FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2021

CONTACT: Laura Knauss

PHONE: (916) 558-1900

EMAIL: laura.knauss@lionakis.com

Historic Midtown Building to Become Lionakis’ Headquarters and Office of the Future

    A Major Midtown Architectural Move

Sacramento, CA, 04/23/2021~Although employees of Sacramento-based architecture firm Lionakis have worked from home for the last year, their in-house design team has been busy re-envisioning the workplace of the future as the firm moves forward on its planned Headquarters relocation announced in early 2020. Construction is now underway at 2025 19^th Street, just across the street from their current location, with move-in slated for early 2022.

As one of the first design firms to establish a presence in the wider R Street Corridor planning area, Lionakis has a long history of embracing adaptive reuse, respecting these iconic buildings of the past while designing for current and future workplace trends. With their move quite literally across the street, Lionakis plans to continue to be part of the wider R Street Corridor planning area’s ongoing revitalization and vibrancy. Education Principal, Laura Knauss, has been with the firm at its current location for more than 25 years:

“I was here when we moved into 19^th and T, and was a contributor to the re-design – it was a former glass warehouse. Our history on this corridor is well-known and longevity is a big differentiator for us, as well as our firm and building size. As Sacramento’s oldest and largest firm, we’re building for our legacy and continuous operations, despite the current WFH environment. As an apprenticeship-based firm with a strong focus on situational learning and exposure, we are always thinking about and planning for the next generation of architects and designers.”

The historic, 40,000 square foot building was originally home to the Weaver Tractor Showroom and more recently divided into multiple tenant suites with typical nine-foot lay-in ceilings hiding the enormous potential of the space. Lionakis is turning it once again into a single space, exposing four original barrel vaults, including the largest volume, with 32 foot-high ceilings, that will become the major studio space.

“Our design approach is less about additive design and more about stripping everything away. We’re sandblasting and exposing the original board-formed concrete columns and lintels, celebrating the scars that have taken place since before WWII, and exposing site-built bow trusses as evidenced by historic photos of the construction – they don’t fabricate trusses on site like that anymore.”
Interiors Principal, Bret Harper

Harper continued, expanding further on their Interior Design Plan:

“What’s key is talking about how at a time when a lot of organizations are reducing their real estate due to COVID-19, we are not. We gave it serious thought, but made the decision not to reduce our space. In fact, we have increased our individual workspaces well beyond industry norms. We don’t see heightened personal awareness to safety being just a trend, and to complement that, we have developed a flexible telework policy as well.”

In addition to embracing the best of the building’s original structure, employee health, wellness, and satisfaction informed the design. Through an engagement process that included all staff, the design evolved, providing large workstations with adjacent collaboration spaces, a lobby area that features an adjacent café and outdoor patio space, and both indoor and outdoor huddle spaces at ground level as well as “raised” treehouses that provide quiet workspaces in the 32-foot volume space. With a dedicated Research and Design Lab, and both formal and informal meeting spaces, staff, clients, and the community are welcomed as participants in the design process.

Firm President, Don McAllister says:

“We want to be leading the way to the new normal; providing what is needed when and where you need it. Some staff are working on one project and others are working on 30 – so the space is being designed to provide flexibility and choices that meet all those needs. Our headquarters are going to be a living laboratory, and we look forward to sharing what we learn along the way with our clients.”

Lionakis expects completion of all the major interior and exterior building renovations near the close of 2021 or early 2022, with an anticipated staff move-in date set for early in the first quarter of 2022.

PROJECT FACTS SHEET & PROJECT TEAM

PROJECT INFORMATION

LIONAKIS FIRM INFORMATION