2025 West Best Projects
Award of Merit, Government/Public Building: San Diego County Public Health Laboratory
San Diego County Public Health Laboratory
San Diego
Award of Merit
Submitted by BNBuilders
Owner Lowe Enterprises
Lead Design Firm Steinberg Hart
General Contractor BNBuilders
Built in response to the limitations of San Diego County’s aging infrastructure, the 52,000-sq-ft, two-story Public Health Lab is three times larger than its predecessor and will bolster the county’s capacity for disease surveillance, food and water safety testing as well as its rapid response to public health threats.
A collaborative delivery facilitated the project’s completion, with buy-in among all the project stakeholders on this P3 effort. Design and construction proceeded in tandem, which was vital to meet a condensed 18-month schedule. Early contractor involvement identified critical path elements and early procurement on long-lead items and equipment.
Kicking off work with an early foundation package allowed the team to make concurrent progress on finalizing the design and preparing for vertical construction. But after uncovering poor soil conditions, crews had to perform extensive remediation work and install more than 100 piles when installing the foundations.
An iconic large roof overhang on the south side of the building reduces solar heat gain and glare, enhancing the structure’s sustainability features. Certified LEED Platinum, this all-electric building also features onsite rooftop photovoltaic panels and supplements its renewable energy production with an additional PV system on an adjacent county-owned parking structure. Together, the two systems generate 44% of the building’s annual energy needs.
