SACRAMENTO, CA — The May Lee State Office Complex project team recently received the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) Western Pacific Region Project of the Year Award. Hensel Phelps also announces that the Caltech Resnick Sustainability Center received a Distinction Award during the annual awards dinner.
Establishing an urban fabric for the current and future River District in Sacramento, California, Hensel Phelps collaborated with ZGF Architects and Dreyfuss + Blackford to build the state’s largest office complex and parking structure. The May Lee State Office Complex (MLSOC) unites various agencies and departments of the State of California across a 17.3-acre site, comprising approximately 1.25 million square feet of office space and amenities.
This is the first development in the revitalized River District, an area being transformed from its industrial past into a modern neighborhood adjacent to the downtown core. The campus features four mid-rise office buildings, an amenities program curated for occupants’ needs, landscaping, a new parking structure, and opportunities for micro-mobility and public transit. Together, these elements enhance and support connections between occupants, buildings, and the evolving urban fabric of Sacramento’s River District.
The MLSOC is also a landmark in sustainable design and construction, setting a national precedent as the largest all-electric, zero-carbon workplace campus in the U.S. From day one, the project was guided by a comprehensive decarbonization strategy. The team’s efforts contributed to the project achieving LEED Gold certification and SITES GOLD certification, exceeding sustainability goals and delivering measurable environmental benefits.
"This project and team continue to amaze me," said John Petty, Operations Manager at Hensel Phelps. "When you are part of building a project, you always believe it’s special, but the industry recognition this project team continues to receive emphasizes how truly exceptional this project was. This team embodied the collaboration and commitment of the ‘One Team’ approach, which allowed us to deliver the office complex ahead of schedule while also achieving a substantial monetary savings for the state."
| Your local Trimble Construction Division dealer |
|---|
| SITECH West |
| SITECH Southwest |
The design-build delivery model provided new ways of engaging and motivating the team. Regular communication and accountability were the backbone of the project’s efforts. In the early weeks of the project, as conversations with stakeholders from across the country unfolded amidst the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, the MLSOC team quickly realized the project’s success would depend on fostering a culture of collaboration, teamwork, trust, and adaptability.
To foster a “One Team” culture, the team facilitated formal partnering sessions, including small focus groups that addressed both traditional construction — such as exterior skin, quality, and design development — and nontraditional focus groups dedicated to maintaining team morale and developing new, engaging safety protocols. For example, safety reminders on the job site featured characters from "The Office," which were updated with pop culture references. When team members welcomed new babies into their lives, baby pictures were put up on site, with the goal of reminding everyone that even in a time of isolation, they were still a team — connected in more ways than just the work.
Despite beginning during one of the most difficult times in recent history, the team achieved all scheduled milestones and delivered on all commitments. While the project involved a large, dynamic team with numerous transitions, open and frequent dialogue allowed uninterrupted progress and smooth handoffs throughout the project.
The four-story Caltech Resnick Sustainability Center (RSC) serves as the hub for energy and sustainability research on the Caltech campus and the home of undergraduate teaching laboratories. This modern, flexible building is helping support and expand the research work of the Resnick Sustainability Institute (RSI), which has four research centers within the facility: an Ecology and Biosphere Engineering Facility, a Solar Science and Catalysis Center, a Remote Sensing Center, and a Translational Science Facility for pilot testing at scale.
| Your local Gomaco dealer |
|---|
| Terry Equipment |
The design-build team’s greatest challenge while building the RSC was to achieve LEED Platinum certification while incorporating the functional needs of a highly specialized research facility that fosters collaboration across different disciplines. Research laboratories typically require significant energy to operate specialized equipment, maintain controlled environments, and ensure proper ventilation. Also, research needs can change rapidly, requiring laboratories to be flexible and adaptable. The team used innovative solutions to meet LEED Platinum standards while addressing the needs of the bespoke collaborative research facility.
The team integrated advanced sustainable technologies and materials, including a mass timber structure, which is a renewable resource with less embodied carbon than steel or concrete. This approach reduced construction waste through precise offsite prefabrication and created a warmer, healthier interior environment due to its biophilic nature. However, mass timber is less effective at dampening vibrations in laboratories with sensitive equipment. To address this, the team used concrete for laboratory spaces and mass timber for non-laboratory spaces on the north and west elevations, supporting the organic glass façade and high-traffic common spaces.
Additional sustainability features the building incorporates include a high-performance exterior envelope, a fully glazed north atrium and western façade that maximizes natural light, solar shading fins that reduce heat gain, and highly energy-efficient mechanical and electrical systems. Outside, rooftop photovoltaic arrays generate power for research and operations, while native plantings and stormwater dry wells increase the building’s sustainability.
