BUILD tells the story of how the new Exploratorium took shape, piece by piece, at its new location on Piers 15/17. As a hands-on, participatory science museum, the Exploratorium has always been about challenging itself to build engaging objects, taking pride in the development of innovative construction solutions. But renovating a historic pier was easily one of the biggest engineering challenges the institution has ever tackled. 

BuildKristina Woolsey Photography by Amy SnyderThe making of a museum

BUILD

• PIER 15

The making of a m

useum

Kristina Woolsey Photography by Amy SnyderBuild

The making of a museum

Yet the “in betweens,” the heroic individual contributions the scale of the construction effort

the overwhelming challenges of the site have also been compelling

Here is that story, the story of the in betweens of two years of construction

that a few of us were privileged to witness

As you wander through this space you, too, will now have a sense of what it took to create this place

and who took the time to create it

It took two years to create this place a place for our future, dynamically defined

a place for our work, emerging continually a place from which to change the way the world learns

The task was to Build, but the mandate was flexibility

flexibility for ideas not yet imagined for our future staff and our visitors,

many not yet born

A completed building filled with enthusiastic learners

with exhibits and classes and debate has always been the goal

What we built 1. D

EMOL

ITI

ON OF THE CONNECTOR BUILDING

1 MONTH

4. C

ONST

RUCT

ION OF THE NEW BAY OBSERVATORY

19 MONTHS

2. S

EISM

IC P

ILINGS PLACED AT THE FOUR CORNERS

13 MONTHS

In general, work at Pier 15 was performed from east (the water) to west (the land). At any one time there were hundreds of workers in the water, on the roof, and inside and outside of the historic shed. Though the two-year project encompassed countless tasks, we have presented 12 significant activities to give you an overall sense of its scope.

8. R

EVITA

LIZATI

ON OF THE EXTERIOR WALLS

19 MONTHS

7. C

ONST

RUCT

IO

N OF THE CLUSTERS INSIDE THE SHED

13 MONTHS

3. R

ENOV

ATIO

N OF

HUNDREDS OF PILINGS BENEATH PIER 15

16 MONTHS

6. IN

STAL

LATIO

N OF RADIANT TUBING IN THE FLOOR

12 MONTHS

11. S

LICI

NG T

HE BU

LKHEAD TO CREATE A SEISMIC JOINT

9 MONTHS

5. O

PENI

NG O

F THE

VALLEY BETWEEN PIER 15 AND PIER 17

17 MONTHS

9. C

RE

ATION OF THE ENTRY PLAZA

6 MONTHS

12. I

NSTA

LLAT

ION

OF PHOTOVOLTAIC PANELS ON THE ROOF

4 MONTHS

10. IN

STAL

LATI

ON O

F T

HE BAY WATER HEATING & COOLING SYSTEM

6 MONTHS

O 2010N D F M A M JJu A S O N D F M A M J A S O N D

J 2011 J 2012 J 2013Ju

2

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12

1

Construction timelineDemolition preceded construction.

Laying a new foundation.

Meticulous repairs underwater.

A new perspective on the bay.

From parking lot to open water.

Comfort for all seasons.

Clusters inside the pier.

Preserving the historic façades.

Creating an urban plaza.

The advantage of being over water.

Isolating the pier from the land.

Energy for the future.

NovEMbEr 2010

DECEMbEr 2010 To DECEMbEr 2011

DECEMbEr 2010 To MArCH 2012

JANuAry 2011 To JuLy 2012

APrIL 2011 To AugusT 2012

JuNE 2011 To MAy 2012

JuNE 2011 To JuNE 2012

JuNE 2011 To DECEMbEr 2012

JuNE 2011 To NovEMbEr 2011

MArCH 2012 To AugusT 2012

MArCH 2012 To NovEMbEr 2012

JuNE 2012 To sEPTEMbEr 2012

Unbridled ambitionsThe Exploratorium’s ambitions for relocating to Piers 15/17 on the san Francisco waterfront were extreme. We wanted a place for a dynamic science museum with state-of-the-art technology that was consistent with the Palace of Fine Arts, our beloved home for 40—plus years. We wanted large, light-filled galleries that could also be darkened for certain exhibit designs. We wanted to preserve the character of the historic piers even as we committed ourselves to an ambitious net-zero energy goal.

