Fast Track to the Fast Lane
Firm Builds Auto Tech School
By K. Robert Wendel

The days of the shade tree mechanic ended when computers made vehicles more sophisticated and much too hard for most people to work on.

The changes also meant a growing need for skilled mechanics.

To meet the demand, Phoenix-based Universal Technical Institute, which has trained more than 65,000 technicians since 1965, is building a new $24 million facility in the Phoenix West Valley that will consolidate several schools scattered across Maricopa County.

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Contractors from the Phoenix office of the Weitz Cos. started construction on the new, 272,000-sq.-ft. UTI training campus at 107th Avenue and Van Buren Avenue in October. A May completion date is expected.

"It's a quick job for this size," said Weitz Cos. project superintendent John Easterbrook.
"It's a design-build job, so the project is evolving, but it's a big, workable site."

Although owned by UTI, the project has many different customers. Because the school trains mechanics for companies such as Audi, Ford, Porsche and BMW, each firm leases its own space from the technical school. Each firm also has its own requirements for training and shop space.

In addition to automotive tech training, there are also classes in diesel mechanics and diesel/industrial mechanics. In all, there are 21 different auto repair facilities in the project.

The design-build project is constructed much like a manufacturing facility, with broad clear spans, tilt-up panels on a slab-on- grade foundation and a steel joist roof. The 32-ft. tall tilt panels are 7 -in. thick, with some panels weighing up to 80,000 lbs.
Suntec Concrete of Phoenix performed the concrete work. The slab-on-grade foundation ranges in thickness from 4- in. to 8- in. Offices are getting thinner slabs while shop space - especially the diesel engine training facility - is getting thicker slabs.

"It's a factory, no matter whether they are producing machines or people," said Weitz Cos. project manager Travis Gooding. "Here, they need every single square foot because there is just not a lot of vacant room."

The building is essentially divided in half by a 12-ft.-tall, two-hour masonry fire wall, which cuts noise pollution and provides a durable enclosure. A steel stud frame wall tops off the masonry. Approximately half of the building's footprint is used for office space, classrooms and an auditorium.

One of the school's primary thrusts is cleanliness, especially in the shop areas.
Designers employed sealed concrete and durable finishes mixed with high-end graphics.

"With 2,000 students a day coming through here, they don't want a lot of carpet or wall covering that won't hold up to the daily abuse," said interior architect Denis McKitrick of Studio 4 Interiors of Phoenix. "This building has to handle an enormous population of students, so durability is a key issue, but at the same time, there is a level of quality that takes it above the standard."

Phoenix-based Gromatzky Dupree and Associates designed the building's exterior, with Phoenix firms O'Neill Engineering performing the civil work and TLCP Structural Engineers designing the structural system. Because of poor soils, the site needed 6 -ft. of over excavation, which was replaced with engineered fill, raising the building slightly above grade.

"The soils were pretty bad, said Tim O'Neill, a principal with O'Neill Engineering Inc. "The soils were really expansive, so it ended up being a net import job."