AIA COTE 2016, Exploratorium at Pier 15

Exploratorium at Pier 15 by EHDD in San Francisco is one of the 2016 Top Ten Green Projects selected by the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Committee on the Environment (COTE). A building in the historic pier that stands out for its sustainability.



One of the major themes of contemporary architecture is refurbishing existing buildings for energy efficiency, and the architects from EHDD have responded with one of the ten greenest buildings in the United States - the new location of the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco.





The historic Pier 15 shed on the waterfront of the old town was built in 1931 but had stood alone and abandoned surrounded by ongoing developments Considering the intrinsic sustainability of the historic building and taking advantage of the clerestory windows to bring in natural light, the architects added some strategic openings to allow for extra light and ventilation, and built a new glazed observatory offering unobstructed views of San Francisco Bay.
In addition to the unparalleled panorama, the observatory offers other services for the science museum located in the historic pier shed, where the architects incorporated a theatre, classrooms, labs, retail stores and offices, as well as a large outdoor plaza to engage with the public and encourage them to use and interact with the space.





Other improvements that EHDD made include reducing the energy demand of the Exploratorium to 55% below comparable benchmark buildings. So, they introduced a 1.3 MW solar array on the building's roof, careful water management, adopted low environmental impact or recycled materials and applied the “long life, loose fit” rationale, meaning the institution will be able to keep reinventing itself all the time - and this is just some of what they did.
Exploratorium at Pier 15 by EHDD is proudly LEED Platinum certified and also aspires to achieve the even stricter Living Building Challenge targets of Net Zero Energy (NZE).





A virtuous, sustainable example of repurposing a contemporary building, which includes plenty of public spaces and provides the community with a museum offering a range of facilities and attracting about a million visitors a year.

Christiane Bürklein

Project: EHDD
Landscape: GLS Landscape / Architecture
Location: San Francisco, USA
Year: 2013
Images: © Bruce Damonte
Link: www.aia.org