4930 Directors Square
San Diego
BEST PROJECT
Sent by: Swinerton Builders
Owner: Properties of Healthpeak
Main design company: Delawie
General contractor: Swinerton Builders
Civil Engineer: Latitude 33 Planning and Engineering
Structural Engineer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
MEP Engineer: DEC engineers; Akela Engineering and Consulting
Electrical Engineer: MPE Consultancy
Landscape architect: GroundLevel Landscape Architecture Inc.
Lighting Designer: The Ruzika company.
Subcontractors: Condon-Johnson & Associates Inc.; TB Penick & Sons Inc.; Bergelectric Corp.; SME Steel Contractors Inc.; Buxcon Sheet Metal Inc.
One of four buildings on the 397,776-square-foot Director’s Science Park campus, 4930 Directors Place is a five-story, approximately 150,000-square-foot research laboratory and office building. The entire campus has been designed to achieve LEED Silver, integrating such sustainable features as low-VOC materials and an energy-efficient smart glass system.
The lobby interior features a special cantilevered concrete staircase that is an artistic focal point for the project’s entrance. It’s also home to a two-story sedimentary wall, which the team built after extensive revisions and mock-ups as an homage to the nearby Torrey Pines Cliffs and Beach.
Several design alternatives were developed to address the primary challenge of locating the main building, along with 420 parking spaces, on a hillside site, which was vacant and undeveloped. Through careful planning and coordination, the team built a three-story underground parking structure with level parking that wrapped seamlessly around the building. With its elongated shape and strategic exposure to the south, the main building not only draws attention, but also harnesses solar energy.
Photo by Brian Doll Photography
Functionality was key for this life science laboratory and office building, which required a level of flexibility and adaptability. The main building was therefore constructed to provide a maximum capacity of 10 half-floor tenants across the five floors, while meticulously planned floor plates and column placements optimized the laboratory bench designs.
To ensure quality and keep costs under control, the project team implemented an approach that calls for reinforcing the structural steel frame during construction and maintaining openings in the Level 1 floor diaphragm for construction access in the lower parking lot. This strategy allowed the vertical steel construction to proceed simultaneously with the construction of the parking lot’s concrete floor, ultimately reducing the construction schedule by several weeks.
As part of a commitment to community engagement and career opportunities, the project was also used for apprentice training, workshops and testing for construction operations by Associated General Contractors.
