthering Soka University’s role as a cultural center and place of community gathering.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm has been building in the education market for the last 50 years.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The new research laboratory has a function similar to the existing 145,000-square-foot UCSD School of Medicine Leichtag Family Foundation for Biomedical Research Building, which McCarthy completed for the University in spring of 2004. The newer facility will be part of the ongoing expansion of the School of Medicine campus.
Boone Hellman, campus architect for UCSD, is overseeing the $90 million project, with James Gillie, senior director of construction services for UCSD, supervising construction. Anticipating a two-year build-out, McCarthy will begin construction in fall of 2010.

Designed by nationally known ZGFArchitects, LLP (ZGF), the research building will fit within the modern design context of the academic mall on the School of Medicine campus.  The facility will encompass wet labs, open lab space, meeting rooms and support space on four stories above ground, with core lab space and support mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems located in the basement. The exterior of the building will be a combination of architectural concrete, curtain wall, metal panels, and terra cotta cladding.

A primary goal for the new facility is to achieve LEED Gold or possibly Platinum level of certification from the United States Green Building Council. This will necessitate an intensive, thoughtful approach to all aspects of design and construction and especially the build-out of the overall mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems to ensure optimum energy efficiency.

“The University and our design team have an expectation of this being one of the most sustainably designed and highest performing research labs on the UCSD campus and possibly in the country,” said Joe Collins, AIA, a partner with ZGF and principal architect for the new UCSD education laboratory. “We’ve had a lot of success teaming with McCarthy on past UC-system projects.  For this new facility, we’re going a step beyond to create, along with the owner, a customized project delivery system that brings the major trades into the project earlier to ensure its success.”

According to Bob Betz, project director for McCarthy, the aspect of the project that will prove most challenging is construction of the lab space and the highly MEP-intensive areas of the overhead construction.  Building Information Modeling (BIM) will be utilized extensively to help in the coordination of these spaces.
One of the more important features of the building design is the exterior architectural concrete work, which McCarthy will self perform. The firm previously achieved noteworthy success on the poured-in-place concrete of the nearby award-winning Student Academic Services Facility, completed by McCarthy in August 2007.

KPFF of Portland and San Diego is the structural engineer for the new UCSD Health Sciences Biomedical Research Facility.  IBE Consulting Engineers, based in Sherman Oaks, is the mechanical and plumbing engineer, and Integrated Engineering Consultants of Los Angeles is the electrical engineer. Spurlock Poirier of San Diego is the landscape architect.  RFD, also of San Diego, is the laboratory-planning consultant.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2008) and among the top 10 education builders (Engineering News-Record, October 2006). The firm has been building in the education market for the last 50 years. Committed to the construction of high performance buildings, the company has managed construction or built more than 300 K-12 school projects nationwide, totaling more than $2 billion in construction value, and nearly 100 higher education projects on more than 50 campuses. In addition to San Diego, McCarthy has offices in Newport Beach, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis; Dallas and Atlanta.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com

McCarthy has begun preconstruction services on the new 15,000-square-foot College of Southern Nevada (CSN) Fire Station. McCarthy was recently awarded the $5.5 million project by the city of Las Vegas and CSN and will serve as Construction Manager at Risk (”CMAR”) throughout the construction of the project.

Located on the CSN campus at the southwest corner of Torrey Pines Drive and Oakey Boulevard, the new single-story facility will serve a dual purpose of providing 4,000 square feet of classrooms and lecture halls as well as housing a four-bay fire station for the city of Las Vegas.

“Our experience has taught us that getting involved early is the key to getting the project both started and completed on time,” said Ryan Heeter, project director for McCarthy. “We are currently working with the design team to establish project goals and budget considerations. This is a collaborative effort between all parties involved to provide the owner with an accurate design, cost and schedule prior to the start of construction.”

Designed by JMA Architecture Studios, the building features LEED standards that provide energy saving components such as increased day lighting, water efficient landscaping and provisions for the installation of solar panels. Scheduled for completion in the fall of 2010, the new building will be constructed using metal stud framing with an EIFS and Stone exterior finish.

About McCarthy
Recognized by the Nevada Contractors Association as the “Safest Contractor of the Year” in 2008, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has helped to define the Southern Nevada landscape for more than 30 years. McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

The new $20 million San Diego Mesa College Allied Health Building is being funded by the Proposition S Construction Bond, which was approved by San Diego voters in 2002. Construction began last May, and is slated for completion this September. The road realignment, considered phase three of the project, is scheduled for completion in December.

