Tasked with the first design-build project undertaken by California’s Department of General Services, the project team was committed to make delivery of the new 374,000-sq-ft home for California’s Health and Human Services Agency as efficient as possible.

The Allenby Building incorporates numerous features to provide a high degree of long-term flexibility.

Shared collaborative workspaces afford choices for a multi-generational workforce, while highly adaptable “workplace wings” accommodate current and future tenant needs. The building’s interior finish palette promotes health and well-being, with abundant daylighting strategies and irresistible stairs that encourage movement throughout. Integration of a low-velocity underfloor ventilation system delivers fresh air directly where the occupants are at, without drafts, and exhausting warmer, “used” air overhead.

A combination of high-efficient heating, cooling and support systems earned the Allenby Building LEED Platinum certification and net-zero energy recognition through the New Building Institute. In addition, the project is California’s first state-owned building to receive the U.S. Resiliency Council’s Platinum Rating, recognizing the building’s ability to recover from an earthquake or other natural disaster on structural performance.

To keep the project on track during the COVID-19 pandemic, the project team developed innovative solutions to ensure productivity. With social distancing protocols limiting use of the 25-person personnel hoist to just four people at a time, the team devised a schedule to stagger use of the hoist by trade. Swing-shift work was also implemented to load the building with materials for the next day’s activities.