Qualcomm Pacific Center Parking Structure

At Qualcomm Pacific Center, the parking structure presented several challenges. To accommodate the new AY and AZ campus office buildings, the structure, originally designed as five levels, was increased to a six-level structure with 1,516 stalls.  Early in the design process, Miyamoto explored a value-engineering solution for the foundation system. Due to the amount of artificial fill material over the existing subsurface canyon and magnitude of the foundation loads, a deep foundation system (drilled piers) was proposed in the geotechnical report.  An existing canyon drain also presented a challenge because deep foundations could damage it, as the exact location was unknown. We recommended an alternate system, rammed aggregate pier (RAP), which is a ground-improvement technique to increase the capacity of the soil. By using the alternative foundation system, construction costs were reduced by more than $200,000, and construction duration plus risk of damaging the existing canyon drain were reduced.