Budget Control
Early visibility and coordinated planning help teams reduce surprises and maintain budget alignment.
Project Overview
Supporting submarine rescue operations demands facilities designed around speed, readiness and equipment access. The project required a structure capable of housing specialized rescue systems while accommodating maintenance, logistics and administrative functions.
Through coordinated planning and flexible structural design, the facility provides the operational space needed to support critical undersea rescue missions worldwide.
VP Builder
Cairo Construction Co.
Construction Type
Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings
Location
Coronado, CA
Industry
Municipal & Government,
Commercial & Offices
Square Footage
48,020
Completed
2022
Building a business advantage
Buildings That Perform
Long-term weather resistance, simplified maintenance and coordinated performance across the entire building envelope.
Flexible Interiors
Column spacing and clearspan framing create wide-open, usable interior space.
Undersea Rescue Command Operations Building
Building for readiness
Some facilities are measured by the work that happens inside them. Others are measured by how quickly they can respond when called upon.
The Undersea Rescue Command Operations Building falls into the second category.
Located in support of the United States Navy’s submarine rescue operations, the 48,020-square-foot facility was developed to strengthen the operational, administrative, maintenance and logistical capabilities of Undersea Rescue Command (URC), the Navy’s sole submarine rescue-capable command. URC provides worldwide support for shallow- and deep-water rescue systems and maintains readiness for deployment in the event of a submarine emergency.
To support those responsibilities, URC partnered with Varco Pruden™ and Cairo Construction Company, a Varco Pruden Builder, to design, engineer, manufacture and construct a new operations facility tailored to the command’s unique mission requirements.
Designed around critical operations
Completed in December 2022, the four-story structure was developed around the specialized equipment and workflows required for undersea rescue operations. Unlike conventional facilities, the building needed to accommodate large rescue submarines, submersibles and associated support equipment while maintaining efficient movement throughout the space.
A defining feature of the project is its clear-height operational interior. The open space allows personnel to load, unload, inspect and maintain rescue systems used in worldwide deployment scenarios. Rather than designing around a standard building footprint, the project team engineered the structure around the equipment itself and the operational demands of the command.
That approach reflects a core principle behind the Varco Pruden process: understanding how a facility will function before determining how it should be built.
The completed building brings operational, logistical and administrative functions together within one coordinated environment, improving efficiency while supporting mission readiness. The use of a Rigid Frame system provided the flexibility needed to create large unobstructed spaces while maintaining the structural performance required for specialized military operations. The RPR™ Wall System and SLR II™ Roof System contribute long-term durability and building performance aligned with the facility’s operational demands.
For Undersea Rescue Command, the building serves as more than a headquarters. It provides the infrastructure needed to support one of the Navy’s most specialized missions.
For the project team, it demonstrates how collaborative planning and engineered flexibility can deliver solutions built around performance, readiness and purpose.
When response time matters, every operational advantage counts. This facility was designed with that reality in mind.
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