We also wanted an exhibit workshop that would be visible to the public, an expanded store, two cafés, numerous classrooms, a forum to engage public debate, and more. And we wanted to do all this with a minimal financial investment, as we would need to raise every dollar through a capital campaign.

The san Francisco waterfront is a romantic place, supporting visionaries and dreamers for more than a century and a half. In many ways it was a perfect spot for the Exploratorium to relocate, but in 2004, after decades of neglect, Piers 15 and 17 were in serious disrepair. Large sections were red tagged, pilings were crumbling, the roof was long gone, trusses were rusted, and there was no utility infrastructure.

yet the opportunity this incredible site presented was irresistible. The opening of the giants’ ballpark in 2000 and the renovation of the Ferry building, completed in 2003, had generated promising momentum along the san Francisco Embarcadero. Which is why, in 2004, then Exploratorium Director, goery Delacote, and then board building Chair, van Kasper, and others, identified Piers 15 and 17 as a potential location. After a great deal of due diligence, combined with a dash of daring optimism, the Exploratorium confidently committed itself to the site as its future home.

Seizing an opportunity

Beginning with a dilapidated pierThe piers along the san Francisco waterfront were designed to transfer goods from around the world between ships and railroad cars. Trains would roll along the aprons to the ends of the piers until the boxcars’ loading doors aligned with the structure’s openings.

These very same features — at 818 feet long, Pier 15 is only 32 feet shorter than the nearby Transamerica Pyramid is tall, except it’s suspended over water rather than anchored on dry land — made the transformation of Pier 15 into a world-class museum a substantial challenge.

The length of the pier impacted how we distributed water, electricity, air, and even data. This harsh environment discouraged mechanical engineers from running pipes and ductwork on the outside of the structure, where corrosion would be an ongoing

problem. This meant our interior spaces needed to accommodate huge ducts, braces, and other functional elements.

In addition, the pier lacked seismic integrity. Correcting this demanded significant structural engineering and a major construction effort. ultimately, crews drove 30 new six-foot-diameter pilings more than 100 feet into the bay floor, and developed new techniques to repair hundreds of old, existing pilings, a multi-million-dollar project by itself.

Add to this the requirement to preserve the historic integrity of the pier — its trusses, windows, historic façades — as well as the mandates of community and regulatory agencies, and the complicated puzzle was quite overwhelming, even to an optimist.

From concept to realityover the years, as these challenges were addressed and as specifications became more concrete, conversations evolved into sketches, sketches became diagrams, and eventually an incredibly complex set of construction drawings emerged. All we needed were the people to make it all happen — the people and organizational systems to help us build.

Nibbi brothers lead the above-water construction, with Power Engineering taking the primary role for the significant marine construction. under their guidance, a core group of persistent problem solvers spent more than two years translating the project’s mountain of construction documents into our new Exploratorium.

People made it happenIt took large teams of talented and dedicated people to convert the project’s blueprints into the Exploratorium. Whether it was diving underwater, supervising construction, or operating a crane, the skills and perseverance of many hard workers realized our ambitions.

Hundreds of people poured their love, sweat, and clear thinking into building this museum. We thank them all!

1. Demolition preceded constructionbefore the construction team could build anything, they had to tear down the Connector building. This shed was added in the 1950s to link Piers 15 and 17 and create a parking lot for trucks, which had replaced trains as the primary means of transporting goods. A huge excavator with dinosaur-like jaws was brought in to methodically take “bites” out of the structure until it was reduced to rubble. It opened a view to the bay that had been closed for decades.

one element of the Connector building that was hard to lose was a crude, 20-plus foot tall painting of a seahorse on the east side of the building. our seahorse muse, as we called it, gave us a sense of calm, and was our connection to the history of the san Francisco waterfront and the maritime world below. Though its demise was sad, it meant our dreams for a new Exploratorium were about to become a reality. It was our place now.

