The University of California’s most ambitious P3 project – Merced 2020 – has produced it’s first building, and the results are stunning.

The 2020 Project is a $1.35 billion (USD) public-private partnership (“P3”) project that will expand the University of California, Merced (“UC Merced”) campus to more than double its size by the year 2020. As one of the nation’s largest social infrastructure P3 projects the UCM 2020 Project consists of three delivery phases and each phase presents the newest University of California (“UC”) campus with its own identity.

As a research university, the 2020 Project will serve UC Merced to accommodate students and staff by providing state of the art facilities targeted to meet the growing demand as a top university. In addition, the 2020 Project has played a pivotal role in stimulating economic development in the Central Valley. On a given day there can be more than 800 on-site workers and as a result the 2020 Project is progressing at an exponential rate with the first building nearing its opening day.

Featured above is the first 2020 Project building to open. It’s known on site as the Dining Center and will soon be known to all as The Pavilion. This stunning facility boasts architectural features such as, a façade with wall-to-wall full height glazing, an angled corrugated metal rooftop and a patio overlooking the picturesque Little Lake.

The Pavilion has undergone major development over the timespan of just under a year. The following images illustrate the incredible progress the 2020 Project team have accomplished to bring this building to life.

As this building comes online over 5,000 meals will be served each day.

The Pavilion will host a diverse range of culinary options including: Ciao an Italian style food option, Cascabel a Latin American inspired station, Lake Wok an Asian based cuisine, Rufus’ a Bobcat inspired grill, Common Grounds will act as a Grab ‘n’ Go coffee and pastry station and to top it off, Field of Greens as the salad bar. The Pavilion will be available to the students, staff and the public a few weeks prior to the Fall 2018 semester.

Not only does The Pavilion provide students with fantastic dining options to feed the passion of the students and staff, but The Pavilion also contributes to something else that is dear to UC Merced —sustainability.

Sustainability is a key feature to the UC system and the 2020 Project exemplifies that. The 2020 Project buildings will contribute to UC Merced’s 2020 Triple Zero commitment, a pledge to consume zero net energy, and produce zero waste and zero net greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020. To achieve this goal, all Project 2020 facilities will be constructed to achieve at least Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED ®) Gold certification.

Over the next two years, students and staff can expect to see amenities and buildings such as: Granite Pass and Glacier Point Residence Halls, two additional parking lots, a competition soccer field, wet and dry laboratories, a mixed laboratory building (including a vivarium suite), an academic life building, a competition pool, a new health and wellness center, basketball and tennis courts, computational laboratories and more.

Keep an eye out for more posts highlighting each building as it comes online. To learn more, get in touch below:

Photo credit: Crawford Architects
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Credit:
Written by Kenji Israels and Nick Conte.
Photo credit: Crawford Architects and University of California, Merced.

About the Authors
WT Partnership are the appointed project manager for the delivery of the 2020 Project, acting on behalf of UC Merced.  More details here.
Nick Conte, Project Advisor delivering contract management services.  Kenji Israels is a UC Merced student currently working as an Advisor with WT.

About WT:

WT Partnership is one of the fastest growing advisory firms in North America. WT was founded in Australia back in 1949, WT is known as the oldest start-up in the industry and has been a force in North America since 2015. Ranked in the Top Two Global P3/PPP Technical Advisory Firms by Inframation in 2017/18 and WT currently manages $6.5 billion dollars of active mega projects across North America.

Media Contact:
Jake Witt, Brand Manager
jake.witt@wtpartnership.co | +1 424.218.5333