San José Mineta Int’l Fast Tracks New Facilities and Fleet Maintenance Buildings

Centuries ago, the Greek philosopher Plato coined the phrase “necessity is the mother of invention.”

San José Mineta International Airport (SJC) recently demonstrated the truth of that axiom by overcoming a seemingly impossible deadline to finish a key $40 million redevelopment project.

The Silicon Valley aviation gateway formally opened its 15,800-square-foot Facilities Administrative Building and accompanying 8,600-square-foot Fleet Maintenance Building this past November. Although the buildings were fairly simple in terms of size and design complexity, their development was inordinately more complicated due to a previous financial agreement that mandated both structures be designed and built to substantial completion before June 30, 2024.

“This was super-aggressive—one of the most aggressive schedules I’ve encountered in my 30 years working in the industry,” says Project Manager Kirk Ruffo of SJC’s Planning and Development Division.

“Crazy,” adds the lead designer. “Design-build in 400 days? Just crazy.”

Despite that ever-ticking project clock, those involved took a collaborative approach, added a healthy dose of trust and somehow managed to achieve their goal with five full days to spare.

“Nothing could stand still for more than a couple of days. Questions or concerns had to be elevated quickly to address any issues on the table,” Ruffo recalls of that hurried timeline. “The project never stopped even though we encountered some pretty significant issues along the way.”

A Demanding Demand

The very premise that SJC needed new Facilities Administrative and Fleet Maintenance buildings was never in question. The staff and equipment assigned to those functions had long been housed in structures that were decades old and far too small for current needs. Beyond that, these workspaces stood in areas earmarked for a future airport expansion that will eventually extend southeast of Terminal B.

While the airport’s airline consortium previously OK’d the relocation of these buildings via new construction, the air carriers also called for work to be finished before the close of the 2023/24 fiscal year to comply with a negotiated rates and charges agreement. As the project entered its Request for Proposals phase, that 400-day deadline was explicitly noted in the pre-bid documents.

Plans called for sufficient room to house close to 70 staff members plus their gear and work vehicles, with space to welcome others as airport traffic grows. The two-story Administrative Building would have offices on its upper level adorned with floor-to-ceiling picture windows overlooking the airfield. The lower floor would include separate workshops for metal craftworkers, painters, electricians, locksmiths and woodworkers. The Fleet Maintenance building’s service bays would enable SJC to store and fix vehicles that previously had to be taken across town for repairs.

“It’s been a necessity for our division to finally have a place we can call home and is representative of the hard work our teams do day in and day out,” says Gene Frazier, SJC’s Deputy Director of Facilities and Engineering. “Our old spaces were too cramped.”

With the design vision set, determining how to get the buildings done on time took center stage.

Golden Opportunity

One early advantage that helped expedite progress was the buildings’ new location: an approximately 11-acre plot on the southern tip on the airfield informally known as SJC’s “Golden Triangle.” The airport had recently completed the first of three projects on the site, so grading was complete and utility connections were already in place before the prime contractor was chosen for the location’s second phase of development.

In late 2022, the Facilities Administrative and Fleet Maintenance buildings contract was awarded through a competitive bidding process that weighed firms’ respective qualifications, interview responses and projected costs. SJC management was pleased when Overaa Construction was selected as general contractor. That’s because the California-based builder had successfully developed the first Golden Triangle project: San José Fire Department Station 20.

That nearly $25 million facility broke ground in late 2020 and took less than two years to complete. Station 20 is the first West Coast facility to collocate Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) facilities with traditional neighborhood fire services. In 2023, the 18,000-square-foot building received the Design Build Institute of America’s National Award of Merit in the aviation category for saving public resources and supporting faster response for both the airport and its neighbors.

“Once Overaa was selected, the one request I made immediately was for the same project manager and superintendent with whom I worked on the ARFF project,” Ruffo relates, emphasizing his strong belief that reassembling the Station 20 team would be essential to meeting the next project’s tight timeline while remaining on budget. Overaa Senior Superintendent Chris Shoemaker likewise knew his firm’s familiarity with SJC would be advantageous once work began.

“The team element and trust factors were there,” Shoemaker says. “We knew the personalities in the room already.” In turn, that confidence allowed Overaa to implement what Shoemaker terms an “unconventional” approach to construction of the Facilities Administrative building.

Buildings typically start from the ground up, but Overaa and its subcontractors found a creative way to work on two levels simultaneously. First, iron supports were placed and covered with concrete that was sprayed on using compressed air—a process known as “shotcreting.”  Structural steel beams then followed to frame the second floor and roof. With those elements set, crews proceeded to build out the upper level before a concrete slab foundation was fully poured below.

“It saved us time and allowed different trades to get onsite sooner,” Shoemaker explains. “With Overaa self-performing the foundation and form work for the shotcrete walls, we were able to control our own destiny a little bit right out of the gate to drive the schedule.”

Other time-saving steps included involving Overaa superintendents in the design stages so the contractor’s crews would be more familiar with the project before anyone picked up a tool. Knowledge of underground utilities obtained through the firehouse project also helped expedite the work.

Overaa erected a temporary barrier to divide the jobsite from SJC’s Air Operations Area, allowing more workers to forgo the time-consuming process of obtaining airport security badges. At peak construction, more than 50 people labored daily; during the first few months, work occurred six days a week with extended hours.

