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
| Oct 13, 2010
Residences bring students, faculty together in the Middle East
A new residence complex is in design for United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain, UAE, near Abu Dhabi. Plans for the 120-acre mixed-use development include 710 clustered townhomes and apartments for students and faculty and common areas for community activities.
| Oct 13, 2010
HQ renovations aim for modern look
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ renovations to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New York City headquarters will feature a reworked reception lobby with back-painted glass, silk-screened logos, and a video wall.
| Oct 13, 2010
New health center to focus on education and awareness
Construction is getting pumped up at the new Anschutz Health and Wellness Center at the University of Colorado, Denver. The four-story, 94,000-sf building will focus on healthy lifestyles and disease prevention.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community center under way in NYC seeks LEED Platinum
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
| Oct 13, 2010
Community college plans new campus building
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
| Oct 13, 2010
Bookworms in Silver Spring getting new library
The residents of Silver Spring, Md., will soon have a new 112,000-sf library. The project is aiming for LEED Silver certification.
| Oct 13, 2010
County building aims for the sun, shade
The 187,032-sf East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, Calif., will be oriented to take advantage of daylighting, with exterior sunshades preventing unwanted heat gain and glare. The building is targeting LEED Silver. Strong horizontal massing helps both buildings better match their low-rise and residential neighbors.
| Oct 12, 2010
Holton Career and Resource Center, Durham, N.C.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. Early in the current decade, violence within the community of Northeast Central Durham, N.C., escalated to the point where school safety officers at Holton Junior High School feared for their own safety. The school eventually closed and the property sat vacant for five years.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 12, 2010
Richmond CenterStage, Richmond, Va.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Bronze Award. The Richmond CenterStage opened in 1928 in the Virginia capital as a grand movie palace named Loew’s Theatre. It was reinvented in 1983 as a performing arts center known as Carpenter Theatre and hobbled along until 2004, when the crumbling venue was mercifully shuttered.
