California Academy of Sciences’ historic structure in Golden Gate Park.

Italian “starchitect” Renzo Piano is partnering with San Francisco’s Chong Partners Architecture to compose a new score of architectural jazz in Golden Gate Park.

Designers and engineers behind the California Academy of Sciences redevelopment are aiming for LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council [see “Green building by the Bay,” SI, May 2005]. It’s an unprecedented goal for a world-class museum incorporating a “living rainforest,” a 225,000-gallon exhibit of a Philippine coral reef and thousands of science exhibit specimens.

Design features for the new structure include ample natural lighting and ventilation, nontoxic building materials, on-site solar power generation and a 66 percent-grade eco-roof providing native habitat for butterflies, hummingbirds and increasingly elusive honeybees. Energy-efficiency technologies could reduce energy consumption to 50 percent less than prescribed by California building codes.

The roughly $500 million project, financed through a combination of public and private funds, is scheduled for completion in 2008. Museum leaders say the project isn’t costing more than a comparable world-class museum. They expect huge returns, however.

More info:
www.calacademy.org/ newacademy/index.php

Above California Academy of Sciences’ historic structure in Golden Gate Park is kept intact while new additions increase the facility’s size from 375,000 square feet to 410,000 square feet. (During construction, the museum is being housed south of Market Street near the Moscone Center.)



The Morrison Planetarium (left) will display a digital view of the earth on its exterior, encircled by a canal of running water. And the structure of a massive aquarium (above) will hold saltwater pumped into the academy from the nearby Pacific Ocean to support three ecosystems of different salinity for tropical fish.

Design
Renzo Piano Building Workshop,
Chong Partners Architecture

General contractor
Webcor Builders

Engineering and sustainability consulting
Arup

Living roof
Rana Creek

Landscape architecture
SWA Group




above In stark contrast to the sharp edges of the nearby de Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences’ hilly rooftop holds soil in place to support thousands of native, drought-resistant plants delivered to the construction site in biodegradable coconut-husk casings [see “Rana Creek grows green roof potential,” SI, Nov. 2006] Museum officials claim the green roof — designed as the world’s largest — will provide habitat for native birds and wildlife while cutting stormwater runoff by half. Todd Lukesh (left), sustainability engineer for Webcor Builders, explains how the 197,000-square-foot green roof’s circular windows project sunlight into the museum below.


above Though solar energy provides just 170 kilowatts (about 5 percent of the California Academy of Sciences’ total energy needs), thin-film panels are installed for a test run on the facility’s rooftop perimeter. The $1.2 million array of 720 panels was custom built by Open Energy Corp. to Renzo Piano’s specifications. The active solar film in each panel is just 1 millimeter thick.