Core and Shell:
Edwards Lifesciences – New T&D
Annex Office Building
ARC Engineering provided core and shell as well as interior MEP design for Edwards Life Sciences new T&D Annex Office building on their Irvine campus. Planning for the 2-floor 38,000 sq. ft. annex commenced in late 2011, with the new building situated in a void between two existing structures. ARC faced the inherent challenges of construction on a live campus compounded by Irvine’s strict building department process, as well as an extremely tight spring 2013 deadline.
Prepping the area revealed site sensitivity issues: the annex would be too close to the adjacent building’s fresh air and exhaust ventilation louvers, so ARC studied the adjacent building’s systems and devised a simple solution of moving a portion of the annex 5′ away, which would provide adequate volume for distribution. Utility lines and an existing generator that fed lab spaces also needed relocating.
ARC teamed with Jeff Gingold as the client project manager, HOK Architects for the core and shell, and HKS Architects for the interiors, and significant design evolution occurred between the two phases. Rudolph & Sletten Contracting built both phases, which overlapped and required close coordination with the team to keep up with the drawing updates and submittals, which were critical to Irvine Inspectors who required that every change plan checked. Open ceilings replaced plans for drop ceilings and systems already designed for one needed to be quickly adapted for the other.
Despite the obstacles, the annex was successfully completed on schedule in June 2013.