Fort Mason Center has selected West 8 as the winner of its design competition for the 13-acre waterfront campus in San Francisco.
The Rotterdam, Nether-lands-based firm was one of 20 international designers invited to re-envision the 13-acre site. West 8 was chosen as a finalist in late July, along with Bruner/Cott, a Massachusetts firm, and AMP Arquitectos from the Canary Islands. Each of the three firms was awarded $20,000 to develop a design proposal that would incorporate a new use for vacant Pier 1 and reinvigorate the common areas of the site.
CREDITS.
Architects.- West8 with,
Partners.- Bionic Landscape, Ila Berman - Studio Matrix, Jensen Architects.
Team.- Adriaan Geuze, Daniel Vasini, Jamie Maslyn Larson, Attilio Ranieri, Harrie Van Oorschot, Jessica Rossi Mastracci, Juan Figueroa Calero, Maria Castrillo, Nick Glase, Perry Maas, Pieter Hoen, Rachel Laszlo, Taehyung Park, Tanyi Huang.
Client.- Fort Mason Center.
Consultants.- Architectural Resources Group INC, HR&A Advisors, Impark LLC, Langdon Associates, Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Moffat & Nichol Engineers.
Memoria de proyecto. Project description
Fort Mason Center has a unique role in the historic San Francisco waterfront, with a rich history as a coastal defense battery during the Civil War and as the headquarters of the San Francisco Port of Embarkation during World War II. Fort Mason is currently a community destination, and has the potential to expand its role as a regional cultural destination. Today, however, Fort Mason Center is an underutilized part of the waterfront.
West 8 team’s award-winning entry to the Fort Mason Center design competition responds to the maritime and military heritage of the site, creating a more vivid public-oriented identity. The plan anchors Fort Mason Center into the vibrant cultural fabric of San Francisco. Throughout the design process, the team emphasized the idea of 'no park-scaping’—that is, not re-inventing Fort Mason as a park, but highlighting the military aesthetic of the center in all aspects of the vision. The Plan calls for seven core design strategies, rather than focusing on a sole solution, so that Fort Mason Center has the flexibility to implement the project in phases over time.
At the initial site visit, the team was struck by the monumental silhouette ofMonterey Cypress trees along the ridge behind Fort Mason Center. The cypress frame the site, but are not contiguous as the ridgeline continues south. The West 8 design extends the ridgeline and continues the silhouette, creating a seamless cypress canopy and ADA pathway to lower Fort Mason. Embedded within this extension of the ridgeline, the West 8 team integrated a new welcome facility and gateway to the Center. Today, pedestrians, bikes and vehicles merge at a stress point here, but the Plan graciously separates and monumentalizes the feeling of arrival. An impressive new wooden bridge doubles as a canopy into Fort Mason Center, encouraging visitors to explore the Center’s activities and views.
Through deliberate programming and public space design, Fort Mason Center becomes a vital and stimulating location for arts and culture. The four warehouse buildings expand programming and integrate with a cultural plaza filled with local musicians and artisans, ranging from food and wine to artwork and other handicrafts. Pier 1 will be known as an Art-El (art-oriented hotel), creating a travel destination that offers a publically-accessible art exhibition space and spa, education center, and restaurants.
A pedestrian scale environment is emphasized throughout the site. The new granite-paved plazas trace and emphasize the historic rail tracks. Wooden platforms glide across the old rail tracks to serve multiple functions in the plaza—as furnishings, for display, and as stages—which are flexible for many types of programs.
Visitors wanting to get close to the water can play and experience a world class waterfront with the implementation of stepped platforms into the existing boat slips. Three wooden floating pontoons each have a different design expression: a viewing dock, a swimming pool, and a hill. The pontoons are movable to respond to an aquatic event, consolidate seating areas for viewing the America’s Cup, or creating a large floating event space.
