How do you take a large, complex student housing construction project and make it safer and more efficient? Look for elements that can be built offsite, like framed wall panels, and piping and electrical components. That’s what Sundt did with its $70 million project at the University of California, Davis’s Tercero Student Housing Phase III – and as a result they achieved a smooth, on-time finish.
“We used preassembled framing panels, hydronic and plumbing piping, some underground piping, and electrical kits for the individual dorm units,” said Sundt Project Manager Shawn Marty. “Prefabrication saves time and money because it allows some of the work to take place in a controlled shop environment, not on a busy jobsite with all of the variables that have to be managed. It also reduces debris and jobsite cleanup and increases safety because, again, the prefabrication crew isn’t trying to build components four stories up in the air.”
Tercero 3 spans 330,000 square feet across seven four-story buildings. The project includes multiple lounges, study areas, computer centers and gathering spaces that surround a landscaped courtyard. It accommodates approximately 1,200 students and is helping the university fulfill its sustainability goals by being designed and built to LEED Platinum specifications.