NEWS | June 27, 2025
Balboa Park Botanical Building Captures AIA San Diego Award

The Balboa Park Botanical Building in San Diego was recognized with an Honor Award in the Preservation category at The American Institute of Architects San Diego 2025 Design Awards, marking its second major accolade following the 2025 California Preservation Design Award.
We contributed to the building’s renovation and expansion by designing a fire protection solution that preserves its historic character, including an open lattice roof which, while essential to plant life inside, would have significantly compromised the performance of a traditional sprinkler system.
Instead, we developed an alternate approach, installing a manual fire alarm system designed to provide early occupant notification and rapid evacuation during a fire event. This thoughtful, performance-based design allowed for restoration of the building’s original roof system and successfully blended historic preservation with modern fire safety.
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