San Diego Pump Station (2024 DRAFT)

Dec 31

San Diego Pump Station

San Diego, California

Scope of the City of San Diego Pump Station 2 (PS-2) includes the construction of a building that houses two new natural gas engines and two new diesel generators for standby power.

PS-2 is a critical pump station; nearly 80% of the City’s sewage flows into PS-2 and ultimately into the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. Thus, it is crucial that PS-2 remain operational throughout an emergency situation. One of the objectives of the project is to increase the reliability of the pumping capacity of the Station in the event of a major power outage.

Another goal is to design a building that has a positive effect on its environment. The architectural design of PS-2 conceptualizes San Diego’s rich geological formations and coastal lands, while reducing the scale of the existing building. Inspired by the coastal geography of San Diego, the facade of the PS-2 provides an interesting display of light, texture, color, and shadows. The facade of the treatment plant is custom fabricated to include concrete indentations representing local topography. The form liners used for the concrete casts were hand-sculpted.