VERTEX was engaged by UC San Diego for a long-term, multi-project assignment, to support the development of campus buildings, parking, and infrastructure.
The first project, valued at $173 million, was a new mixed-use housing complex for graduate and professional students on the university’s east campus, called Mesa Nueva. The 550,000 square foot project included five buildings with 1,105 residential units, as well as a five-story parking structure. VERTEX provided building envelope consulting services to UC Regents, including: document review of the plans and specifications, mockup plan development and review, and course-of-construction quality assurance services, including visual site inspections of waterproofing for the entire building envelope.
The second phases of the project, known as Nuevo West and Nuevo East Graduate Student Housing, were part of the development of the La Jolla campus extension.
Nuevo West involved the new construction of a 12-story high-rise apartment building, one mid-rise apartment building (with heights ranging from five to eight stories), and a market/café, totaling 450,000 gross square feet of building on a six-acre site. The project also included a 1,200-space parking garage on a separate seven-acre site with an adjacent area that was raised and regraded to accommodate a pedestrian bridge landing, a new park and/or garden area, and a surface parking lot.
Nuevo East, a 707,000 gross square foot building program included the construction of three new high-rise apartment buildings (10-12-stories each), two mid-rise (five-story) buildings, and one multi-use three-story building on a 13.2-acre site.
VERTEX provided waterproofing and building envelope observation services for Nuevo West & East phases. The scope of work included the review of construction documents relating to the exterior skin, review of relevant data and submittals, and observation of all work associated with the exterior skin and below-grade waterproofing during construction. Field observation services involved below-grade waterproofing, horizontal waterproofing, glazing installation and inspection, roofing, and building envelope systems (moisture barriers, flashings, material intersections, and exterior coatings).
Historically, there have been exterior skin failures at other campuses within the UC system. As a result, the UC Regents requested the San Diego capital program management team bring on a specialized consultant to help reduce the risk of similar failures with these new projects.
“By having a third-party set of eyes out on the job site monitoring progress, we believe we have taken good steps to meeting this requirement and assuring we have a quality product in the end,” said the UC San Diego project manager. “VERTEX had the experience we were looking for, both in the field and with documentation review. We found that many other firms offered either architectural expertise for drawing review or field inspection expertise. Very few offered a solid team that covered both. In addition, VERTEX’s familiarity with our team and the project site made them the right choice for these projects.”
To learn more about VERTEX’s Construction Contracting & Consulting services, or to speak with a Construction Expert, call 888.298.5162 or submit an inquiry.
This project was completed by Xpera Group, which is now part of The Vertex Companies, Inc.
