Completed three weeks ahead of schedule, the ophthalmic-lens production facility repurposes a 79,000-sq-ft office building in Folsom. The contract structure called for the mechanical-electrical-plumbing engineer, Mark III Construction, to self-perform plumbing, electrical, process piping, fire sprinklers and the fire alarm system, plus manage specialty trades for the cutting-edge laboratory equipment. Meanwhile, general contractor DesCor Builders managed core and shell trades such as concrete structure, walls and flooring. The team had to work closely to procure equipment from manufacturers as far away as Germany for the lens production and other precision manufacturing equipment. Commissioning the equipment to required tolerances meant using a global positioning system for the main production area. The space had to be temperature-controlled and verified dust-free a month before construction wrapped up on the rest of the building.

VSP Optical Laboratory & Manufacturing Facility

Folsom

Key Players
Owner VSP Ceres Inc.
Lead Design Firm Mark III Construction Inc.
Contractor DesCor Builders
Architect Comstock Johnson Architects Inc.
Structural Engineer Buehler & Buehler Structural Engineers Inc.
Civil Engineer Peabody Engineering
MEP Engineers Mark III Construction Inc.; Cooper Oates Air Conditioning; The Engineering Enterprise Consulting Engineers