A Civic/Institutional Award of Excellence is presented to the Gregory Bateson Building, a 1981 landmark of sustainable architecture whose original design pioneered low-energy office design with features such as passive cooling, natural ventilation, and night-flushing. The soaring atrium, with its distinctive sawtooth roof, skylights, and clerestories, is at the heart of the modernization. Original fabric air-distribution tubes were retained as visible evidence of the building’s environmental design heritage, while improved thermal strategies, planting, and flexible seating enhance the atrium as a daylit space for public gathering and collaboration. Preservation guided interventions throughout, including rehabilitation of brick floor pavers, salvage and reuse of ceiling baffles, and in-kind fabrication of glulam wood panels for a new high-performance envelope. Expanded, open floor plan office suites bring daylight deeper into the interior, while shared workspaces and amenities support flexibility and comfort. Achieving LEED Platinum performance, the project substantially reduces energy and water use while advancing full electrification and long-term decarbonization. Envelope improvements, efficient mechanical systems, waste-heat recovery, and renewable energy procurement improve performance without sacrificing architectural character. 

State of California Department of General Services

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., General Contractor; CannonDesign, Architect of Record; Architectural Resources Group (ARG), Preservation Architect; Glumac, Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing; Forell | Elsesser Engineers Inc., Structural Engineer; Coffman Engineers, Fire Protection Engineer; Ninyo & Moore, Industrial Hygienist / Hazardous Material; RDH Building Science, Building Enclosure Consultant; Lerch Bates, Elevator Consultant; RHAA Landscape Architects, Landscape Architect; Veneklasen Associates, Acoustics, Noise & Vibration & Audio Visual Design; Siegfried Engineering, Civil Engineer; Cosco Fire Protection, Fire Protection Trade Partner; Lawson Mechanical, Mechanical / Plumbing Trade Partner; Schetter Electric, Electrical Trade Partner; Jensen Hughes, Industrial Hygienist (Laboratory and Workshop Design); Nevell Group, Inc., Wall Systems; Allegion, Hardware