Described by retired Monterey County Project Manager Judy Jeska as the “Jewel of the County,” the East-West Building sits on a site that has served as the county seat of government for nearly 140 years. WRD Architects transformed the interior of this 1937 WPA-era courthouse into a new headquarters for the Monterey County District Attorney.

Special care was taken to preserve and restore the National Register–listed building. Original steel windows were replaced and repainted in their historic “Aegean Green.” At the rear of the building, a new skybridge connects the three-story West Wing to the two-story East Wing. The first floor features a law library and a café.

WRD provided full architectural services from project inception, including programming, needs assessment, development guidelines, and master planning.

WRD Architects collaborated with Monterey County to design a new 47,000-square-foot Health Department headquarters. To minimize downtime and avoid the need for interim relocation, the new facility was constructed adjacent to the existing headquarters, which has since been demolished. During demolition, materials were recycled, and the existing asphalt was ground and repurposed as the base for new parking areas.

The new building consolidates four bureaus—Administration, Public Health, Behavioral Health, and Environmental Health—along with the Public Health Laboratory. The open office layout enhances communication, maximizes natural light, and allows flexibility to accommodate future growth and evolving program needs.

The multi-level design follows the site’s natural topography, reducing the building’s perceived mass and integrating seamlessly with the adjacent Natividad Medical Center campus.

In 2013, Capital One Financial Services abruptly vacated its former offices at Schilling Place in Salinas, leaving behind a sprawling corporate campus with over 200,000 square feet of interior space and a vast landscape of existing cubicles. Recognizing a rare opportunity to consolidate eighteen disparate departments under one roof, Monterey County enlisted WRD Architects to lead a comprehensive programming effort—one that demanded careful coordination of civic needs and logistical planning.

WRD Architects’ design transformed the existing one- and two-story financial services buildings into a vibrant, centralized campus for the County of Monterey. From concept to completion, WRD provided full project oversight, including programming, needs assessment, development guidelines, master planning, construction documents, bidding support, and construction administration, culminating in a fully furnished and operational government facility.

WRD Architects partnered with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies to renovate the Holland Center, a popular student hub on the Institute’s Monterey campus. The newly expanded center features a modern kitchen, multipurpose spaces, and a variety of study zones designed for both individual and group use. The ceiling is crafted from reclaimed wood salvaged from previously demolished campus buildings.

The student center extends seamlessly outdoors, offering students and faculty inviting spaces to gather beneath a lighted wooden entry trellis or in the newly landscaped patio areas behind the building.

Carmel Unified School District selected WRD Architects to design the new Carmel High School Library.

The library features 18-foot-high, open wood-beamed ceilings and a fully glazed exterior gable wall that provides panoramic views and abundant natural light. Inside, the space includes a classroom, a computer lab equipped with a SMART Board interactive whiteboard, a media room, and a comfortable seating area for reading periodicals. State-of-the-art technology is integrated throughout to enhance the educational experience for students.

The building’s exterior was carefully designed to complement the bucolic character of the existing campus architecture.