Format
Brief
City
San Francisco
State/Province
CA
Country
USA
Metro Area
San Francisco
Project Type
Special Use
Location Type
Other Central City
Land Uses
Aquarium
Museum
Office
Open space
Parking
Planetarium
Restaurant
Keywords
Green roof
Indoor rainforest
LEED Platinum certified
Minimal impact development
Sustainable development
ULI Awards for Excellence 2009 Winner
Site Size
10
acres
acres
hectares
Date Started
1999
Date Opened
2008
A brief is a short version of a case study.
One of the world’s largest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum public buildings, the California Academy of Sciences features an aquarium, planetarium, natural history museum, and four-story rainforest beneath a 2.5-acre (one-ha) living roof. Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the building integrates the academy’s operations in a single sustainable structure, embodying the organization’s mission of preservation and protection of natural habitats, species, and resources. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the new development is one of the most important cultural improvement projects in San Francisco’s history.
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Format
Brief
City
San Francisco
State/Province
CA
Country
USA
Metro Area
San Francisco
Project Type
Special Use
Location Type
Other Central City
Land Uses
Aquarium
Museum
Office
Open space
Parking
Planetarium
Restaurant
Keywords
Green roof
Indoor rainforest
LEED Platinum certified
Minimal impact development
Sustainable development
ULI Awards for Excellence 2009 Winner
Site Size
10
acres
acres
hectares
Date Started
1999
Date Opened
2008
Developer/Owner
California Academy of Sciences
San Francisco, CA
Architects
Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Genoa, Italy
Stantec
Edmonton, AB, Canada
Engineer
Arup
London, UK
Landscape Architect
SWA Group
Sausalito, CA
Website
www.calacademy.org
Principal Author(s)
Theodore Thoerig, Alexandra Notay, David Leipziger
ULI Awards for Excellence 2009 Winner