NOVEMBER 2010

The Connector building completely blocked the view to the bay. It was a relief to remove it and get a glimpse of what was to come.

The speed and brute force of the

destruction did not predict the

often slow moving and careful

work of the next two years.

2. Laying a new foundationAfter the Connector building between the piers was removed, work began on the bay observatory to take its place. The first step in this process was the installation of 8 enormous new steel pilings. We knew these hollow pilings would be six feet across and up to 134 feet long, but were unprepared for how big they would actually look up close when they arrived via barge from Mare Island, where they were fabricated.

Even more impressive was the precision and patience of the crane operators (the crane was named Hagar). Their challenge was to move the pilings into place within a highly constrained area, then vibrate them deep into the bay floor (to protect the hearing of marine mammals and people alike, no pile drivers were used on the project). Large pilings were also added to the other three corners of the pier to provide general and lateral support.

JaNuaRy 2011 tO DEcEMBER 2011

The pilings, formed from flat steel plates, were bent into 10-foot tubes and then welded. because of the time required for fabrication, we ordered them (a $1.9 million decision) before we knew when, and even if, construction would begin. It was one of many leaps of faith on this project. Fortunately financial and regulatory approvals allowed us to begin construction as planned.

Once the pilings were in place they

were filled with a rebar cage, then

pumped full of concrete.

3. Meticulous repairs underwaterMore than 1,200 existing deteriorating pilings were repaired. In general, they provided vertical “gravity” support to add to the support provided by the larger pilings on the corners.

To accomplish this 16-month-long task, divers dove deep into the murky waters, sustained by life-giving oxygen carried in red and yellow hoses. Above them, a second crew directed the repair work going on below, guided by painstaking surveys of the existing pilings.

This was not a nine-to-five operation. Construction crews worked with the tides, which determined when they could get access to sections of the pilings and the soffits they support. Teamwork was required to envelope the pilings, one by one, in plastic sleeves, into which concrete was pumped.

DEcEMBER 2010—MaRcH 2012

It was always a surprise to see a diver’s head pop up

to the surface, and incredible to consider all the

time they spent underwater guiding pile repair.

At the beginning of the 20th century, san Francisco’s piers were supported by wooden pilings. Marine crustaceans known as gribbles (Limnoria lignorum) made short work of the timbers, so pilings were encased in concrete. since then, sulfates in the bay’s water have caused significant degradation of the concrete-encased pilings.

4. A new perspective on the bayThe only new structure on the Piers 15/17 campus is the bay observatory, whose 3,000-square-foot footprint sits on the east apron between the piers. The substantial red steel framing for this rectangular glass jewel box went up first, tied together by workers whose silhouettes against the sky were especially dramatic at sunrise. The observatory’s distinctive glass panels came later.

The placement of the bay observatory at the end of the pier shelters the campus from bay weather and creates a triangular outdoor exhibition area called the Docks. The first floor of the bay observatory features the public sEAgLAss restaurant, while the second has a gallery/event space and an outdoor terrace offering incredible views.

JaNuaRy 2011—JuLy 2012

The bay observatory is built on what’s called a pinned-base moment frame, whose columns and beams were specified as heavier than normal to reduce the structure’s lateral drift. Without this treatment, the substructure strengthening below the bay observatory would have been more costly, and the seismic joint between the bay observatory and the Pier 15 shed would have been larger.

A steel screen between Pier 15 and the Bay

Observatory features patterns created

from diatoms, a type of plankton found in

San Francisco Bay. Mark McGowan designed

the screen for this location.

