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Arup supports DGS in selection of the design-build team for Richards Boulevard Office Complex in Sacramento’s River District

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Jackie Wei Green Jackie Wei Green Americas Head of Communications,Los Angeles
28 January 2020

Arup and the Department of General Services (DGS) are pleased to announce the selection of the design-build team for the Richards Boulevard Office Complex (RBOC), a 1.25m ft2 mixed-use office complex situated in Sacramento’s historical River District. The design-build team, Hensel Phelps, ZGF Architects, and Dreyfuss + Blackford, will transition the $940m project into the design and construction phase. 

Rendering of the Richards Boulevard Office Complex Rendering of the Richards Boulevard Office Complex

Arup, along with collaborators CO Architects and FXCollaborative, played a key role as the prime consultants for the RBOC criteria team. Throughout the past year, Arup led the criteria team through each phase, working with DGS executives to define the project, develop the performance criteria, evaluate proposals, and assist in the selection of the design-build team, who proposed the best value for the state. 

The first step in defining the project was to develop guiding principles, five aspirations and fifteen critical success factors, that articulate DGS’s goals and vision for the project. We determined that the RBOC’s design should be integrated, people-focused, practical, sustainable, and timeless.

Rendering of the Richards Boulevard Office Complex Rendering of the Richards Boulevard Office Complex

Based on these aspirations, Arup organized 24 in-house, multidisciplinary experts and 10 external collaborators to develop comprehensive project performance criteria in concert with the project directors at DGS and the program managers at Jacobs. The performance criteria will support a sustainable and people-focused design that fits into the evolving culture of state government and the surrounding emerging neighborhood. The criteria were also used to communicate the project requirements to the design-build entities and evaluate their proposals and will continue to be used throughout the subsequent design and construction phases.

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Following our similar work for DGS on the new Natural Resources Agency Headquarters, we are excited to partner again with CO Architects and FXCollaborative to provide DGS with comprehensive project performance criteria to ensure the Richards Boulevard Office Complex will feature an innovative and sustainable design that attracts and retains talent. With Hensel Phelps, ZGF Architects, and Dreyfuss + Blackford on board as the design-build team, we look forward to seeing this significant project come to life and further enhance Sacramento’s evolving River District. ” McKinlay Bruce Bruce McKinlay Arup Principal

Rendering of the Richards Boulevard Office Complex Rendering of the Richards Boulevard Office Complex

Spanning 17.32 acres, RBOC is a key component of DGS’s Ten-Year Sequencing Plan to renovate and replace state office buildings in Sacramento. Principally serving as a state office building, RBOC will feature office space for roughly 4,650 employees and around 200,000ft2 of amenities including a multipurpose center, an auditorium, retail, a wellness center, childcare, food services, and support spaces. The design of RBOC will utilize innovations in workplace strategies, maximize daylight, and support a collaborative working environment, as well as promote sustainability by achieving zero net energy and zero net carbon protocols. 

RBOC has been in the planning and preparation phase since 2018. Construction is anticipated to begin in late 2020, and completion and occupancy are scheduled for 2024.

 

All renderings courtesy of ZGF Architects.