Founded in 1853, the California Academy of Sciences is the largest cultural institution in the City of San Francisco. Its previous home, damaged in a 1989 earthquake, was razed and replaced on the same site in Golden Gate Park. The state-of-the-art $488 million facility, featuring a wide range of green building technologies and strategies, is considered one of the most sustainable museums in the world.  

The new facility is the result of a collaboration between Arup and the architects Renzo Piano Building Workshop and Stantec Architecture. Arup’s scope on the project was comprehensive: It encompassed structural and complete building services engineering (mechanical, electrical and plumbing), in addition to fire safety consulting, façade engineering, lighting design, sustainability consulting, acoustics consulting and pedestrian planning.  

Arup worked closely with the Academy to devise and document the many sustainability strategies required to achieve a Platinum LEED rating. This included water-efficient landscaping and water use reduction, optimised energy performance, construction waste management, cladding and other elements. Arup provided acoustic and lighting solutions for the exhibit areas and other public and behind-the-scenes spaces as well as an innovative solution to protecting the building from earthquakes. 

Green building envelope 

Minimising the Academy’s energy consumption, while also providing superior indoor environmental quality, was a difficult challenge. Arup’s engineers needed to research and specify a diverse suite of solutions and equipment while meeting Platinum LEED criteria. Our approach was to take advantage of San Francisco’s mild climate through utilising floor to ceiling glass walls, natural ventilation and supplemental heating and cooling via a radiant floor slab. The visually-striking building features an undulating 2.5 acre living roof with a perimeter steel canopy supporting photovoltaic cells, a large glass skylight supported by a tensile net structure, a freestanding 90-foot diameter planetarium dome, five separate iconic aquarium tanks and a 90-foot diameter glazed dome housing a rainforest exhibit. 

Green roof at California Academy of Sciences
Topping the Academy’s 410,000 square feet of exhibit, office and administrative space is a 2.5-acre green roof with 1.7 million native California plants.
California academy of sciences
The visually-striking building features an undulating 2.5 acre living roof with a perimeter steel canopy supporting photovoltaic cells, a large glass skylight supported by a tensile net structure,

Civil engineering 

Managing the water and energy needs of the site were key to achieving the desired Platinum LEED status. Water efficient landscaping provided a savings of 50% through the use of captured or recycled site water from the green roof, while we achieved water use reduction of 76.9% through graywater re-use, low-flow lavatories, kitchen sinks and showers. A 34% savings of energy use was reached through the use of natural ventilation, heat recovery, displacement ventilation, external shading, reduced power lighting densities and daylighting controls.  

Partners & collaborators

Renzo Piano Building Workshop SRL / Stantec Inc. / Webcor Builders, Inc. / Rana Creek Ranch / SWA Group