Situated off Mesa College Drive at the main campus entry, the Allied Health facility will serve as a prominent landmark for San Diego Mesa College. It is the second instructional building to be built at Mesa College utilizing Proposition S funds. The building will house a computer lab, classrooms, a clinical dental lab, physical therapy lab, medical lab, plus faculty and staff offices.

Designed by San Diego-based Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the Allied Health Building incorporates a three-story layout to accommodate all of the uses required by the faculty, staff and students on the compact site. To reduce the vertical emphasis of the building, the exterior design incorporates multiple horizontal design elements, such as a continuous ribbon window curtain wall system with integral horizontal window eyebrows. The curtain wall plays a significant role in shading the glass and reducing the amount of internal solar gain inside the building.

Another important design element is the 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.

An important objective for all Propositions S and N construction projects is to obtain the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible.  The Allied Health Building is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification status.

Among the sustainable design elements of the building are low-water use landscape, construction and design materials with a high recycled content, high-efficiency energy systems and Energy-Star roof systems.  The Allied Health Building’s power requirements will be offset in part by energy generated by solar panels located on the roof of the adjacent parking structure.

Phase three of the project, involving the extensive realignment of an existing roadway, challenged the team 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. The shorter phasing plan will significantly reduce the campus disruption and ultimately save the taxpayers and the District a considerable amount of money.

Project team consultants include Hope Engineering for structural engineering, RBF Consulting for civil engineering and Xnth for mechanical and electrical engineering. Wimmer Yamada & Caughey is the landscape architect, and Churchill Engineering, Inc., is the code consultant. Gafcon is the program manager for the Propositions S and N construction program for the San Diego Community College District.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm has been building in the education market for the last 50 years having managed construction or built more than 400, K-12 school projects nationwide, totaling more than $2 billion in construction value, and more than 200 higher education projects on more than 40 campuses.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com

McCarthy, one of the nation’s leading parking structure builders, has topped out the exterior concrete frame for the new 402,503-square-foot, three-level parking structure and adjacent 3,200-square-foot Public Safety Office at Grossmont College located at 8800 Grossmont College Drive in El Cajon, Calif.
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District is the developer of the $24.5 million construction project. Ken Emmons of Gafcon is serving as project manager and Jim Davies is leading the Gafcon effort on site as the program/senior project manager on behalf of the District. International Parking Design is the project architect.

A topping out luncheon, catered by the Barbecue Pit of El Cajon, was hosted by McCarthy March 6th for consultants, subcontractors, District representatives and McCarthy project team members to commemorate the construction milestone. Approximately 100 guests were in attendance, including Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District Chancellor Dr. Cindy Miles, Vice Chancellor Sue Rearic, Vice President John Colson, and Director of Facilities Planning Development and Maintenance Tim Flood.  Also representing the District was Dale Switzer, senior director of facilities planning and development.

The parking structure, which will accommodate 1,431 vehicles, features sections of metal trellises, stucco, and brick veneer on the external façade. Two pedestrian bridges will connect Grossmont College’s main campus to the parking structure.

According to McCarthy Project Manager Lee Sudhoff, the project team has faced some obstacles, such as encountering unknown obstructions during the excavation work, which resulted in delays to the start of the foundation work.  The team also had to overcome weather delays because the rain impacted several critical deck pours.

“The delays due to the earthwork and weather have posed some challenges, but thanks to some dedicated crews and a little ingenuity on the part of the entire project team, we’re actually topping out ahead of schedule,” explained Sudhoff. “The project is on target for completion the end of July 2009.”

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies and has been one of the leading parking structure builders since the advent of the modern parking structure in the 1960s.  The company has delivered nearly 400 parking facilities throughout the United States, with parking spaces for more than 70,000 cars in California alone.   The firm offers general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for parking structures; healthcare, educational, mixed-use, laboratory, biotechnical, retail, entertainment, industrial, multifamily and microelectronics facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Scheduled for completion in July 2009, the Shadow Lane Biomedical Facility was originally a state-owned rehabilitation center that UNLV acquired to assist in accommodating future growth within the University’s nursing and dental medicine schools. The project was divided into multiple phases to allow the University to continue utilizing the facility throughout construction.

Operating as construction manager-at-risk (”CMAR”) for the university, McCarthy previously completed the interior demolition and core and shell renovation of the former rehabilitation center.  McCarthy upgraded the infrastructure of the 25,000-square-foot building by creating a “mid floor,” between the facility’s existing 23-foot ceiling and floor. The concrete work and utilization of a unique micropile foundation system, allowed McCarthy to add an additional 15,000-square-feet of future learning space.

