DPR Uses Technical Know How to Craft Campus on Canyon Rim

The directive was right up DPR’s alley-deliver the project at or under budget, as quickly as possible and with as much science as possible packed in. No problem.

Construction of a six-building, 467,000 gross sq.-ft. campus for the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation (GNF) north of San Diego is sharpening the DPR-Novartis team’s edge as it draws deeply on DPR’s experience as a major player in the construction of biotech facilities. “The challenges are to meet the research foundation’s expectations for the building of the facility and maintain an aggressive schedule,” said Ron Clemente, Director of Regional Project Engineering (RPE) for Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. “We have to ensure scientists a functional facility that works for their needs in doing genomics research,” adds James Ciarletta, Project Manager for RPE.

Creating Adaptable Lab Space

According to Ned Michalowski, senior associate at Earl Walls Associates, laboratory design consultants on the DPR-Novartis project team, anytime you work for a large pharmaceutical company there are challenges, because every new scientist who comes on board brings another layer of technology and expertise. “We have to be able to meet those needs,” said Michalowski. “Because research facilities need to be changed as the technology changes, a facility like this is never finished.”

Preconstruction on the new campus was not far out of the gate before plans for the entire campus had to be modified. Novartis needed fewer buildings than the original plans called for, but GNF did not want to say no to the whole campus. The entire project team hung tough while adjustments were made and went forward with preconstruction and building on those elements that remained in the picture. “Everyone’s perseverance ultimately paid off and excavation began in March,” said DPR Project Director Steve Mills.

The changing needs of biotech research are not new to DPR-having proven its expertise to Novartis when it constructed the agricultural discovery & genomics groups temporary 80,000-sq.-ft. research and development facility at a CarrAmerica-owned building. As with that project, DPR and its subs are maintaining the budget and schedule at the new Novartis campus, while putting in the extra infrastructure so the buildings can adapt to any and all adjustments. “We take pride in our coordination with subcontractors and having onsite CAD capability,” said DPR MEP Coordinator Rick Potter. “It helps tremendously.”

Unique Site, Unique Structure

With construction on the science institute well under way-foundations are complete, structural steel was delivered in late September, and buyouts on the interiors have begun-DPR crews also have had to meet and stare down a number of challenges related to the site. Because it is located on the rim of a canyon and the campus-like design limits access, use, circulation and storage; only the most necessary equipment, concrete trucks and cranes, are allowed on the site. Meanwhile, crews had to haul away 110,000 cubic yards of soil, while storing 20,000 cubic yards onsite.

The institute’s design takes full advantage of the site and is highlighted with a 1,000-ft.-long garage that serpentines along an adjacent street. The garage abuts a similarly curved, trellis covered walkway that connects the six buildings located along its spine. Crews, using large drilled piers to support the structure, excavated a deep utility and maintenance tunnel under the walkway. The unique design of the spine, which connects the laboratory and administrative facilities, enabled NBBJ Architects to win a design competition from Novartis, a Swiss-based Life Science company.

The design’s two levels of walkways, one below grade and one at grade, give GNF employees the ability to circulate through, meet in and access any level of any building with ease. The tunnel is a serviceway for the telecommunication and utilities infrastructure. “It’s a beautiful solution to a tough site,” said Project Manager John Kavanagh, noting the institute’s design is suggestive of a high rise laid on its side. The discovery group’s new world-class research campus in the Torrey Pines area of San Diego will join other major biotech facilities built by DPR in the section dubbed “Biotech Hill.” (see side bar)

Construction of the garage and tunnel were quite labor-intensive for DPR crews-both structures were formed in place on a tight site with virtually no circulation path. A temporary retaining, soil-nailed wall, 35 ft. deep, was constructed to shore up the trees and adjacent circulation road. It will remain, with the garage’s permanent wall erected in front of it. “To get out of the ground we used a lot of ‘bricks and mortar,’” said Project Superintendent Scot Samuelson.

Included among the six institute buildings are a central distribution plant; a building to house administrative staff, the facility’s computers, a kitchen, cafeteria, auditorium and an atrium that overlooks the canyons; and three research buildings. The sixth structure, a cold shell with no interior buildout, will serve as expansion space along with two future building pads.

As construction focus changes to the interiors, the institute’s labs are getting significant scrutiny. DPR’s experienced teams continue to work with lab consultants to ensure that no detail or safeguard is overlooked. “Labs and their furnishings are what this facility is all about,” said Project Manager Elizabeth Barrie, noting three of the six buildings on the campus will have laboratories. Labs, being as systems-oriented as they are, see 40 to 50 percent of construction costs go into state-of-the-art electrical and mechanical systems. Operational costs are fairly high because of the nature of the systems, but “if labs are not working, scientists can’t do research in a safe environment,” said Michalowski.

The labs are not the only place where high-tech action is taking place on the research institute project. Novartis representatives in charge of overseeing design and construction on the new facility do a significant amount of coordination with RPE in East Hanover, New Jersey using video conferencing. The technology has also been a tremendous help in coordinating efforts among members of the design and construction team. “We’re saving time and getting more work done,” said Kavanagh.

Hard at work to meet Novartis’ targeted phased move-in during the fourth quarter of 2001, DPR crews are on target to turn over two structures every 30 days during that three-month period. “This is a set of buildings not normally seen in San Diego as research labs. It will be the leading science facility in San Diego, if not the West Coast,” said Mills.