CONTENT EXPIRES: December 31, 2025

Collaborative delivery on the Design-Build UC Davis Shasta Hall project enhanced budget and schedule in a resource-constrained environment by encouraging innovative solutions from bridging documents through construction. The DPR Construction and HKS design-build team collaborated to meet UC Davis’ project goals and deliver this ground-up, three-building student housing complex with an improved student experience for the Fall term, a year earlier than originally planned. Successful approaches to expand efficiency included pre-assembled electrical frameworks to accelerate installations and increase capacity on this logistically complex project. Deviating from a more traditional wood-framed approach in the RFP stage differentiated the team. By partnering with Digital Building Components and utilizing a digitally prefabricated light-gauge metal, load bearing, panelized wall and floor system built off-site for the primary construction system, the building type transformed from Type V/III, wood-framed construction to a Type II steel-framed building. This change allowed the three buildings to be connected, improving egress and allowing social balconies between the buildings. The panelized wall system was cost-competitive with wood and benefited from schedule escalation and enhanced quality.