Sacramento,CA

In an invited competition, AECOM develped a concept that promised to reenergize the love of Sacramento as a global icon for basketball and a beloved destination for residents and tourists alike. Located at the center of downtown it creates a revitalized heart in the city, and for California's Central Valley itself by integrating the arena within the fabric

of the city while opening it to its people and creating a new destination for everyone, all the time.

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Environmental issues of the site were key drivers in developing the concept for the arena. The northern facade of the arena opens widely, allowing entertainment events and pre-game activities to spill into the public plaza at the center of the block. Tagged during the competition as "The Kings Court: A cool place in a hot city ", the arena's orientation leverages cool afternoon breezes from the Sacramento Delta.

Though the final architectural design character of the arena itself the evolved very differently during the subsequent design phases, the

fundamental concept and urban design principles represented in diagrams included here were largely incorporated. These fundamental principles and an extremely interdisciplinary and collaborative design approach established during the design competition, under Williams' leadership contributed significantly to the Golden Center 1 establishing itself as the first Net Zero arena in the world.  

Golden Center 1 opened in 2016.

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Allison Grace Williams, FAIA

Competition Phase Design Lead for Architecture, AECOM

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