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
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 90 Construction Management Firms for 2022
CBRE, Alfa Tech, Jacobs, and Hill International head the rankings of the nation's largest construction management (as agent) and program/project management firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 200 Contractors for 2022
Turner Construction, STO Building Group, Whiting-Turner, and DPR Construction top the ranking of the nation's largest general contractors, CM at risk firms, and design-builders for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 45 Engineering Architecture Firms for 2022
Jacobs, AECOM, WSP, and Burns & McDonnell top the rankings of the nation's largest engineering architecture (EA) firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2022
Top 80 Engineering Firms for 2022
Kimley-Horn, Tetra Tech, Langan, and NV5 head the rankings of the nation's largest engineering firms for nonresidential buildings and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 21, 2022
Top 110 Architecture/Engineering Firms for 2022
Stantec, HDR, HOK, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 20, 2022
Top 180 Architecture Firms for 2022
Gensler, Perkins and Will, HKS, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential and multifamily buildings work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 19, 2022
2022 Giants 400 Report: Tracking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Daylighting | Aug 18, 2022
Lisa Heschong on 'Thermal and Visual Delight in Architecture'
Lisa Heschong, FIES, discusses her books, "Thermal Delight in Architecture" and "Visual Delight in Architecture," with BD+C's Rob Cassidy.
| Aug 8, 2022
Mass timber and net zero design for higher education and lab buildings
When sourced from sustainably managed forests, the use of wood as a replacement for concrete and steel on larger scale construction projects has myriad economic and environmental benefits that have been thoroughly outlined in everything from academic journals to the pages of Newsweek.
Cultural Facilities | Aug 5, 2022
A time and a place: Telling American stories through architecture
As the United States enters the year 2026, it will commence celebrating a cycle of Sestercentennials, or 250th anniversaries, of historic and cultural events across the land.
