Local architectural firm teams up with Clark Construction to design-build $79 million dormitory complex at UC San Diego.

Local architectural firm Carrier Johnson has teamed up with Clark Design/Build of California, a unit of Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction Co., and won a $79 million design-build contract from UC San Diego.

Carrier Johnson will serve as the project architect and Clark as general contractor on a 279,000-square-foot student housing complex.

The proposed North Campus development includes a 12-story residential tower, plus low-rise apartment buildings, a campus-run restaurant and a retail market.

“The whole idea is to bring something very cool, refreshing, young thinking ... to create spaces students are really going to enjoy,” said David Gonzalez, a senior project designer with Carrier Johnson.

Gonzalez said the project is tied by external walkways from building to building and from inside to out. The walkways at both ground and elevated levels provide access to bedrooms, laundry facilities, study rooms, dining space, food market and open space.

Supply And Demand

Mark Nelson, project manager with UCSD’s design and construction office, said the university is building based on enrollment projections and continued demand for housing on campus.

The eight-building project includes 148 residential units to house 800 students.
UC San Diego has 27,000 students enrolled this fall. About one-third, or 9,200, of those students live in campus housing.

The mixed-use student housing project will be designed to meet U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification standards. LEED certification serves as the benchmark for environmentally friendly design.

“The buildings will be quite elegant and striking in many ways, as well as environmentally friendly,” said Gonzalez.

The buildings will be sited to maximize natural light and minimize heat gain. In addition, several buildings will carry rooftop photovoltaic panels, and low-impact irrigation systems will be installed.

Both the high-rise and low-rise buildings will have concrete exterior with stucco, metal panel and curtain wall facade.

Construction is scheduled to begin in July, with completion set for May 2011.