Judges for the 2022 Gold Nugget Awards (GNA) have named four HMC-designed projects as Award of Merit winners. Sacramento City Unified School District Central Kitchen, Sacramento State University WELL Building Expansion, Los Angeles Harbor College Student Union, and Malibu High School, Administration, Library, and Classroom Addition were selected from over 600 entries as the top vote recipients in each category. As a result of these honors, the projects are automatic nominees for the Grand Award, the highest honor in each category. The awards will be announced in San Francisco, California on June 22 in a live presentation hosted by the Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC).
Sacramento City Unified School District Central Kitchen
Best Special Use Project
When Sacramento City Unified School District challenged HMC to design its new Central Kitchen project that would produce healthy, farm-to-fork meals for its students, we saw it as an opportunity to be part of something that would forever change the role of food in the lives of these students and their families. The $70 million project maximized the use of three separate district properties: the existing transportation facility, an existing central warehouse, and a new adjacent property purchased for the project. The transportation facility was moved to the newly purchased property, which allowed for the 50,000 SF warehouse to be fully renovated to house nutrition services administration and support Central Kitchen bulk storage functions. With a modernized kitchen, the new facility serves over 60,000 meals per day at full capacity, serving students in grades K-12. In the kitchen, professional chefs convert the bulk product into wholesome packaged meals on-site for the approximately 40,000 students throughout the district’s 90 school sites.
Sacramento State University WELL Building Expansion
Best Recreational Use Facility
A welcoming environment for students, faculty, staff, and alumni, the Wellness, Education, Leisure, and Lifestyle (WELL) expansion project attracts the greater community to educational, cultural, and social experiences at Sacramento State. With fall 2021 enrollment at a record 31,588 students, all of them eligible to use the WELL, completion of the facility’s expansion comes at the perfect time. Future expansion has also been planned into the design to add a gymnasium with two basketball courts. Informed by its context, the expansion’s design retains the original building’s iconic look—seamlessly blending the character of the two as if it were a singular project and creating a space to fulfill its mission of Lifetime Wellness Through Collaboration, Education, and Innovation.
Los Angeles Harbor College Student Union
Best Educational Project
The 59,000 square foot, state-of-the-art learning and social hub is home to the LAHC’s Culinary Arts Program as well as campus bookstore, dining hall, student government offices, and a multi-purpose room for a common gathering space. The intentional design unites the existing campus buildings while establishing itself as a unique member of the growing campus. As home to the school’s culinary arts program, the building features two industrial-sized kitchens, two auditorium-style demonstration classrooms, and a small bistro where student chefs cook and serve meals to visiting guests. Our team incorporated several sustainable design strategies to achieve Gold Certification including natural daylighting, drought-tolerant landscaping, and low-emitting materials. The building’s roof reflects solar radiation and paving materials with low heat absorption reduce heat island impacts. Skylights bring daylight deep into the building and exterior sunshades prevent sun glare. Solar panels installed in the adjacent student parking lot offset over 17 percent of the building’s total energy use and helped the building achieve over 45 percent energy savings.
Malibu High School, Administration, Library, and Classroom Addition
Best Educational Project
Located in a city famous for its coastline, canyons, surf, and sun; Malibu High School’s new Classroom, Library, and Administration building celebrates the local landscape to create a harmony of environment and education and transform the campus. The modern facility’s flexible spaces, with sea breezes and views of the surrounding mountains, aim to improve the student experience and support them in reaching their fullest potential. The stepping two-story building spans the entire street front and flows with the natural topography of the school’s hillside location to create a much-needed new face of campus. A two-level administration wing anchors the new main entry, serving both the incoming public at its lower entry and students at the main level. The library’s placement at the northwest corner frames a secondary campus entry with the existing theater building, reinforcing the shared public use of these two programs. New classrooms and labs are located on the courtyard and upper level along with a demonstration roof garden that functions as an educational space for student and community use. The design integrates sustainable strategies that optimize learning environments while reducing reliance on mechanical and electrical systems.
GNA is the largest and most prestigious competition of its kind in the nation. It honors design and planning achievements in community and home design, green-built housing, site planning, commercial, retail, mixed-use development, and specialty housing categories. To learn more or to see a full list of award winners, visit PCBC’s website.
