About CPF and the Awards

Held in conjunction with CPF’s 2026 Annual Conference in Riverside, the 2026 Mission Inn Preservation Design Awards Ceremony and Reception will spotlight excellence in historic preservation in a setting that reflects the very spirit of the work being honored. This special evening brings together award recipients, conference participants, preservation leaders, and supporters from across California to celebrate outstanding preservation projects and leadership through the Preservation Design Awards and President’s Awards.

Founded in 1978, the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) is California’s statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of historic places and cultural heritage. Through education, advocacy, and community-centered programs, CPF supports the people, projects, and policies that keep California’s historic resources vital and valued. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.

Garfield Community Pool Team

Project Lead – Paulett Taggart, Paulett Taggart Architects

Owner/Client – Noah Levy, San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department

Joint Venture Architect – Alyosha Verzhbinky, TEF Design

Landscape Architect – Lizzy Hirsch, San Francisco Department of Public Works

Historic Preservation Consultant – Matthew Davis, Architectural Resources Group

Contractor – Build Group Lara Prieto, Emmanuel

Structural Engineer – Ed Rivera, Rivera Consulting Group

Mechanical Engineer – Tunde Munz, Guttmann & Blaevoet Consulting Engineers

Plumbing / Electrical Engineer – Rosanna Lerma, E Design C, Inc.

Civil Engineer – Andrew Leahy, Leahy Engineering

Acoustic Consultant – Ahmad Bayat, Vibro-Acousitc Consultants

Pool Consultant – Dennis Berkshire, Aquatic Design Group

Cost Consultant – Jeff Saylor, Saylor Consulting Group

Lighting Consultant – David Malman, Architectural Lighting Design

Signage Consultant – Daniel Reider, Lowercase Productions

LEED Consultant – Kristen Hershowitz, stok

Waterproofing Consultant – James Mendygral, Simpson Gumpertz & Heger

Specifications Consultant – Emily Borland, Emily Borland Specifications

Garfield Pool Rehabilitation

The Garfield Pool Rehabilitation of San Francisco is a winner for the 2022 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. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.

Read more about the Preservation Design Awards
Indoor swimming pool with clear lanes at Garfield Center in San Francisco. Large windows and colorful murals featuring people and city scenes line the back wall, filling the space with natural light.
A modern school courtyard with large glass windows, angular buildings, a planted garden bed, and several people walking or sitting outside on a sunny day.
Modern building entrance at dusk with large windows, people standing outside, and a colorful mural on the right wall. A sign in the foreground reads “Garfield Center.” The sky is clear and blue.
People walk dogs and enter a modern building with a colorful mural on the wall. A large sign reads “Garfield Center.” The scene is outdoors on a sunny day with clear blue skies.
Indoor swimming pool with large windows featuring colorful murals of smiling children. Sunlight streams in, casting shadows on the poolside walkway. One person stands at the far end of the pool near the glass doors.
Indoor swimming pool with clear lanes, large windows letting in sunlight, and colorful artwork along the top windows. The ceiling is high with exposed beams, and one wall is lined with light wood panels.
An indoor swimming pool with clear water and green-and-white lane dividers. A person stands under a shower on the far wall, facing away, with arms raised to their head. The space is bright with natural light from the ceiling.
Indoor swimming pool with several people swimming laps in separate lanes. A person sits on a bench against a wooden paneled wall, while another person walks by. The area is brightly lit with natural light.
People walk past a colorful mural depicting ocean waves, sea creatures, and dancers on the wall of a modern building, with trees and a partly cloudy sky in the background. One person walks a small white dog.

About the Garfield Pool Rehabilitation

The pool building rehabilitation removed nonconforming exterior additions. The legacy diptych mural “Primal Sea” adorning its south facade — a community treasure painted by nearby Precita Eyes — was restored by the same mural arts organization. Inside, the pool features a movable bulkhead to support simultaneous uses by both lap swimmers and young children and elders with mobility challenges. Reconfigured and modernized restrooms and locker rooms enhance functionality and accessibility.  The natatorium’s canted western façade, obscured over time, was restored with a glass curtainwall featuring a colorful mural that celebrates the Latinx diaspora of immigrants in the Mission, designed through community engagement, by Bay Area artist Favianna Rodriguez.

New additions include a clubhouse clad in a phenolic panel rain screen housing a flexible multipurpose room and supporting amenities, and a glass lobby supporting the use of the clubhouse and providing views and access to the enclosed courtyard. The design of both defer to the historic pool building in their form and scale.