Trofholz Technologies was a proud partner with Turner Construction to help UC Merced secure their newest project, the Downtown Center. The Downtown Center supports UC Merced in their mission to increase access to college education among students in the San Joaquin Valley.

The Project

UC Merced serves as a major base of advanced research, a model of sustainable design and construction, and a stimulus to economic growth and diversification throughout the Central Valley. Since opening in 2005, UC Merced has grown rapidly and critical administrative functions were performed out of leased spaces throughout the community. Often inefficient, this practice limited the university’s ability to work collaboratively and grow in logical, coherent ways. To improve administrative functions, increase collaboration, and support the economic growth of downtown Merced, the University created its Downtown Campus Center. The center unites 40 non-academic departments increasing efficiency and helping to integrate UC Merced’s teaching, research and public service resources into the fabric of the city.

As part of the construction team under the prime contractor Turner Construction, Trofholz provided the security system for the new Downtown Campus Center building. We worked to ensure that UC Merced employees, students, visitors and dignitaries are safe and secure at all times. Trofholz integrated a system to maintain the safety and security of its 300 staff while still encouraging collaboration between the university and the community.

The Solution

The LEED Gold design building combines a variety of different administrative departments, assigned collaborative space, private working spaces and meeting rooms, all with different security and access requirements. The prime contractor selected Trofholz to install multi-platform cameras and a state-of-the-art control and security system to secure the 3-story, 67,400 square foot building. This integrated security system uses ACS, CCTV and intercom systems to protect and control access to the new building.

The Trofholz team provided installation and integration services to ensure that UC Merced had a fully functional system that coordinated with the existing campus-wide security system. At all points, our team coordinated with the prime contractor to ensure an efficient project schedule and work sequencing. We worked to test and verify performance of all systems, ensuring the university would have a safe, secure, and functioning system.

The Results

While construction of the new facility took approximately two years, Trofholz started once the building was nearly finished, completing the entire installation and programming of the system within four months. The security system included access control and alarm monitoring to automate the opening and closing of building entrances and exits; video surveillance to ensure security teams could monitor and support staff as needed; and communications systems to efficiently coordinate between the 300+ staff, visitors, and various levels and office spaces.

The IT infrastructure and engineering provided a reliable and efficient system of security for the UC Merced Downtown Campus Center. Trofholz was honored to assist the university as they work to bring the university and community together to celebrate a milestone for Merced. The Downtown Campus Center will help to bring new business support to downtown as well as aid in the university’s mission of improving education access to the local youth community. The UC Merced team was able to celebrate at the recent ribbon-cutting ceremony with local business and city officials.

Let us help your business or organization improve your security systems. Contact our team for more information on our IT and security services.