“McCarthy’s ongoing involvement, partnership and insightful recommendations have been instrumental to the project’s success,” said Roland Wisdom, project architect for UNLV’S planning and construction department. “Throughout the duration of this multi-phased project McCarthy has effectively managed the development of construction plans, operating budgets and time tables.”

Once complete, the new Biomedical Facility will provide students with the most up-to-date learning facility and strengthen UNLV’S reputation as a top quality research institution.

Located on the corner of Charleston Boulevard and Shadow Lane, the Shadow Lane campus is in the heart of the city’s medical district and serves as the focal point for the university’s research, advanced training and professional services in biomedical sciences and biotechnology.

About McCarthy
Recognized by the Nevada Contractors Association as the “Safest Contractor of the Year” in 2008, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has helped to define the Southern Nevada landscape for more than 30 years. McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies. The firm is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Topping out of the 10-story, 350,000 square foot research facility comes following one-year of construction.  The project is on target for completion in April of 2010.

The facility, named for benefactor Parker H. Petit, will house teaching and research facilities for nearly 6,000 students pursuing various science and nursing degrees.  It will include state-of-the-art dry and wet laboratories, BSL-2 and BSL-3 labs and a BSL-4 suite.  The lab is part of the new University Science Park, located on a three-acre site at Piedmont Avenue and Decatur Street in downtown Atlanta.

“It’s both exciting and gratifying to reach this point in a major construction project,” said Kevin W. Kuntz, McCarthy southeast division president.  “McCarthy’s expertise in complex research facilities has been critical to keeping construction of the Petit Science Center on target.  At the same time, it is hugely rewarding to construct a facility that will significantly impact the learning experience for thousands of students in the years to come, and contribute to Atlanta’s downtown revitalization.”

“McCarthy was able to help overcome some surprises that had real potential to take our project off schedule,” said Robin Morris, GSU’s vice president for research & regents.  “After finding some existing subterranean structures and unsuitable soil beneath what would become the building’s footprint, the team was able to undercut the area and insert new material.  Solid experience helped guide the solution and keep the facility on schedule.”

CUH2A is the architect for the project.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest privately held construction firms.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“A lot of companies promise you the moon when they are trying to get your job…all I can say is the moon is shining bright over our new Science Center…McCarthy has delivered!”

- Robin Morris, Ph.D., vice president for research and Regents, Professor of Psychology, Georgia State University

In its quest to become one of the nation’s premier urban research universities, Georgia State is building a new University Science Center on its campus in downtown Atlanta.

Named for benefactor Parker H. Petit, this 350,000-square-foot landmark facility will augment laboratory and classroom space with state-of-the-art dry and wet laboratories, BSL-2 and BSL-3 labs and a BSL-4 suite, accommodating the expanding and changing curriculum of this urban campus. For McCarthy and its subcontractors, the project began with a schedule-threatening surprise. During site work, existing subterranean structures and unsuitable soil were discovered beneath most of the building footprint. The team undercut the entire area and replaced the soil with new material enabling foundations and underground utilities to be installed without impacting the schedule. The project has just topped out and is scheduled to complete in April 2010.  Architect: CUH2A, Inc., Atlanta.

LIBRARY

“Throughout the construction of this finely detailed project, I was impressed by McCarthy’s dedication to the craft of building.”

— Alyosha Verzhbinsky, AIA, associate principal,Tom Eliot Fisch Architecture and Interior Design

The C.V. Starr East Asian Library, one of UC Berkeley’s most celebrated new facilities, recently opened its doors.

This cornerstone facility houses one of the most comprehensive and rare collections of East Asian books in the world. The library was built utilizing unique construction methods and many of the materials used for the facility were imported from around the globe. Due to the 90-degree angles of the interior concrete walls, McCarthy developed a special concrete pouring process, which took more than a year to perfect. To ensure the preservation of the rare book collection, a stainless steel duct work system was installed to control air and humidity levels. The 60-square-foot reception desk is made of claro walnut, a rare and luxurious wood typically used to make violins. The exterior bronze grills were meticulously crafted and imported by boat in 60 pieces. The combination of techniques and exquisite materials utilized by McCarthy are reflected throughout this state-of-the-art facility. Design Architect: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, New York. Associate Architect: Tom Eliot Fisch, San Francisco. Landscape Architect: CMG Landscape Architecture, San Francisco.