DPR Construction cuts ribbon on Silicon Valley office, prefab facility

DPR Construction, a general contractor and construction manager with headquarters in Redwood City, California, has cut the ribbon on its new Silicon Valley, California, office and prefabrication assembly facility.

Founded in 1990, DPR specializes in projects for the advanced technology, life sciences, health care, higher education and commercial markets. The company employees 11,000 professionals across its family of companies.

Designed by Detroit-based firm SmithGroup, the 113,702 square foot facility brings DPR’s regional and corporate operations together with its prefabrication assembly facility under one roof. The building houses 68,160 sq. ft. of open office space and 45,542 sq. ft. dedicated to prefabrication, research and development. The facility was built by DPR and its family of companies, including OES Equipment, EIG Electrical Systems and GPLA Inc., all of which also occupy the space.

“Our history is deeply intertwined with Silicon Valley, and opening this combined office and prefab facility is a powerful statement about who we are and how we build,” Jack Poindexter, Northwest regional leader at DPR Construction, says. “By bringing our administrative, craft and prefabrication teams together in one facility, we’re creating a workplace that celebrates construction, supports collaboration and reflects our commitment to innovation, sustainability and our people.”

The building aims to remove barriers between administrative and craft employees to encourage connection and collaboration, DPR says.

“In construction, there is often a gap between the experiences of office-based staff and the craft on our project sites,” Kevin Chen, Bay Area co-business unit leader for DPR Construction. “We want to unify the experience of working at DPR, no matter an employee’s role. When teams share the same amenities and naturally cross paths throughout the day, it builds trust and connection, reflecting the culture we build every day at DPR.”

Designed to support 5S and Lean manufacturing processes, the prefabrication assembly facility houses DPR’s self-perform work teams, including drywall, finish carpentry, architectural concrete and a variety of trades handling roofing and building envelopes, as well as specialty systems. According to DPR, it also provides a dedicated environment where building components can be preassembled in a controlled setting using virtual design and construction tools.

The prefabrication assembly facility is designed for year-round operations, DPR says. From this location, DPR aims to serve projects throughout the Bay Area and the West Coast.

In addition to the adaptive reuse of an existing three-story office building, DPR says the project incorporates mass timber construction and low-carbon concrete mixes that include fly ash, slag and waste CO2 to reduce embodied carbon. According to DRP, the concrete design reduced carbon emissions by 38 percent, preventing more than 1,160 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

DPR says it has positioned the building to achieve, at minimum, Net Zero Energy, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold and WELL gold certifications. Additionally, DPR is targeting net zero carbon certification—a first for the company.