AltaSea and Gensler have unveiled renderings for a new 35-acre net-positive energy use “campus for innovation” on the historic City Dock No. 1 at the Port of Los Angeles.
Gensler designed the AltaSea project, which is intended to bring people together under the common goal of understanding the ocean. The plan will call for new research buildings, public plazas, and restored structures, creating spaces where visitors, scientists, and educators can develop new ocean-related technologies and learning programs.
“AltaSea will be a campus dedicated to finding ocean-related solutions to our most pressing challenges: food security, energy security, and climate security,” AltaSea Executive Director Jenny Krusoe said in a statement. “Our campus, brilliantly designed by Gensler, is flexible, dynamic and inclusive—allowing us to embrace bold new ideas and opportunities that unfold as we explore the ocean.”
The $150 million Phase 1 of construction breaks into three parts. Phase 1A will include construction of a waterfront promenade containing plazas, parks, and walkways; a dock for research vessels called Wharf Plaza; and the renovation of 180,000 sf of free-span space in existing warehouses. The Research and Business Hub will contain “clusters” that will expand technology and business applications for remote monitoring, ocean exploration, food security, and environmental sustainability.
In Phase 1B, another warehouse will be transformed into a Science Hub with facilities for oceanographic and marine biology research. More than 60,000 sf of classrooms and labs will be built for the Southern California Marine Institute, a network of 22 regional higher education institutions.
An Engagement Center is the highlight of Phase 1C. The center will house public education and exhibition programming. AltaSea will use it to welcome younger students and inspire them to pursue an interest in STEM.
A viewing structure that will overlook the campus, port, and surrounding community has been proposed for a future phase of construction.
“The legacy of lighthouses in San Pedro will find its next iteration here, but instead of emitting energy, this structure will harvest and employ advanced forms of energy generation,” writes Li Wen, AIA, a Design Principal with Gensler. “It will also include equipment that studies the climate and reports back on the energy-use and generation of the campus as a whole. As a beacon for the campus, it will mark the place where our new future will begin.”
Construction will begin on Phase 1A this year, and it is expected to be completed by 2017. The Science Hub will open by 2020 and the Engagement Center will open by 2023. No timetable has been announced for the Viewing Structure. Dangermond Keane Architecture, Rios Clementi Hale Landscape Architecture, and Holmes Culley Structural Engineer are among the project's primary consultants.
(Click images to enlarge)
AltaSea campus, with the viewing structure
Engagement Center and Science Hub
Engagement Center and Science Hub
Science Hub facade and front entry
Engagement Center audtiorium
Engagement Center exhibition hall
Research labs overlooking public galleries in the Science Hub
Related Stories
| Nov 7, 2014
NORD Architects releases renderings for Marine Education Center in Sweden
The education center will be set in a landscape that includes small ponds and plantings intended to mimic an assortment of marine ecologies and create “an engaging learning landscape” for visitors to experience nature hands-on.
| Nov 6, 2014
Studio Gang Architects will convert power plant into college recreation center
The century-old power plant will be converted into a recreation facility with a coffee shop, lounges, club rooms, a conference center, lecture hall, and theater, according to designboom.
| Oct 29, 2014
Newtown, Conn., breaks ground on new Sandy Hook Elementary School
Construction on the 87,000-square-foot building will begin in March 2015, and is set to open for the fall 2016 school year. The property is fenced off so that the site cannot be seen or photographed from the outside.
| Oct 26, 2014
Study asks: Do green schools improve student performance?
A study by DLR Group and Colorado State University attempts to quantify the student performance benefits of green schools.
| Oct 21, 2014
Check out BD+C's GreenZone Environment Education Classroom debuting this week at Greenbuild
At the conclusion of the show, the modular classroom structure will be moved to a permanent location in New Orleans' Lower 9th Ward, where it will serve as a community center and K-12 classroom.
| Oct 20, 2014
Institute for young innovators breaks ground at the University of Utah
The five-story, 148,000-sf building is designed to function like a student union for entrepreneurs and innovators, with a 20,000-sf “garage” that will be open for any student to attend events, build prototypes, and launch companies.
| Oct 16, 2014
Perkins+Will white paper examines alternatives to flame retardant building materials
The white paper includes a list of 193 flame retardants, including 29 discovered in building and household products, 50 found in the indoor environment, and 33 in human blood, milk, and tissues.
| Oct 15, 2014
Harvard launches ‘design-centric’ center for green buildings and cities
The impetus behind Harvard's Center for Green Buildings and Cities is what the design school’s dean, Mohsen Mostafavi, describes as a “rapidly urbanizing global economy,” in which cities are building new structures “on a massive scale.”
| Oct 14, 2014
Proven 6-step approach to treating historic windows
This course provides step-by-step prescriptive advice to architects, engineers, and contractors on when it makes sense to repair or rehabilitate existing windows, and when they should advise their building owner clients to consider replacement.
| Oct 12, 2014
AIA 2030 commitment: Five years on, are we any closer to net-zero?
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the American Institute of Architects’ effort to have architecture firms voluntarily pledge net-zero energy design for all their buildings by 2030.
