UC San Diego Park & Market
G|M Business Interiors furnished the interiors of UCSD's new state-of-the-art Park & Market facility in downtown San Diego.
G|M Business Interiors partnered with architectural and design firms Gensler and general contractor Bycor to create a bright, inviting, and vibrant space for UC San Diego's new Park & Market hub in Downtown San Diego.
The four-story, 66,000 square-foot facility includes private offices, workstations, touch-down areas, a large critical listening space, education classrooms, lounge areas, collaborative areas, flex spaces, a cinema, computer labs, a green room, union spaces on the upper levels, phone rooms, executive suites, and panoramic views of the city.
The space was designed with a purposeful mix of public meeting spaces, arts, and educational spaces for civic engagement, learning, collaboration, and cultural experiences unlike anywhere else in the region.
One of the primary things UCSD was looking for in the new space was flexibility. To help them achieve this desire, G|M offered mobile furniture with wheels, flip-top tables, and stacking chairs that could be easily moved. They wanted the furniture to be able to move around and be easily reconfigured to accommodate different events and workstyles.
The project was led by MillerKnoll Executive, Kelly Brucher and former Account Executive Cheryl Laletta, and was taken over by Account Executive Sheila Collins. Kyra Vrabel was the Project Manager and saw it from beginning to end.
"It was neat seeing the blank, empty floorplate completely transformed into a unique, creative, forward-thinking, colorful space," said Vrabel.
One of the biggest challenges was working through construction and supply chain delays. While challenging at times, all parties kept the focus on the bigger picture, allowing everyone to work through these roadblocks together. UCSD also allowed G|M to store products on their site – freeing up valuable warehouse space.
UC San Diego Park & Market is designed to serve the entire San Diego community as a social and intellectual hub for civic engagement, learning, and collaboration. The flexibly designed space represents the university's commitment to connecting with the cultural heritage and shared values of the region's diverse social, cultural, and economic community.
UCSD expects to engage over 10,000 local community members each year at Park & Market, with a focus on programs that will allow unemployed and under-employed people to achieve academic certificates and well-paying jobs on an accelerated basis. The creation of Park & Market directly created more than 370 permanent jobs, and provided another 1,500+ temporary (construction) and indirect/secondary/tertiary jobs during the building process.
