SAN DIEGO, CA — Latitude 33 Planning & Engineering is celebrating two recent award wins from the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) for the County of San Diego Youth Transition Campus (YTC), Phase 1. The DBIA honored the project with a National Award of Merit in the Federal, State, County, Municipal category at its annual Awards Dinner in Las Vegas, Nevada. The DBIA-Western Pacific Region (WPR) also recognized the YTC project at its annual conference in Napa, California, with an Award of Merit in the Outstanding Urban or Land Development Project category.

"I cannot imagine a more award-worthy example of design-build delivery than what was accomplished during this very important project," said Justin Peters, Senior Construction Manager at Vanir Construction Management. "The DBE was a team of highly qualified professionals who provided excellent service in stakeholder design implementation, lean planning, and execution of challenging construction design features."

Part of a multi-phase project, the 140,000-square-foot County of San Diego Youth Transition Campus replaces the 1950s-era Juvenile Detention Facility. The YTC design emulates a residential campus with a secure environment and aims to be a place where youth can grow and flourish. Phase 1 of the project, completed in 22 months, entailed adding new buildings, over 300 parking stalls, and new campus amenities, including a recreation field, ball courts, indoor gymnasium, educational facilities, vocational spaces, and new housing facilities to accommodate 96 youth residents. The campus' new Support Building recently achieved LEED Gold certification.

The YTC has adopted a therapeutic approach, focusing on providing supportive, trauma-informed services to help rehabilitate youth and prepare them to reintegrate back into the community. Along with medical, mental health, dental, and vision services, it offers academic and career technical education, where residents learn trades, such as plumbing, culinary arts, media arts, and information technology. The environment emphasizes staff and youth interaction, family connections, positive program participation, and a sense of wellness.

"The YTC offers a new paradigm for youth treatment to achieve better outcomes for youth, their families, and the community," said Matt Semic, PE, President & Principal at Latitude 33. "It focuses on holistic wellness, personal growth, and positive youth development to achieve rehabilitation. We're excited to see such a deserving project recognized by the DBIA."

In addition to the civil engineering services provided by Latitude 33, partners for this project included the County of San Diego, Department of General Services (owner); Balfour Beatty (GC); DLR Group (architect); MA Engineers (mechanical engineer); Syska Hennessy Group (electrical engineer); Miyamoto (structural engineer); Schmidt Design Group (landscape architect); Vanir Construction Management, Inc. (owner advisor); and The Children's Initiative (nonprofit partner).