Control Air Enterprises Recognized With Craftsmanship Award
Congratulations to the Control Air Enterprises, the recipient of the 2024 Tom Guilfoy Memorial Craftsmanship of the Year Award! The annual award is for any project where attention to detail and expertise was critical, and exemplifies teamwork between sheet metal workers, the contractor, the subcontractor and the owner. The award is given in memory of Tom Guilfoy, former owner of the historically renowned Guilfoy Cornice Works in San Francisco.
Control Air Enterprises was recognized for their work on the UCSF Zuckerberg SF General Pride Hall project in San Francisco due to the project’s complexity, collaboration and craftsmanship. This was a design-build project. The design phase required constant collaboration with project stakeholders. The BSL3 laboratory added additional complexities to the design.
BIM coordination included 10,000+ sheet metal detailing hours over 18 months, plus coordinating and detailing 335,000 pounds of duct and equipment. Tight ceiling conditions and requirements for laboratory air valves and equipment to be placed in adjacent corridors instead of the laboratories’ ceilings meant extreme overhead congestion throughout the building. In many cases, overhead utilities were coordinated within less than 1” of each other due to this congestion.
In lieu of multiple custom-build AHUs, a 2,300-square-foot built-up AHU in the roof penthouse was installed. This required meticulous planning with the factories providing components like the 12’ tall, 14,000 lb. fan-wall arrays and two 6,600 lb. coils to ensure they were detailed and coordinated correctly within the space. Following installation of these components, custom-fabricated sheet metal ceiling panels and wall panels lining the entire built-up AHU were required to be measured in the field, fabricated and installed.
The building was highlighted by the stakeholder’s desire for Vivarium and BSL3 laboratory spaces to facilitate the physician-scientists and clinicians with their research and medical advancements. These spaces required specific HVAC needs to ensure the research team could safely perform work with the deadly pathogens and prevent the spread of the same.
This challenge was compounded by the requirement for all equipment associated with these lab spaces to be in the corridor in lieu of above-ceiling in the labs. These tight ceiling conditions meant utilities were coordinated and installed with less than 1” clearance.