Wolfe Water Center, Del-Co Water

The Call: A Master Plan Identified What the Campus Was Missing

Del-Co Water’s Olentangy campus had grown organically for decades. What had started as a single office building housing all departments had expanded into multiple buildings stretching across the grounds. The flow between departments had become challenging. Walkability had declined. And the campus lacked a centralized gathering point for staff development, team engagement, and cross-departmental collaboration. The land use master plan identified the gap clearly: the campus needed a hub.

But building on the remaining campus land was not straightforward. The available parcels held utility-related obstacles: overhead and in-ground power lines, gas lines, an improperly abandoned well, and limited documentation of existing underground infrastructure. Post-COVID supply chain issues added cost uncertainty. And the utility’s leadership wanted the building to serve more than just the immediate operational need. They wanted it to become a point of connection for the campus and eventually for the community.

Understanding the Workforce Before Designing the Building

The team took a master planning approach instead of a single-building focus. The first step was analyzing the purpose and functionality of each existing building on the campus. Then the team embedded with the workforce. Architects and designers shadowed employees to observe daily workflow, document movement patterns, and identify opportunities for operational efficiencies. The team also visited nearby fire stations to see how process efficiencies like pull-through vehicle bays, building zones, and gear-to-break room flow could be applied to utility service operations. That firsthand observation informed everything from the garage layout to the office placement to the flow between work zones.

The site investigation was equally thorough. The utility’s in-house GPS department partnered with the team to record and log points of all utilities on the remaining parcels. The exercise documented the overhead lines, underground lines, gas lines, and the abandoned well. The documentation was necessary for construction safety but also created records that will serve the utility during future campus and community projects.

The Decisions That Built a Hub, Not Just a Building

The purposeful planning allowed the team to eliminate the typical “back of house” elements that are usually hidden in utility service facilities. Instead of the industrial design more commonly applied to utility operations, the Wolfe Center was designed with the look of a professional office environment applied throughout. The utility’s leadership wanted a building that communicated investment in the workforce, and the design delivered that without sacrificing functionality.

The training center was designed for optimized staff development, but the quality of the space quickly attracted attention beyond the utility. City and county officials as well as community organizations requested use of the space. The utility is now considering ancillary services such as event space catering. Free access to dual EV charger stations was added as a visitor perk. And porous paving was incorporated that could eventually be converted to overflow parking as demand increases. A space designed for internal training became a community asset.

Post-COVID supply chain challenges were navigated through flexibility and openness to affordable alternatives. When price escalation or materials availability issues arose, the team identified substitutions that maintained quality without inflating the budget. The leadership’s willingness to be flexible when it mattered allowed the project to stay on track.

Along the way, the team found budget-friendly additions that exceeded the original goals: increased use of natural light throughout the building, solar panels on garage roofs, EV charging stations that enabled the addition of electric vehicles to the utility’s fleet, and a carport for additional covered parking. These were not luxury add-ons. They were smart decisions, identified through the initial analysis and workflow observation, that created significant differences in both functionality and community appeal.

A Campus Hub That Serves the Utility and the Community

Today, the Wolfe Center is the centralized hub the Olentangy campus was missing. Departments that had been spread across the grounds now have a central gathering point. The training center serves staff development and has evolved into a space that city officials, county officials, and community organizations want to use. Professional environments replace the industrial look throughout. Solar panels, EV charging, and natural light add long-term value. Underground infrastructure is documented for future projects. The building was designed from firsthand observation of how the workforce actually operates, and it shows in every workflow detail. A campus that had been spreading apart for decades finally has its center, and that center serves more than just the utility. It serves the community.