Cal State Fullerton’s newest student housing project, The Suites won the 2023 Award of Excellence for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Design-Build and the Award of Distinction from the Design-Build Institute of America Western Pacific Region (DBIA-WPR) annual conference and awards dinner on June 15.

Housing plays a unique role in forming one’s identity as a college student and future citizen. California State University, Fullerton’s 185,505 SF housing project leverages building mass and landscape to expand the existing housing community and create a new, distinct residential identity on campus that fosters student life, supports a variety of functions to activate the campus’s diverse and flexible community and promotes independence within the residents’ new homes while giving them a sense of ownership and belonging in a shared community.

The HMC + Sundt design-build team was committed to creating inclusive environments with a diverse workforce and local trade partner assembly. The project surpassed CSU’s requirements for Small Business and Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) three times over. This project also featured Sundt’s first all-woman design-build preconstruction team which included Preconstruction Project Manager Mary Homan, Lead Estimator Lamia Porter, and Project Controls Manager Jessica Beyer. The project’s preconstruction team successfully achieved the GMP within budget and on schedule to begin construction. As a testament to our preconstruction and construction efforts, the team preserved 95 percent of the Design-Builder Contingency included within the contract and provided a credit to the client of approximately $3 million in savings.

The DBIA-WPR annual awards program recognizes the successful application of design-build best practices as defined by the DBIA Design-Build Manual of Practice. To learn more, visit DBIA-WPR’s website.