Sacramento, CA

California State Capitol Security Improvements

Scope/Solutions

Modeled after our nation’s capitol, the California state capitol building was built between 1860 and 1874.  The building features a dome rising 210 ft above the street and a stately granite facade.  As home to the executive and legislative branches of state government, the capitol has been targeted during past attacks.  The state sought to improve security measures and screening facilities while preserving the building’s historic fabric and character of the surrounding forty acres of gardens and trees from around the world.  SGH assisted with the structural evaluation of certain security features.

Highlights of our work on this project include design of the following:

  • Vehicular barriers, including bollards, security planters, and cable restraints, to prevent close access to the building and to meet the highest federal security standards
  • Two new visitor screening facilities, external to the building’s eastern Annex, which provided a 3,300 sq ft visitor reception area to permit visitor security screening prior to entering the building
  • Architecturally-exposed structural steel trusses and moment resisting frames incorporated into the design of the visitor screening facility to complement the historic aspects of the capitol building

Project Summary

Icon: completion-date

2008

Completion Date
Solutions
Repair & Rehabilitation
Services
Structures | Advanced Analysis
Markets
Government
Client(s)
HDR Architecture, Inc.
Specialized Capabilities
Risk & Resilience Assessment

Key team members

Ronald Hamburger
Consulting Principal
415.343.3015 rohamburger@sgh.com

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