San Diego County Operations Center San Diego, California

The San Diego County Operations Center is a public administration and operations center that consolidates twenty-five widely dispersed work groups into an integrated, centrally located campus.

  • Location

    San Diego, California

  • Sector

    Government

  • Service

    Architecture

  • Client

    County of San Diego

  • Status

    Completed

  • Size

    1,400,000 SF

Developed through a public-private partnership, it is widely recognized for its civic character and compact, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. The new buildings are organized around a series of individual plazas and courtyards, each incorporating landscaping, outdoor gathering spaces, and public art. The campus includes over 600,000 SF of administrative office, operations, light industrial, and laboratory spaces; a new 118,500 SF Registrar of Voters building, a 15,000 SF conference and dining facility, 12,000 SF central energy plant, 70,000 SF of whole-house renovations to existing buildings, and new Sheriff Technology and Information Center. The certified LEED Gold project redevelops an existing, occupied site and careful consideration was given to the phasing of the development to minimize disruption of the County’s on-going, on-site operations including important customer-serving and mission-critical activities such as the Medical Examiner’s building and “911” emergency communications center.

Incorporating a significant collection of newly commissioned, site specific public art, public spaces throughout the campus are enlivened by the work of important contemporary artists. The Center also created the County’s first archive of historically significant artifacts, which are displayed at entry areas to departmental offices.

The Center reflects the County’s commitment to sustainable design, establishing standards used by the County and other public agencies for their subsequent projects. The office buildings are certified LEED Gold, with the Campus Commons conference and dining facility enter earning LEED Platinum status. The Center earned numerous awards for design and sustainability. It was named “Outstanding Governmental Building of the Year” by the California Center for Sustainable Energy and received the AIA California Council’s Merit Award for Sustainable Design.

Awards

APWA Sustainable Project of the Year
California Center for Sustainable Energy Project of the Year
SDG&E Energy Champion
AIA California Council Merit Award for Sustainable Design