Sempra, Location: San Diego, CA, Architect: Carrier Johnson
+Architecture/Corporate

Cisterra Partners

Sempra Energy Headquarters

Vision


As Sempra Energy’s new downtown headquarters, this building is modern and sleek with clean and simple geometries balanced with bold, uncommon architectural moves that set it apart among the sea of downtown office buildings.

Sempra, Location: San Diego, CA, Architect: Carrier Johnson

A cloak of deep blue glass folds around the steel mass with dramatically angled reveals and cuts. The glass reaches toward the ground without quite touching so as to leave the lobby exposed in a lighter, more transparent façade that allows the public to see in and office occupants to see out. The light-colored mullions and structural elements at the base of the tower related to the light-colored historic buildings on the site.

Carrier Johnson - Sempra San Diego - 03 Interior 04

Project Meta


Client

Cisterra Partners

Completion

2015

Size

323,760 SF Office; 219,296 SF Parking; 16 story high rise with 4 levels below grade parking

Construction Cost

$123,400,000

LEED Rating

Gold

Markets

Corporate Headquarters; Office

Project Types

Corporate

Services

Architecture, Interiors, Site Planning

Carrier Johnson - Sempra San Diego - 02 Site 03

Historic Context

The existing site had two locally historic designated buildings: the Pack Loft Building (1925) and the Unicorn Building (1927), both of which were planned to be renovated and preserved. An existing City of San Diego fire station also played an important role in the site planning process. The existing parking lots that took up most of the site encroached on the sidewalk, hindering the right-of-way, safety, and pedestrian circulation around the site.

Modern Intervention

The project concept was heavily influenced by the existing historical buildings on the site and its proximity to Petco Park. Placing a new, modern office building within this context would require sensitivity and creativity to successfully relate these buildings to one another and enhance the public realm at street level. Our team imagined the building meeting the street in a unique way so as to create desirable public open space and a very strong indoor-outdoor connection between the lobby and public right-of-way. Our site plan also called for the lobby to relate to Petco Park through massing articulation such as a cantilever or terrace and material transparency.

Sempra, Location: San Diego, CA, Architect: Carrier Johnson

A Good Neighbor

The angled south face of the tower allows adjacent buildings to the east to retain at least some of their bayfront views and reduces early afternoon solar reflectance from the tower toward Petco Park. As well, the corner of the building that faces the ballpark is accentuated with a small mass floating above the building entry that protrudes away from the rest of the tower, reaching toward the ballpark and the public sphere.

Above the mass on the 15th and 16th floors of the tower, the building is cut away where the two-story outdoor terrace overlooks Petco Park. At the ground, the lobby entry is highly visible to welcome people from the street and makes a connection to the nearby ballpark with its majestic diamond shaped exposed concrete columns.

Sempra, Location: San Diego, CA, Architect: Carrier Johnson

Pedestrian-Focused

On the opposite side of the site, the base of the tower is pushed inward and the tower pulls up its glass cloak to reveal space for a public park accessible from the building’s cafe or the street. The northwest corner floats above an existing building where a restaurant was planned for future programming.

Since the existing parking lot encroached on the public circulation paths, our site plan widened the public right-of-way and eased pedestrian flow. Our site plan changed the site’s pavers to the same style used around the Ballpark District and carefully inserted tree grates so as not to interrupt the existing utility corridor. Raised planters and trees help to safely separate the new plazas from vehicular traffic.


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