MAI Construction Completes Pivot Bio Lab & Offices

MAI Construction is proud to announce we recently completed a major expansion for Pivot Bio’s Berkeley, CA laboratory and offices to support the company’s rapid growth. The state-of-the-art facility will enable the company to accelerate the development of its groundbreaking microbial nitrogen products. MAI Construction served as the general contractor for the project.

Pivot Bio is working to combat global warming, restore worldwide oceanic balance and fight hunger across the planet by creating biological nitrogen fixation solutions that fertilize and feed cereal and other food crops. There are several benefits to this approach. By using biological agents, it helps farmers increase yield and reduce the emission of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas commonly associated with the breakdown process of synthetic nitrogen-based fertilizers. It also minimizes the leaching of nitrous oxide into the oceans, which is believed to be at least partially responsible for around 500 marine dead zones around the planet.

Pivot Bio has expanded its footprint since 2019. In the past two years, they have opened a high-quality greenhouse space in Hayward, CA; an office at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, MO; and a sales office in the Iowa State University Research Park in Ames, IA. When work began at the Berkeley, CA. facility, MAI Construction was excited to lend our experience in high-end fast-track construction to help realize Pivot Bio’s vision for the facility.

The Pivot Bio Berkeley campus project included complete interior demolition of 45,000SF of an office building, building out labs, and all new offices and conference rooms. In addition, there were interior/exterior building improvements, an extensive seismic upgrade, along with all new mechanical, electrical, water, and gas line upgrades/replacements.

This $19M project consisted of a complete interior demolition of a 45,000 SF office building. Once the demo was complete, we commenced building out labs on the first floor and all new offices and conference rooms on the second floor. An extensive $1.5M seismic upgrade of the building was completed. We also installed new mechanical and process piping systems including plumbing and filtration for reverse osmosis and deionization (RO/DI) water treatment, specialty gases, a new CDA (critical drainage area), vacuum, glass washers, autoclaves, and new lab equipment and lab furniture. Exterior improvements included a two-story expanded main entrance, painting, lighting, landscaping, concrete walkways, exterior patio with fencing, and the Pivot Bio company logo provided by Skyline Sign.

Moving forward, MAI Construction will be upgrading the elevator. Additionally, we are bringing in a new electrical service to the facility, building a new exterior foyer, and completing all site ADA and bathroom upgrades.

“With the technical expertise of our partners at MAI, we created a best-in-class facility that will put Pivot Bio at the forefront of our growing bio-economy,” said Karsten Temme, Ph.D., Pivot Bio CEO, and co-founder. “The remodel fits our needs and enables our team to do their best work in the best possible environment as we strive to develop regenerative agriculture solutions for a sustainable future.”

“MAI Construction’s approach to projects is to ensure success through collaboration, integrating our client’s goals into our planning and delivery,” said Mike Mairose, President of MAI Construction. “With decades of experience in laboratory and biotech expansion work throughout the Bay Area, when an opportunity arose to partner with Pivot Bio on their Berkeley lab and office tenant improvement, our team was thrilled to apply our knowledge and expertise to their project. MAI works with our clients to build a strong partnership, and it’s been an exciting experience bringing Pivot Bio’s vision to life.”

MAI Construction specializes in high-end, fast-track, and phased tenant improvements for the Life Science, Office, Education, and Technology sectors. Our knowledge, skills, expertise, and longevity assure our clients that we are sensitive to the complex needs and rapidly changing landscape of construction to support evolving technology, systems, and processes. We use proven practices to bring our clients’ projects to successful fruition both in terms of schedule and budget. Our dedicated project management ensures complete global knowledge and understanding of the project from initial design to final commissioning and is one of the reasons over 85% of the projects MAI Construction takes on are repeat business from satisfied clients. To learn more about how MAI Construction can assist with your next construction project, renovation, or tenant improvement, click here to visit our website and contact us!