THE Exploratorium

LOCATION:   Piers 15/17, San Francisco, CA
LANDOWNER:   Port of San Francisco
DEVELOPER:   The Exploratorium
PROJECT SIZE:   9 acres
COMPLETION DATE:   Spring 2013
The Exploratorium was a public-private partnership for the development of a new campus museum on the San Francisco waterfront.  Considered a phased Master Plan, Phase 1 included the repair and seismic retrofit of two-thirds of the piers and over 230,000 sq. ft. of building area that included galleries, offices, cafés, gift store, offices, classrooms, theatre, and new 2-story addition.  The open space between pier buildings 15 and 17 was transformed into a new public plaza with a ‘pile’ garden in the water.  The future Phase 2 is envisioned as an expansion into Pier 17 with similar upgrades as Pier 15.  Through the use of a 1.3 megawatt photovoltaic array, bay water heating and cooling system, radiant floor piping, rainwater cisterns, and energy saving operational policies their goal of being the first Net Zero Energy museum is underway. LEED Platinum certification was achieved.

The project involved acquiring CEQA clearance and full entitlements through a dozen agencies; negotiation of a development agreement with the Port of SF; compliance with Secretary Standards for Historic Buildings and successful acquisition of historic tax credits and a solar grant; overall management of large teams of architects/engineers/contractors in due diligence, design and construction; building permits, and community outreach to a high degree of success.

This was a project of Wilson Meany for which James was the Development Manager.