5. From parking lot to open waterover the two years of construction, the parking lot between Piers 15 and 17 was systematically removed, beginning in the east and moving west, month by month, toward the city. It was a slow and deliberate process, but the sight of bay water has once again been restored.

In keeping with the campus’s new use as a public rather than working place, two pedestrian bridges were added across the valley, establishing a connection between the piers. The bridges also give visitors a way to appreciate the bay closely and at their leisure. All of the debris from the parking lot’s removal was caught in a specially designed bucket (seen at right). Captured debris was then recycled.

aPRIL 2011—auGuSt 2012

A garden of concrete piles was

left in the bay between the

piers to provide support on the

aprons for a second development

when Pier 17 is eventually built

out, and also because of their

whimsical beauty. These pilings

are informative markers of tidal

changes and prime locations for

future exhibits.

The open water between the piers provides a natural environment for visitors to explore the scientific, perceptual, and artistic phenomena they will experience via the museum’s exhibits, including fluid dynamics, tidal forces, reflectance, and the seasonal rhythms of the earth.

6. Comfort for all seasonsAn extensive network of plastic tubing embedded in the floors of Pier 15 provides radiant heating for visitors and staff. Though the concept of energy-efficient radiant heating is elegant in its simplicity (the concrete slab will hold heat over sustained periods, radiating it from the floor), installing the miles of tubing was incredibly time consuming and tedious, requiring an amazing amount of attention to detail.

Dozens of workers were assigned the task of meticulously laying down a grid of rebar, and then snaking the radiant piping on top of it. Every few inches or so, the tubing would be secured to the rebar with a zip tie. Finally, when everything was in place, crews poured concrete over the tubing, hiding it forever.

JuNE 2011—May 2012

Future crews looking to make improvements to the

Exploratorium will have to be careful where they

drill—the decision to install an energy-efficient heating

system is not without its constraints.

There are more than 27 miles of tubing in the Exploratorium’s floors. In winter, hot water will stream through these tubes, warming the concrete that surrounds them.

7. Clusters inside the pieronce the bay observatory was framed, the definition of the exterior of the new Exploratorium was established—one very long historic pier with a glass box at its eastern end.

The major construction work within the shed was to build three discrete buildings or clusters. These new structures, whose second stories contain labs, meeting rooms, classrooms, and offices, divide the space into four open gallery areas for interactive exhibits. below each cluster is an open corridor running the length of the pier and providing circulation between the galleries. As a result, high open spaces alternate with low enclosed tunnels, creating cycles of anticipation and arrival for visitors.

Each cluster was a project all its own, ranging from 10,000 to 14,000 square feet. As they were erected, the enormous scale of the pier’s interior became apparent.

JuNE 2011—JuNE 2012

on their second floors, the clusters house staff from all sections of the Exploratorium. The Lifelong Learning Cluster is at the Embarcadero end of the Pier. The Main office, the Media & Communications Cluster, and the Teaching & research Cluster are the next clusters one encounters walking toward the bay.

8. Preserving the historic façades In keeping with the history of Pier 15 as a place of work, the aesthetic of the project was defined as “industrial naval chic.” The west bulkhead area was painted to match current day san Francisco Port guidelines for The Embarcadero. However, the north and south façades were left unpainted, though they have been cleaned, repaired, and sealed for future preservation.

The east end of the pier required more attention. As the lead paint was removed, it revealed a great deal of historic lettering hiding underneath. We could have simply documented this and painted over it, but expunging the ghosts of the shipping lines, trading companies, and World War II soldiers who were here before us seemed disrespectful. And so, the Exploratorium’s eastern façade will continue to remember the Arrow Line and sudden and Christenson shipping company, as well as other occupants, whose employees filled Pier 15 with goods before most of us were born.

