California DGS NNRH

A consistent floor plate establishes workstations, offices, and support spaces that departments can adapt without losing portfolio-wide discipline. Low panels, fewer perimeter offices, and centrally located amenities distribute daylight and access more equitably, reducing hierarchy while supporting collaboration. Each level then draws from a California biome—desert, delta, coast, forest, or glacier—through color, pattern, graphics, and wayfinding. The themes orient people and give departments a sense of place without becoming literal scenery. This balance of standardization and identity helps a large public organization work as a coherent whole, while giving individual teams enough flexibility to respond to their operational needs over time.

Connecting stairs and outdoor terraces support visible movement, informal exchange, gatherings, and restorative breaks. The LEED Platinum tower meets net-zero-energy standards, targets an energy-use intensity no greater than 28.2 kBtu per square foot annually, and uses at least 50% less water than a comparable office building. Low-emitting products, ventilation, recycling and composting, and layered task and natural light strengthen indoor quality. IA, AC Martin, and Turner Construction coordinated the complex design-build effort through a shared digital platform. The completed headquarters aligns workplace experience with measurable performance, giving the agency a credible built expression of the environmental resources it is charged to protect.