Project Data:

Completion Date:     2/14/2022

Square Footage:      36949

Building Use:           Office if the Public Defender for San Bernardino County

Project Description:

The original plan for the County of San Bernardino’s Public Defender’s office at 323 Court Street included the remodel of the 1965 office building that the County had acquired at that address. Through user group workshops with the County, we listened to the goals of the program and discovered the existing building was forcing the programmatic elements into the four stories and wasn’t truly going to
deliver the best value for the County. 
 
Our team brainstormed about how to best provide the County and members of the Public Defender’s office with the most efficient design solution. The solution was simple; a new building would be the best way achieve these goals. We constantly kept these goals in mind when designing a tailored space and are proud of this innovative and unique building that brightens the downtown area of San Bernardino. This new building is not a hand-me-down, but one that has been designed from the inside out
addressing the programmatic elements of the project to develop a better solution for all users of the facility. The project was completed on time, even with this major change of direction, and the members of the Public Defender’s Office are happily settling in to their new space.

Framework for Design Excellence

Program-Driven Design (Design for Integration, Economy, Energy, Well-Being)
Our approach to complying with the design criteria centered around what we learned from the users of the building during our design meetings. These goals highlighted the desire for:
 
• A safe, secure building and parking solution
• A professional, cost effective work environment
• An easily maintained and long lifecycle building
• Natural light throughout the space
• Integrated workspaces with efficient work flow within and between departments
 
The most important project considerations were the County and Public Defender’s Office goals for the new space. The seismic upgrade risks and concerns, inefficient parking solutions and disjointed office and department placements led our team to move towards the new construction concept. Rather than dedicating a large portion of the budget to building upgrades with a low lifecycle guarantee, we thought outside the box to deliver a balanced approach.
 
To bring balance, our design consolidated all workspace onto two floors. We worked with users during the schematic design meetings to ensure that the necessary adjacencies were addressed and enabled the most efficient flow between and within each of the three departments based at this location.
 
Balance was also brought to a number of collaborative and flex spaces throughout the new building. Collaboration is important to any successful team and we wanted to ensure that this was available and encouraged in our design. The flexible spaces reflect a modern work environment which was also emphasized by future users of the space. Our design balances private office space, open work space and group spaces in a cohesive and efficient manner.
 
Balance between the indoors and outdoors was also enhanced by our new building design. Our design creates more daylight options in the collaboration spaces and the core workstations, while also providing nearly all private offices with windows. We heard and acted upon users’ unhappiness with
the current building’s lack of windows and aimed to provide everyone who would be stationed in this building with an exterior view to bring balance to a workday.
 
Nature-Inspired Interiors (Design for Well-Being)
San Bernardino County is known for its beautiful mountainous landscape. The interior design concept is inspired by the natural earth tones, the varied terrain, and the airy atmosphere one may experience while hiking through the mountains. By extracting notable experiences — reaching the summit after an all day climb, running through a pile of colorful flowers in the valley, hiking through tall evergreen trees in the forest, or splashing in the crystal clear waters of the lake — people will feel healthy, productive and excited about their work environment. This was achieved by introducing fresh color and interesting
patterns, which are strategically placed and designed in order to provide a unique office experience. An example of an interior floor plan with inspirational images, which was presented to the client during the design process, is shown at right.

A Step Towards Revitalizing Downtown (Design for Equitable Communities, Change)
The new Public Defender’s Office takes a big step towards revitalizing the surrounding downtown San Bernardino area. Further balancing the indoor and outdoor concept is the approach to the building for visitors. It was expressed to our team that presenting a professional environment without a ‘stuffy’ persona was important for employees. To achieve this, we designed a building that is both professional and visually appealing without looking ostentatious. The facade is unassuming yet welcoming. It brings elements of high design without looking imposing or intimidating for visitors, clients and the community. Finding the balance between professional and warm both inside and outside of the building was a driving factor to our design.
 
One of the most important factors for the Public Defender’s new office was parking. It was clear from the beginning of this process that secure parking for employees and accessible parking for visitors and clients was a key goal for a successful project. To balance the need for secure employee parking and onsite public parking, our team capitalized on the new building approach to provide a semi-subterranean parking solution. This two-level parking structure is both more efficient, and more visually appealing than the proposed 4-story structure, adding not subtracting to the aesthetic of the area.
 
The members of the Public Defender’s Office are proud of their new building, and, like our team, are optimistic that it will breath some new life into downtown.

Timely Execution (Design for Change, Well-Being, Discovery)
This project was not without its challenges — our solution was a drastic departure from the prescribed renovation, and design started right before the onset of the pandemic, just to name a couple. Throughout the process, our “one team” mentality allowed us to adapt and pivot as needed. Our close collaboration with the County insured that decisions were made in a timely manner, and by working hand-in-hand with the contractor from the pursuit phase of the project we were able to come to solutions quickly and head off potential issues before they became major problems. The trust built amongst the entire team also facilitated a fairly seamless switch to virtual collaboration and navigating the “new normal” of a pandemic together. In the end, the finished, new building was delivered to
the County in the original timeframe which was specified in the RFP documents for the proposed
renovation project.

Firm Name:              CannonDesign

Completion Date:     2/14/2022

Square Footage:      36949

Building Use:           Office if the Public Defender for San Bernardino County

Location:                 San Bernardino, CA

Design Architect:
CannonDesign

Associate Architect or Firm:
CannonDesign

Landscape Architect:
Site Design Studio (Landscape Architecture)

Owner / Developer:
County of San Bernardino

Engineer:
Psomas (Civil Engineering)
Ficcadenti Waggoner and Castle (Structural Engineering)

General Contractor:
McCarthy Building Companies

Consultant:

Photographer:
Stephen Whalen