Unitarian Universalist F.S.C.
Additional Info
Award Winner : Pacific Mobile Structures, Inc.
Architectural Excellence : This building was designed to be a Sunday school/day care center with four classrooms and office space for the church administrators and pastor. The classrooms each have their own sink and cabinets for easy cleanup of crafts projects. All rooms lead out onto a central hallway system that meets in the middle of the building with a large utility area including a kitchenette, water fountains for the kids and cabinet storage for snack supplies. The flooring used in this central hallway system is epoxy rock, a relatively unusual material. Epoxy rock is a beautiful finish, yet also extremely durable. It so hard that heavy traffic will not damage it and it can be vacuumed, a real bonus where small children and snacks are concerned! The building was set on a sunken permanent foundation so that it wouldn’t overwhelm the surrounding landscape. It sits alongside a vintage building, the Fellowship meeting hall. It was important to create a profile/color combination that would combine, not detract.
Cost Energy Effectiveness : As is the case with many faith-based organizations, the purchase price of new facilities can be prohibitive. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stanislaus County is no exception. In fact, they had originally been looking at purchasing a used building for this purpose. In order to meet the needs of the Fellowship and provide them what they really wanted, a custom-designed new building, Pacific Mobile opened the scope of site work up to participation from the congregation. Not only that, but Pacific Mobile worked with its contractors to discount various services provided. The epoxy rock flooring as well as the tape, texture and paint were discounted for the benefit of the church. Further, the size of building was reduced slightly in order to use fewer, wider modules. This not only kept building fabrications costs in line better but also reduced the cost of the building installation on site by reducing the number of modline connections required.
Occupied Date : 11/15/2010
Production Start Date : 8/1/2010
Project Location City : Salida
Project Location State Name : CA
Technical Innovation : In order to provide a more cost-effective product, mostly detailed below, the customer opted to use outrigger chassis instead of perimeter chassis, despite the fact that this was to be a permanent structure. Eventually, due to price concerns, the customer opted for a mixed media foundation system. The two end walls were set on a concrete stem wall, welded in place as usual. The two side walls sit, pit-set style, on piers and pads along their I-beams while immediately below the exterior wall is a CMU retaining wall, non-load-bearing. Needless to say, this required some creative thinking by the engineer. All is well with the building, almost a year later, despite small seismic events and the local annual almond harvest!
Total Square Feet : 3360