SAN DIEGO –McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (www.mccarthy.com), one of the nation’s leading healthcare and education facility builders, has topped out the steel frame for the new three-story, 49,000-square-foot Allied Health Building at San Diego Mesa College, located at 7250 Mesa College Dr. in the Clairemont area of San Diego, Calif.

Situated off Mesa College Drive at the main campus entry, the estimated $23.3 million Allied Health facility will serve as a prominent landmark for San Diego Mesa College. It will house a computer lab, classrooms, a clinical dental lab, physical therapy lab, medical lab, plus faculty and staff offices.  Project completion is slated for August 2009.

A topping-out ceremony, officiated by representatives of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), Mesa College and McCarthy Building Companies, was held on September 10.  Dignitaries in attendance included Constance M. Carroll, Chancellor, SDCCD; David Umstot, Vice Chancellor, Facilities, SDCCD; and Rita M. Cepeda, President, San Diego Mesa College. A steel beam, signed by the project team members, was hoisted into the air, together with an evergreen tree and the American flag.

The new San Diego Mesa College Allied Health Building is funded by the Proposition S Construction Bond, which was approved by San Diego voters in 2002. It is the second instructional building to be built at Mesa College utilizing Proposition S funds. 

Designed by San Diego-based Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the project incorporates a three-story layout to accommodate all of the uses required by the faculty, staff and students on the compact site. To reduce the vertical emphasis of the building, the exterior design incorporates multiple horizontal design elements, such as a continuous ribbon window curtain wall system with integral horizontal window eyebrows. The curtain wall plays a significant role in shading the glass and reducing the amount of internal solar gain inside the building.

Another important design element is the stone cladding on the more powerful vertical elements such as stairs and entry areas. This will be the first building on the campus to use stone elements on the exterior.

An important objective for all construction projects undertaken by the San Diego Community College District is to meet the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification possible.  The Allied Health Building is designed to achieve LEED Silver certification status.

Among the sustainable design elements of the building are low-water use landscape, recycled materials content, high-efficiency energy systems, Energy-Star roof systems, and construction water recycling.  The Allied Health Building's power requirements will be offset in part by energy provided by solar panels located on the roof of the adjacent parking structure.

McCarthy Building Companies is the construction manager for the Allied Health Building construction project, with Robert Betz serving as project director, Ross Malik as senior project manager, and Randal Gustine as the superintendent.

Paul Schroeder, AIA, is serving as principal-in-charge for Architects | Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, with Doug Paterson, AIA, as project architect and Paul Holdaway, Alison Morita, and Javier Nava providing technical assistance.

Project team consultants include Hope Engineering for structural engineering, RBF Consulting for civil engineering and TKG Consulting Engineers, Inc., for mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering. Wimmer Yamada & Caughey is the project team’s landscape architect, and Churchill Engineering, Inc., is the code consultant. Gafcon is the program manager.

More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

More information is available online at www.sdmesa.edu.