At the 2025 Sacramento Business Journal Best Real Estate Projects breakfast last week HMC Architects picked up two awards, both for newly completed projects in Folsom, California—one for Alder Creek Elementary School and one for the Folsom Lake College Science Building. This annual award program celebrated the best real estate projects in the Sacramento region. These two projects were among winners across 22 categories.
PreK-12 Practice Leader Brian Meyers joined by Roebbelen Contracting leaders Ken Wenham and Adam Villacara.
HMC team members: Kevin Holland, Suzanne Sasaki-Hartstein, Raija Clar, Monisha Adnani and Jeff Grau.
In the K-12 Education category, Alder Creek Elementary School took the award. The $64 million TK-5 school is the second of five new schools planned for the Folsom Ranch development area, following the HMC-designed prototype of Mangini Ranch, a previously built Folsom Ranch area elementary school. HMC and the district designed Alder Creek’s 71,000 square feet for flexibility and collaboration, featuring a two-story, single-building structure with small group learning areas, a large multipurpose room, and a vaulted media center space.
Each of the five building wings hosts a different instructional level. The Alder Creek campus includes a large outdoor playground and field, both of which are available to the public on weekends, an asset to this newly built community in Folsom. Alder Creek had enrollment of approximately 570 students last year, with an additional 170 students starting this fall as more homes in Folsom Ranch are completed. HMC was joined at the awards ceremony by the Folsom Cordova Unified School District and Roebbelen Contracting, the general contractor on the project.
The Business Journal also honored the newly opened two-story 75,000SF science building at Folsom Lake College (FLC), part of the Los Rios Community College District. This building, called Oak Hall, is the district’s single largest value project ever constructed, housing six biology labs, six chemistry labs, and a 4,000 SF science center, enabling FLC to expand its science program significantly to support the region’s growing demand for STEM education. Sited near the main campus entrance, Oak Hall establishes a dramatic, statement presence.
One of the beautiful features of the expansive $65 million project is the open daylit main floor lobby, which is a showcase for a series of inspiring scientific displays and material finishes that accentuate the scientific curriculum. Members of the Los Rios CCD and Otto Construction joined HMC at the ceremony.
These two award-winning projects showcase HMC’s future-focused educational design, both of which contribute to the growth of the Sacramento region.
