About CPF and the Awards
The California Preservation Awards are a statewide hallmark, showcasing the best in historic preservation. The awards ceremony includes the presentation of the Preservation Design Awards and the President’s Awards, bringing together hundreds of people each year to share and celebrate excellence in preservation.
The California Preservation Foundation (CPF), a 501c3 nonprofit, was incorporated in 1978. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.
SMUD HQ Project Team
Owner/Client & Title
Doug Norwood – Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Architect
Kristopher Barkley – Dreyfuss + Blackford Architecture
Historic Architect
Alan Dreyfuss – Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Structural Engineer
Ron Migliori – Buehler Engineering, Inc.
Civil Engineer
Eddie Kho – Morton & Pitalo, Inc.
Mechanical/Plumbing Engineer
Lowell Shields – Capital Engineering Consultants, Inc.
Electrical Engineer
Scott Wheeler – The Engineering Enterprise
Landscape Architect
Ben Woodside – Callander Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc.
Construction Manager
Robert Mauldin – Kitchell CEM
Contractor
RJ Kjome – Roebbelen Contracting, Inc.
Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Headquarters Rehabilitation
The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Headquarters Rehabilitation is the winner of a 2020 Preservation Design Award for Rehabilitation. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. The Award will be presented on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at an online awards ceremony. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.
About this project
Rehabilitation planning of this four-story, 131,500 sf facility commenced in 2014 with the commissioning of an extensive design team.
Preservation strategies were a core driver of the project and led to a complete rehabilitation of the exterior and character-defining interior features, while removing toxic materials.
Also included in this rehabilitation were site and landscape improvements designed to historically maintain significant features of the 13-acre site, and artist Wayne Thiebaud’s large glass tile mural “Water City,”was carefully cleaned and preserved.
A carefully considered addition in the building’s core allows for greatly increased daylighting and access to views. A central enclosed stair and mechanical shaft was replaced with a large open stair for enhanced vertical circulation and transparency between wings. Open office areas were restored and modernized to remove decades of incremental modification that left the spaces feeling constrained and dreary.