JuNE 2011—DEcEMBER 2012

As we cleaned the bulkhead, we found signage from World War II, when

Pier 15 was a debarkation site for the Pacific front. Over the bulkhead arch it

read: UNITED STATES ARMY TRANSPORTATION CORPS. We covered it up as it was

too fragile to preserve, but it is still there, and remains a part of our history.

sudden and Christenson operated out of Pier 15 from 1932 until 1949. For its first eight years, it specialized in the intercoastal shipping of Pacific Northwest lumber, but switched to a more-international trade in 1940. During World War II, the u.s. government commandeered sudden’s Arrow Line freighters.

9. Creating an urban plazaDeveloped very late in the project, the Plaza near The Embarcadero represented the final structural contribution to the site. Intended as an inviting urban plaza, providing a place for passers-by to linger and enjoy the excitement of the city, the Plaza connects Piers 15 and 17 at their west ends, much as the bay observatory does on the east. It declares that more than two unrelated piers have been restored here, that this is a fully inhabited space, an Exploratorium campus available for human engagement, stretched between the city and the bay.

The delineation of a large grating area in the Plaza’s deck offers a rare peak at the seawall below. The Plaza also includes a viewing hole, a glance into which reminds one that this is not solid land, that there is an entire marine environment under one’s feet.

JuNE 2011—NOVEMBER 2011

In addition to providing a museum facility where ticketed visitors can explore interactive exhibits, the Exploratorium campus offers the city a public place for gathering, with seating, bicycle racks, public exhibits, and view corridors.

The seawall on The Embarcadero

was built in the late 19th and

early 20th centuries to extend the

city from Front Street farther east.

It was quite a construction effort

in its time, requiring a number of

failed attempts before it held.

10. The advantage of being over waterone goal of the new Exploratorium project was to establish a sustainable building that would demonstrate environmental responsibility and provide a context to explore sustainability ideas with our visitors. A key element in this strategy was installing a heating and cooling system that takes advantage of the relatively constant temperature of san Francisco bay, which varies year round from 50 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit.

To this end, a bay water system was constructed at the east end of the pier. An intake pipe reaching more than 30 feet into the bay is a primary element of this system, as is a titanium heat-transfer unit, which transfers heat between the salty bay water and the fresh-water in the radiant-heating system throughout the pier. using the temperature of the bay as a baseline, water for general use throughout Pier 15 will be heated and cooled, as need be, by electrical energy from the rooftop Pv system.

MaRcH 2012—auGuSt 2012

Extra-large pipes decrease the

amount of energy required to

move water through the radiant

floor system.

After water is heated or cooled by titanium flat plate heat exchangers, it circulates to 75 distinct heating and cooling zones. The use of multiple zones is critical to energy efficiency.

As construction progressed from east to west, there remained one major project for Pier 15, the seismic joint. Though there was a similar joint on the pier’s east end separating the Pier 15 shed from the new bay observatory, on the west this joint was unique because it detached the structure from the land. To accomplish this, a slice was made into the north and south walls, on the ceiling, and along the floor.

This new seismic joint creates an independent pier that will move separately from the land during an earthquake. It is supported by the new seismic pilings installed during the early phases of construction, as well as the hundreds of repaired pilings.

MaRcH 2012 —NOVEMBER 2012

11. Isolating the pier from the land

Twisting is bad in an earth-

quake. separating the pier from

the land via a seismic joint

reduces the potential torsion

that might occur during an

earthquake.

In the spirit of the Exploratorium’s

emphasis on authenticity, one can

easily see the seismic joint in the

new facility. Look for it just west of

the Seismic Joint Cafe.

12. Energy for the futureThe roof of Pier 15 provided a major opportunity for the Exploratorium, even in its state of disrepair. Photovoltaic panels installed on the shed’s large roof will provide 1.4 megawatts of power, predicted to establish the Exploratorium as a net-zero facility.

of course, like everything on this site, the installation of the photovoltaic system was not ordinary. Photovoltaic panels were delivered on barges, which were outfitted with cranes to place them on the roof, according to the schedule of the tides. Ten inverters were installed throughout the building, to account for the variations in the slope of the roof as well as the length of the pier.

