Bold Addition to Old Town

Caltrans' need for a modern headquarters for nearly 1,000 employees and the desire of city officials and local residents for a building that blended with the historic architecture of the neighborhood affected nearly every aspect of the project.

By David Silva

For the design/build team of the California Department of Transportation's new District 11 headquarters in San Diego, the project was all about location, location, location.

The Caltrans District 11 headquarters is a $72-million, 300,000-sq.-ft. complex of five buildings on an 11-acre site. The buildings terrace in height from two stories on Taylor Street (fronting Old Town) to five stories toward the back. They are situated in an orthogonal pattern to create an inner campus (photo courtesy of Carrier Johnson).

"From the very beginning, it was clear that how the project fit within the context of its location was going to be our primary concern," said Edward Holakiewicz, project manager for the San Diego headquarters of Carrier Johnson, which designed the project. "That was because the context was Old Town San Diego, one of the earliest settlements in the state of California."

Caltrans' need for a modern headquarters for nearly 1,000 employees and the desire of city officials and local residents for a building that blended in with Old Town's historic architecture created a natural tension that affected nearly every aspect of the project.

The size and layout of the facility, the choice of building materials, even the location of the parking lot-all were decided upon by way of community input and with an eye toward achieving the community's buy-in.

The result: a $72-million, 300,000-sq.-ft. complex of five buildings on an 11-acre site at Taylor and Juan streets. The buildings terrace in height from two stories on Taylor Street fronting Old Town to five stories toward the back, and are situated in an orthogonal pattern to create an inner campus.

An 815-space parking structure, initially targeted for the front of the facility, was ultimately placed in the rear so the complex would have in order to provide a more welcoming "face" to visitors and passersby.

Construction of the project, owned by the state Department of General Services, began in May 2004 and is expected to finish in May. The Los Angeles office of Tishman Construction is the construction manager and the San Diego office of Clark Construction Group California is the general contractor.

"We approached the state and Caltrans with a philosophy of creating a campus for Caltrans, as opposed to a single building," Holakiewicz said. "A campus would help us create a scale that was respectful to the Old Town scale, and we could create a facility that was more pedestrian-friendly, not only to people viewing the site, but also the visitors."

Since a big concern of Caltrans was that the facility be built to last, pre-cast concrete panels are employed for the buildings' exterior.

Natural stone-in courses, bases and cornices-is-used throughout the complex to reconcile the project with Old Town's Spanish architecture. Beige limestone was selected because of its soft, warm color.

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Glass and metal panels accent the facility throughout.

Keeping the community happy was paramount. The design/build team held numerous meetings with local stakeholders to solicit input and provide construction updates.

"Whenever we had an activity that would significantly affect the Old Town community, we literally went door to door notifying neighbors that something was happening," said Carlos Gonzalez, project manager for Clark Construction. "This gave us the opportunity to keep them informed as to what was happening in their neighborhood, and gave them the opportunity to ask questions and express concerns."

Clark also provided on-site parking for 100 percent if its construction labor force.

"This meant that we weren't putting an extra burden on Old Town's parking resources, which was already limited," Gonzalez said. "For us, it created a more attractive place for the workforce. They typically gravitate toward places that have on-site parking."

Holakiewicz said all that extra pubic relations work with city officials, residents and the Chamber of Commerce created an environment of trust that paid off in dividends.

"[The Old Town stakeholders] helped us to interpret the design guidelines that enabled us to give things back to the community, as opposed to just taking things away," he said. "One of the benefits for us was that they allowed us room on a couple of building elements to go higher than is normally allowed."

This proved to be an important concession. The land on which the project sits is on an old alluvial plain with irregular contours that, coupled with the builders' need to avoid a small seismic fault on the property, allowed for little landscaping. By building higher, the team was able to condense the structure floor plates and thus provide more landscaping.

The campus includes a main courtyard in the center as a gathering place for public events, such as press conferences. Patio areas are sprinkled throughout the project, and a large community garden protected on all sides by the buildings also allows for public gatherings.

Dominating the community garden is a grand trellis that Holakiewicz said has become a symbol for the project itself. The trellis is 70-ft. tall, 225-ft. long and 50-ft. wide, and is held up by five imposing steel columns, each of which weighs 80 tons and has its own foundation and piles.

Suspended from the trellis is a massive wooden mobile, 100-ft. long and 30-ft. wide. San Diego artist Roman deSalvo carved each piece of the mobile from dead or diseased eucalyptus trees, then connected the pieces together using stainless-steel brackets.

Called "Nexus Eucalyptus," the mobile is one of two public art works to be displayed at the headquarters. The other is a series of carved stone and cast glass wheels, each 42 in. in diameter. Five of the wheels will be installed at the front of the campus, and will appear to passersby to appear almost in motion.