Orange County’s recently opened County Administration North (CAN) building caps an urban center development that constitutes one of California’s largest ever P3 projects. Spanning 17 acres, the Santa Ana property includes 16 county-owned buildings and more than 1.6 million sf of indoor space. An innovative public-private partnership (P3) delivered the $400 million complex on time and under budget, according to LPA Design Studios, which provided architecture and engineering services. The result is a new urban center that promotes outdoor spaces, cuts energy costs, and reworks the way the county interacts with the public.
The six-story, 250,000 sf CAN building includes a state-of-the-art hearing room for the Board of Supervisors designed to increase openness and public accessibility. The new Civic Center complex consolidates and reimagines the workplace for a dozen county departments, and significantly reduces operating costs. The design of CAN and the nearby County Administration South (CAS) building, which opened in 2019, reduced energy use by more than 76% from the AIA 2030 Commitment benchmark, primarily through passive design strategies.
The P3 process began with a Facilities Strategic Plan, co-authored by LPA and Griffin Structures, a multidisciplinary firm that provides innovative project delivery solutions. This plan explored all aspects of the county’s operations and real estate assets. When this evaluation kicked off, the County had not attempted a major capital improvement project since filing for bankruptcy protection in 1994. Many of its buildings were more than 60 years old.
The civic center construction project was structured on tax-exempt financing backed by the county’s long-term lease. When the lease expires, the county will take full ownership of the buildings. The P3 arrangement included a guaranteed maximum price established by the developer and its team. This put pressure on the design and construction teams to meet budget and schedule parameters. The two County Administration buildings were delivered on time and under budget, returning an estimated $8 million in aggregate savings to the county.
The two main buildings were conceived through a resilient design that allowed for higher ceilings and greater infiltration of natural light in workspaces. Interior design elements created more efficient workspaces that responded to the work habits of different departments. Work environments were developed around access to natural light, multi-use conference rooms, and collaborative spaces, creating a workplace expected to help the county compete to attract and retain talent. In the public plaza, landscape architects designed a rich diversity of spaces representing the region’s landscape.
On the Building Team:
Owner and/or developer: County of Orange (California)/Griffin Structures
Design architect: LPA Design Studios
Architect of record: LPA Design Studios
MEP engineer: LPA Design Studios
Structural engineer: LPA Design Studios
General contractor/construction manager: Swinerton
Related Stories
| Feb 14, 2014
The Technology Report 2014: Top tech tools and trends for AEC professionals
In this special five-part report, Building Design+Construction explores how Building Teams throughout the world are utilizing advanced robotics, 3D printers, drones, data-driven design, and breakthroughs in building information modeling to gain efficiencies and create better buildings.
| Feb 13, 2014
Why you should start with a builder
They say the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Expanding your building or constructing a new structure for your business, church, or school isn’t all that different. Attacking it is best done in small, deliberate pieces.
| Feb 13, 2014
Related Companies, LargaVista partner to develop mixed-use tower in SoHo
The site is located at the gateway to the booming SoHo retail market, where Class A office space is scarce yet highly in demand.
| Feb 12, 2014
First Look: Futuristic Silicon Valley campus designed to draw tech startups
The curved campus will consist of four different buildings, one exclusively for amenities like a coffee bar, bike shop, and bank.
| Feb 11, 2014
Adobe Photoshop update features new 3D printing capabilities
Available as part of an update to Photoshop Creative Cloud, the tool enables users to easily and reliably build, refine, preview, prepare, and print 3D designs.
| Feb 10, 2014
Architecture Design Collaborative announces firm opening in Southern California
Today, Architecture Design Collaborative officially announces the launch of its firm providing a full range of architecture and interior design services nationwide. Architecture Design Collaborative offers architectural design services, comprehensive interior design services, developer collaboration, direct tenant improvement, repositioning and site planning.
| Feb 10, 2014
Ball State to host Geothermal Conference on design, drilling and equipment - April 10, 2014
To best serve the industry, Ball State University has organized a single day conference in which participants will be able to exchange technical notes, develop understandings and share experiences with design, drilling, and equipment issues related to geothermal ground source heat pump technology.
| Feb 7, 2014
DOE, Autodesk team to overhaul the EnergyPlus simulation program
The update will allow a larger ecosystem of developers to contribute updates to the code in order to improve performance and decrease the time required to run energy model simulations.
| Feb 7, 2014
Bernards announces executive leadership realignment
Changes reflect long-term growth plans as builder enters its fifth decade.
| Feb 7, 2014
Zaha Hadid's 'white crystal' petroleum research center taking shape in the desert [slideshow]
Like a crystalline form still in the state of expansion, the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center will rise from the desert in dramatic fashion, with a network of bright-white, six-sided cells combining to form an angular, shell-like façade.
