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   Core Shot
 

Project Update

Sunnylands is scheduled to open in November 2011. During the next two years, the new Annenberg Center at Sunnylands will be completed to offer visitors an introduction to the Sunnylands story. Surrounded by a nine-acre desert garden, the new Center will offer exhibitions and audio-visual materials explaining the architectural history of the site, its art collections, its important visitors, the philanthropic legacy of the Annenbergs, and the ways in which all new work embraces an ethic of environmental sensitivity. In addition to new construction is the restoration and renovation of the historic estate. Completed in 1966, the house, originally designed by A. Quincy Jones, requires upgrades to make it accessible to the public and seismically stable. The infrastructure of the grounds is being carefully evaluated to include 21st-century technology while maintaining the property's cultural landscape.

  Photo Credits
Left: Rendering by Jackson Kahn Golf Course Design
Center: Photograph by Graydon Wood, December 2006
Right: Rendering by Craig Shimahara Illustration for Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects
 
JULY 27, 2010

Pat Truchan and K Kaufmann discussing sustainable
landscaping and best environmental practices at Sunnylands.



Magazine to Feature Project

The Annenberg Center at Sunnylands is leading the way when it comes to best environmental practices in the Palm Springs desert area. Pat Truchan, Director of Agronomy and Landscape, was recently interviewed by
K Kaufmann of Desert Magazine for the September issue, focused on sustainable landscape in the Coachella Valley. Desert Magazine is published monthly by The Desert Sun , a Gannett publication. Pat's interview touched on such subjects as irrigation, plant selection, the solar farm, and more.

JULY 9, 2010
The photovoltaic system at the Annenberg Center is expected to produce
100% of the energy consumed on the center site.


Sun Power

As of July 1, 2010, the Annenberg Center began generating energy via its onsite photovoltaic field. Three rows of solar collectors are positioned in the northwest section of the Center property and include 867 collector modules, assembled into 250 foot-long arrays, raised off of the ground on an aluminum superstructure. Raising the solar collectors allows the land below to serve as a shaded multi-purpose area. The Center is in the last phase of construction with building systems coming on-line for testing, balancing, and programming. Once fully operational, monitoring of the Center's daily energy use will begin in conjunction with the monitoring of the PV system's daily energy production. It is expected that the system will produce 100% of the energy consumed on the center site.

John C. Berley
Associate
Frederick Fisher and Partners Architects