National Trust for Historic Preservation

The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation National Preservation Awards for 2026

Duration: 3:48 561 transcript words EN summary

Video summary

The video explores the critical importance of understanding historical context to determine where society is headed, emphasizing that preservation and sustainability are deeply interconnected concepts. A central theme presented is the idea that all development is inherently local, requiring thoughtful community engagement and practical underwriting to make projects feasible. The narrative highlights how historic adaptive reuse often faces challenges, but success depends on a commitment to rolling with whatever obstacles a specific site presents. Without financial tools like historic tax credits, many such transformative projects would simply not be viable, as these structures carry a rich previous life that must be respected and integrated into modern usage. Several examples illustrate the innovative engineering and craftsmanship required to save aging buildings while keeping them relevant for contemporary needs. One notable project involved a radical rehabilitation of a historic state building on the Capitol Mall, where the entire foundation was demolished and replaced with advanced base isolators to make the structure earthquake-proof. This process demonstrated how newer technology can be utilized to transfer a building's weight safely onto a new base, protecting it from future seismic damage while preserving its core identity. Similarly, another project in San Diego focused on keeping a county government building operational for over 90 years by bringing it up to current fire and life safety codes through skilled trade contractors who could both build the original structure in 1938 and preserve it in subsequent decades. Beyond structural integrity, the video underscores that the true value of preservation lies in integrating these buildings into the everyday lives of the community. By preserving overhead machinery even within residential units and hosting events like weddings, park gatherings, and civic protests, these spaces remain active parts of their culture and history rather than static relics. The conclusion drawn is that the best way to preserve any old building is to ensure it remains useful and woven into the daily routines of its people. Ultimately, the awards celebrate communities like San Diego that chose to invest in their heritage, ensuring that historic assets continue to serve as functional government buildings and cultural anchors for future generations.

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[music] I've always felt that in order to understand [music] where we're headed, we first have to understand where we've been. The building is the oldest continuing state building on the Capitol Mall. That's [music] important because justice has really always been a part of Oregon's [music] history. >> For us, preservation and sustainability are really, really closely related. This project is a really good example of a radical rehabilitation of a historic building. I mean, we demolished the entire foundation. We took away an entire portion of the building. >> The base isolators that make this earthquake proof, it's amazing [music] what they came up with to protect us from any future damage from earthquakes. >> Being able to utilize the new technology or newer technology of base isolation and all the challenges that came along with building a new foundation [music] and then transferring the weight of the building back onto it. That's just a really exciting thing to be a part of. I like to say that all development is local. I mean, if you're thoughtful on the front end, you know, you do the work, you do the community work, you do the underwriting work, practically anything is developable. The American Lofts at Silo City, I would say, is really the first foray into proving the concept that this is a peninsula that can be invested in and developed and apparently the concept is proven. When people say that historic adaptive reuse is too difficult to do, you have to be committed to rolling with whatever the site throws at you. Without the historic tax credit, projects like this are just not feasible. These buildings have had a whole previous life before you got here. One of the great things that we were able to do was preserve a lot of the overhead machinery that traverses the building, even in residential units. to be able to provide people with modernized housing solutions that also brings life back to assets like this that are part of [music] their culture, part of their, you know, their history as a city and and how they see themselves. I personally can't think of a richer way to do development than that. Well, the CAC is more than a building. It's been the county seat of government for 90 plus years since it dedicated in 1938. So even then, San Diego people chose to invest in their community and to build a building such as this. The main goal was how do we keep this building alive and operational from day to day. This project was able to be successful due to the craftsmanship and the trade contractors who not only built it in 1938 were able to preserve it in the last 7 years. [music] So we're able to bring it up to code. fire life safety and extend its life. Even with seismic retrofit, the best way to preserve any old building is to make sure it's part of everybody's everyday lives. You get married here. There's park events. There's civic protests. It's not just the building. It's what went on in the last 90 years in this building. It has history. I think the award is for San Diego. They chose to preserve part of San Diego. It remains a useful county government building for all the people. [music]