“From the beginning, we knew exactly what the deadline was; and we had a plan to finish early,” Shoemaker says. “If you plan to finish on time, you’re going to finish late.”

More Familiar Faces

The new buildings were designed by MarJang Architecture, the San Francisco-based practice that also designed Station 20—and fostered a solid reputation with airport leadership while doing so. That trust empowered the firm to begin designs for the Facilities Administrative and Fleet Maintenance buildings before its contract was finalized.

“We started working at notice of award,” says Karen Mar, a registered architect and company principal. “The design team thought it would be better to risk that time in order to create a proper design.” Had contract negotiations fallen apart, her company could have gone unpaid. But once the final agreement was signed, SJC agreed to allow MarJang to invoice for the time it had already committed at risk.

“There was great willingness within the design-build team to realize early on what had to be done to meet the deadline,” Ruffo relates.

In fact, on the very day the contract was signed, the project team ordered items with long lead deliveries, such as generators, transformers and information technology switches. Together, MarJang and Overaa reviewed several building techniques—from conventional steel and pre-engineered structures to tilt-up concrete and concrete masonry units—before concluding shotcrete was the fastest and best option.

Original designs called for a single L-shaped building, but plans changed to include two separate buildings aligned in a parallel manner along Coleman Avenue, a busy public thoroughfare. This placement allows for easier egress and ingress by larger vehicles, Mar explains.

The maintenance bays were built large enough to support indoor repair work on the airport’s fleet of electric buses. Designs were expanded from four to six bays so SJC could also house a rubber removal truck and a large paint truck with specialized nozzles better suited to indoor storage.

The maintenance bays are large enough to accommodate the airport’s electric buses.

Another major consideration was ensuring adequate landside parking, as well as room to house the airport’s fleet of facilities vehicles on the airside portion of the fence. Analysis revealed a need for much more parking than was factored into the request for proposals.

“We looked at several scenarios and found one that worked,” Mar recalls. “It was a bit of a puzzle, but it was fun.”

The Facilities Administrative Building was designed so its top floor remains landside, allowing for easier access for day-to-day functions such as mail deliveries or meetings with non-airport staff. The lower floor areas are set up for direct airside access to support various workshop assignments.

The top floor of the Facilities Administrative Building is landside to facilitate deliveries and meetings with non-airport personnel.

With respect to Part 77 height restrictions, the single-story maintenance building was placed closer to the airfield, allowing the two-story Facilities Administrative Building to front Coleman Avenue. Mar added a glass lobby endcap that mirrors that of Station 20. The completed buildings now bracket a private driveway with airfield access in case city fire or police vehicles need airport access during mutual aid situations.

A third project on Coleman Avenue—an Air Support Unit hangar for the San José Police Department—is scheduled to finish this fall. When it does, the airport’s Golden Triangle developments will be complete.

“It’s a relatively small footprint,” Shoemaker says. “The design team did great economizing the space we had to work with.”

A Green House

In line with SJC’s overall environmental philosophy, the project has also achieved LEED Silver Certification. The buildings feature 15 parking spaces for electric vehicles (with eight charging stations), LED lighting and built-in connections for a future rooftop solar photovoltaic system. Plumbing was designed to limit water waste while recycling gray water for landscaping purposes. Men’s and women’s locker rooms include showers—an important amenity for encouraging employees to bicycle to and from home, or to simply clean up after a shift.

“Facilities work can be quite dirty,” Mar notes. “(Staff members) like a place to change out of their work clothes and shower.”

Such humanizing aspects are signature touches for Mar, whose early work focused on residential architecture. A decade ago, her team was asked to assist on a $32 million fire station project at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) through a joint venture with Shah Kawasaki Architects. MarJang team members were brought on board to help make the firehouse’s institutional space “feel more like a home,” Mar explains.

After the SFO project wrapped in 2017, MarJang successfully competed for SJC’s Station 20 contract—this time emerging in the lead design architect role. It later secured design work for an ARFF station at Monterey Regional Airport (MRY), also in Northern California. That $9.7 million facility came online in 2023.

“We’re probably one of a few architects that have three ARFF stations,” Mar comments, adding that her firm is presently working with Gensler on a large project for U.S. Customs and Border Protection at SFO.

Regardless of a building’s intended use, Mar’s philosophy for public safety projects is simple and consistent: make spaces comfortable for workers whose jobs are often stressful. She also recognizes the importance of delivering value for taxpayer dollars. When completing jobs in the Bay Area, Mar notes her team members are often “working for ourselves” given their status as local taxpayers.

Because the new buildings at SJC would be employees’ home away from home, Frazier and SJC management openly communicated with frontline workers to shape the end product. With efficiencies in mind, everyone from plumbers to electricians to painters offered input about what they needed—and what they could live without—in their new workspaces. And their input was specific, right down to the placement of storage areas or the layout of specific tables and benches.

In the end, Frazier credits Ruffo, Overaa and MarJang for listening and striving to meet the needs of his employees.

“Voices were heard,” he says. “And my staff members have all been really excited about what’s been delivered.”

Looking back, Ruffo says he’s proud that the buildings were engineered with the long term in mind, despite their hurried beginnings.

“We’ve designed buildings that will meet the needs of Facilities and Fleet Maintenance 30 years from now,” he reflects. “Even when the terminals expand and we have a larger workforce, these buildings will not be obsolete.”