PG&E San Mateo Substation

Shaped by Light and Landscape

client

Pacific Gas & Electric Company
location

San Mateo, CA
size

4,800 LF

TEF designed a perimeter security wall enclosing PG&E’s San Mateo Substation, bordered by the Bay Trail, a golf course, and a residential neighborhood. The project marked the third in a series of PG&E substation improvements by TEF, meeting practical utility needs while enhancing the surrounding community.

Wide view of an electrical substation beside a wetland and public trail, with runners and walkers in the foreground and transmission infrastructure extending across the landscape.

Shoreline Inspiration

TEF drew inspiration from the natural landscape and light of the scenic shoreline site to shape the substation’s perimeter wall. Folded panels provided visual relief across the wall’s mile-long length and created an interplay of light and shadow, while varying textures on the precast planes accentuated the changing quality of light throughout the daysite. Photo-glass inserts along the Bay Trail elevation glowed like stars at night, and steel access gates echo the wall’s pattern language.

Electrical substation set beside a wetland, with dense steel transmission infrastructure rising behind a long precast concrete perimeter wall and reflected in the water.

Electrical substation viewed across dense wetland vegetation, with a long precast perimeter wall and extensive steel transmission infrastructure rising beyond.

Electrical substation beside a wetland, with transmission towers, utility infrastructure, and a low precast concrete perimeter wall reflected in the water.

A Precast Response to Site Conditions

The substation’s proximity to the Bay required 40-foot-deep piles spaced every 18 feet. These conditions led TEF to select a precast concrete wall system, its folded precast panels echoing the undulations of the surrounding terrain.