Project Info
The Public Health Lab (PHL) will support 90 full-time employees and contractors committed to the safety and wellness of the County of San Diego. The 52k sq. ft lab will serve multiple programs- genomic epidemiology, bioterrorism preparedness, outbreak surveillance, and water monitoring. Its landscape is designed with the following goals in mind: to create outdoor rooms for respite to be used by the PHL employees, to fit into the overall County Operations Center (COC) design framework set forth by the COC master plan, and to frame the new structure in a native and water-wise plant palette.
There are several configurations to the outdoor rooms, designed to support varying social settings and activities. They use similar materials and site furnishings existing to other outdoor rooms across the COC. The PHL will act as another node in the north-south promenade that connects the entire Center. In order to create continuity in the design language, everything from scoring pattern and finishes to geometries and site elements have been referenced in the design of the landscape. Special attention has been paid to the selection of plant species. Over the years the COC has seen several phases of planting design to find what works. The PHL plant palette has been developed using precedent knowledge and uses the best of the previous phases. With a focus on native and water-wise, the palette has hardy, colorful, evergreen, and structural plant species that blends into together to form a natural tapestry surrounding the building. The intentionality in site design will help the project achieve LEED Platinum.
Awards
- Gold Nugget Award, Pacific Coast Builders Council