San Diego County Operations Center Campus
- Project Address: 5560 Overland Drive, San Diego
- Project Owner/ Developer: County of San Diego
- Owner Contact Name/ Email: Jeff Redlitz / Jeff.Redlitz@sdcounty.ca.gov
- Project Architect/ Designer: RJC Architects
The Campus Center is the heart of the San Diego County Operations Campus, an administrative facility for the County of San Diego. Part of a multi-phase redevelopment, the Center will eventually support as many as 4,000 employees in 1.1 million SF of office, laboratory and operations space.
Designed with flexibility in mind, the project includes a 200 seat public hearing and training room that also serves as the County's media hub during emergency operations. A 200 seat cafeteria also doubles as breakout meeting space for the public hearing/training room. Fritted glass covered patios and a rooftop terrace expand the interior space to provide additional informal dining and meeting space.
When commissioning is completed the Center will receive LEED Platinum certification. Sustainable features are artfully integrated to provide a memorable architectural setting for formal and informal social interaction. These sustainable features include:
* A vegetated green roof that filters rainwater and reduces heating and cooling requirements
* A unique, glazed, building-integrated photo-voltaic (BIPV) system that provides 400Kw of sustainable power and shades the rooftop terrace
* A solar thermal energy generation system that provides hot water for the kitchen and restrooms
* Extensive use of natural light, including dramatic clerestory windows and adjustable Solatube skylights that allow the public hearing room to be used without artifical lights
* Ceiling fans that circulate air to reduce the need for heating and air-conditioning
* High efficiency mechanical and lighting systems and on-site energy generation to improve energy performance to 42% better than Title 24
* Water conserving plumbing fixtures and irrigation systems that reduce interior water consumption by 56% and exterior consumption by 74%
* Locally extracted and manufactured exterior building materials such as precast concrete, chosen for their excellent life-cycle cost performance
* Interior finishes made from recycled and rapidly renewable materials
* Energy Star certified food service equipment
As is typical of the entire project, public spaces are enlivened by some of the best works of San Diego's best local artists. In this case, the art installations include landscape paintings by Glenn Crooks that represent coastal, inland, and desert regions within the county and an astonishing 16-foot wide multi-panel photograph by Philipp Scholz-Ritterman that captures the power of a sudden storm in the desert.
Project Awarded
Compared to other taxpayer funded projects recognized this evening, the 38-acre County Operations Center, coming in, was a much more cost-effective use of our tax dollars - and the People are pleased.
In one of its numerous nominations submitted it was written that “the Operations Center deserves an Orchid in multiple categories: architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, sustainable design, and miscellaneous (for its public art and its prudent investment of public money in capital facilities that will provide enduring value).”
Proving that buildings do not have to be boring to be economical, the County Operations Center is evidence that they can be beautiful, highly sustainable, maximize light and open spaces, and very enjoyable work environments. Clearly it is recognized and appreciated when things are done economically and efficiently, especially when the public is paying for it.
Coming in at 96%, the People’s Choice Orchid for 2012 was the County Operations Center.