Construction owners and public agencies are increasingly balancing facility capacity, infrastructure resilience and long-term operating requirements in project delivery. Sundt Construction has three California projects recognized in the 2026 ENR California’s Best Projects program, covering a university STEM facility, a wastewater treatment upgrade and a student housing development.
The San Diego State University Imperial Valley Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley received Best Project recognition in the Higher Education/Research category for Southern California.
The 66,000-square-foot facility was constructed on former agricultural land near Brawley. Site conditions required several infrastructure and environmental measures, including more than 7 feet of soil replacement and installation of a forced-main sewer extending more than 2 miles to connect with Brawley’s wastewater system.
The project also incorporated vegetated stormwater swales. Construction planning accounted for the potential presence of protected burrowing owls, with relocation measures prepared if the species were identified on the site.
The facility supports science and engineering education in the Imperial Valley, an area seeing investment tied to lithium extraction, geothermal energy, battery production and advanced manufacturing.
In Northern California, Sundt and Walsh Construction delivered the new headworks facility at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission’s Southeast Water Pollution Control Plant, with Carollo Engineers serving as design engineer.
The project replaced two headworks operations dating to the 1950s and upgraded the initial wastewater treatment stage. The facility can support treatment of up to 250 million gallons of wastewater per day.
The upgraded system uses Hydro HeadCell technology for grit removal and operates at 95% efficiency. The equipment provides a reported 45% improvement over the system it replaced. The facility was also designed for a magnitude 7.8 earthquake and 36 inches of sea-level rise, while incorporating odor-control infrastructure serving the surrounding Bayview neighborhood.
The project received Best Project recognition in the Water/Environment category for Northern California.
Sundt’s third recognized project, Cal Poly Humboldt’s Hinarr Hu Moulik Student Housing in Arcata, received an Award of Merit in the Higher Education/Research category for Northern California.
The 305,000-square-foot housing complex contains 964 beds within 243 apartments and increases the university’s campus housing capacity by nearly 50%. The project uses a seven-story concrete structural system designed to provide durability in the coastal environment.
Construction required approximately 18,000 cubic yards of concrete. More than 100 days of annual rainfall in the area created scheduling and logistics challenges for concrete placement, while the project’s remote location required crews and trade workers to spend extended periods in the community.
The three projects illustrate different capital investment requirements facing public-sector owners, from higher education capacity and specialized research space to wastewater infrastructure modernization.
For construction owners and contractors, the projects highlight the importance of site-specific planning. Soil conditions, utility limitations, seismic requirements, climate exposure, environmental considerations and remote-site logistics can materially affect delivery strategies and project execution.
The projects also reflect construction activity across institutional and essential infrastructure sectors, where owners are investing in facilities supporting education, housing and long-term public services.
Source: Sundt.
