Location: Sacremento, California, United States.

Architect: AC Martin.

The Natural Resources Agency Headquarters for the California Department of General Services is a 20-story office tower that will house 3,500 state employees from the Department of Natural Resources and seven other state agencies. The building, also known as the P Street Building, will also feature 10,000 SF of ground-level retail space, a multi-vendor food court, and a pedestrian plaza. The design of the building is inspired by the California Delta and the State’s natural icons, incorporating natural forms and materials. The tower is an abstract transformation of nature, evoking images of a granite mountain altered by environmental elements. The fritted glass on the outside of the building is dense enough to appear as an abstraction of the texture of Sequoia tree bark, and the lower “wrapper” represents the texture and colour of the land formed by the delta. The building is designed to meet LEED Platinum and net-zero energy standards, with features such as radiant floor heating and cooling, reclaimed water systems, mechanical chilled sails, and building materials such as reclaimed wood and local/renewable materials. The P Street Building is not just a workplace for state employees but also a new destination for the public. The ground-level retail space, multi-vendor food court, and pedestrian plaza will provide a new space for the public to enjoy.

The design of the building is rooted in the principles expressed by the Agency’s Mission, which is to create a building that brings awareness to the vital and precious relationship we have with our natural environment. The building’s design incorporates natural forms and materials, and the colours are inspired by simplified images of layered sedimentary rock. The fins and opaque panels create a multi-textured and human-scaled face for the public. The building is designed to be environmentally friendly, with features such as radiant floor heating and cooling, reclaimed water systems, mechanical chilled sails, and building materials such as reclaimed wood and local/renewable materials. The building is also designed to meet LEED Platinum and net-zero energy standards, which means that it will be highly energy-efficient and produce as much energy as it consumes. The P Street Building is a great example of how a building can be designed to be both functional and environmentally friendly.

Photo credit: © AC Martin 2019.