California Academy Of Sciences
A Renovation and Expansion Project
Justin collaborated with Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) and participated in the design and construction phases of the new California Academy of Sciences, which was completed in 2009 and replaced the museum’s former 12 buildings that were damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake in San Francisco, California.
The Academy rises on the same site as the former museum in the Golden Gate National Park. The reconfigured building, which houses the Academy’s planetarium, Rainforest Bolla, and Steinhart Aquarium, is capped by a floating 4-acre living roof of undulating hills with 1.7 million native plants which reflects the seven hills of San Francisco. The architecture embodies the Academy's philosophy of the need to situate humanity harmoniously within the endlessly complex ecosystem.
Maintaining its connection to the natural world, large parts of the building, including the main exhibition halls, are naturally ventilated. Furthermore, portions of the facility’s electricity are generated through integrated PV cells located at roof glass canopies, nearly all of the water used by the museum is collected by the green roof, and the lighting and temperature of the structure is monitored carefully and adjusted to maximize efficiency. The environmental consciousness demonstrated by the Academy, which was one of the first LEED platinum certified museums in the country, demonstrates how museums and research facilities can study nature without impacting it.
Finally, despite the Academy’s transparent, contemporary glass exterior, certain elements of the former museum, such as the North American Hall, the Steinhart Aquarium entrance, and the neoclassical vaulted ceilings of the African Hall, were either preserved or recreated within the new design to maintain a meaningful relationship with the museum’s past.
Client: California Academy of Sciences
Location: San Francisco, CA
Year Completed: 2008
Collaboration: RPBW, Stantec
Image Credits: Tim Griffith