JuNE 2012—SEPtEMBER 2012

Barges brought 5,874 solar panels to Pier 15.

The Exploratorium’s resulting solar array is the

largest rooftop PV installation in San Francisco.

The state-of-the-art photovoltaic system on the Exploratorium roof converts solar energy to electrical energy; this DC current is changed to useable AC current by 11 inverters in the building. our net-zero goal makes the working of this system an exhibit in itself, and a referent for discussions of energy policy, a major issue of our era.

Beginning once more ...Construction of the new Exploratorium at Piers 15/17 took two years. During this time, we concretized our dreams and created an infrastructure to support the museum’s growth and future activities while respecting the historic importance of the site. since then, our exhibits, staff, and visitors have made this space come alive with new ideas and experiences that build upon our history as well as the opportunities our new location presents.

We are now linked to the urban fabric. No longer on the outskirts of town, the Exploratorium is now at its heart, in a growing neighborhood to which we are contributing our considerable energies. We are accessible by public transportation, so young people and others without cars can reach us easily. We created a public plaza and an exhibit-filled promenade, which the public can enjoy without a ticket. And inside, we created spaces that can be shared with the community.

our new campus also connects us to the natural environment, opening the windows of the pier to the light of san Francisco bay. Moving beyond our beloved Palace of Fine Arts “cave” has expanded our physical connection to the world around us, and hence our ability to engage our visitors in understanding it.

The outdoor exhibits at Pier 15 let us present a wide range of natural phenomena for inquiry and exploration. The gallery in the bay observatory encourages people to directly observe the world around them and relate it to the underlying science and art that has been our museum’s mission. our life sciences laboratory/gallery on the edge of the bay broadens our understanding of the local ecology, inviting a general analysis of living systems across the globe, with an emphasis on the marine environment. We also have created an exemplary example of sustainable architecture, which we can explore with visitors, as well as the dynamic challenge of a net-zero energy facility which encourages an understanding of energy use.

Each of our architectural decisions, and the subsequent strategies described in the preceding 12 sets of “postcards” from the construction site, have been directed to the articulation of these important issues. The physical structure of our new campus is an embodiment of our ambitions and our principles, an example to encourage inquiry about the world, which is our core mission.

Two years of construction. It took a lot of focus, required the ingenuity of hundreds of talented people, and was all-consuming. Now this work is behind us. The building will be taken for granted. It will be in the background as families interact with exhibits and our new neighbors eat lunch; as scientists, artists, and educators debate emerging ideas; as teachers enhance their craft and tourists stumble upon science.

The Exploratorium is the global leader in informal learning, igniting curiosity and inspiring creativity in people of all ages. since 1969, the Exploratorium has influenced generations of entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, teachers, students, children, museum professionals, and everyday doers, reaching more than 180 million people each year across diverse cultures on seven continents. For more information, visit exploratorium.edu.

site access for photography was facilitated by Jennifer Fragomeni, Jesse Jackson, Joe Mazzetti, Chuck Mignacco, and Alfonso rocciola. We received content advice from Paul Doherty, Patrick ryan, Daryl Witbeck, and Jay yin. Construction at Piers 15/17 was managed by Jim Karam and Melissa bartolo of KPM Consulting. James suh of Wilson Meany served as the overall development manager. And the Exploratorium’s Construction board building Committee provided invaluable oversight throughout the project: Jude Laspa (Chair), scott Hindes, Laura Zander, and Dennis bartels.

About the author and photographer: Kristina Woolsey was the Director of the Piers 15/17 Project for the Exploratorium. Amy snyder is the Exploratorium’s photographer, who shot all of the new photographs in “build” except those in the “Demolition” section, which are by shannon Paras.

Designed by Tim sawyer, Edited by ben Marks, Produced by Julie Nunn. All proceeds benefit the Exploratorium and its programs.

© Exploratorium 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission. Printed on stock using post consumer recycled paper and soy based ink.