San Diego County Sheriff’s Dept. Crime Laboratory
San Diego
Award of Merit

Owner: Lowe Enterprises
Contractor | Construction Manager: DPR Construction
Lead Design Firm | Architect: SmithGroup
Civil Engineer: Latitude 33 Planning & Engineering
Electrical Engineer: Dynalectric
Mechanical Engineer: AMC Mechanical
Structural Engineer: Degenkolb Engineers
Landscape Architect: Lastras de Gertler Landscape Architects Inc.
Construction Manager: Project Management Advisors Inc.
Subcontractor: Schuff Steel Co.

This four-story crime lab is an all-in-one campus with office and lab spaces, conference areas, training and interview rooms, two holding cells, a ballistics lab and 60,000 sq ft of evidence storage in the basement.

With the basement serving as a central location for evidence holding, it was critical to keep it completely waterproof. This required the team to install formwork and place concrete with zero penetrations through the concrete wall so there was no chance of water seeping into the storage area. To accomplish this, crews created a one-sided framework that didn’t penetrate the outer side. Even though crews executed the basement work during record rainfall, they completed all concrete work on time and without puncturing the waterproofing membrane.

To achieve LEED Gold, the project features elements such as extensive daylighting, low-flow indoor plumbing, native plants and high-efficiency irrigation as well as a photovoltaic array that supplies one-fifth of the building’s energy.

Back to "ENR California's Best Projects 2019: Diverse Mix of Public, Private Work Garners Award"