California College of Arts San Francisco Campus
Sustainability Summary
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A one- and two-story industrial maintenance facility converted to art college, with long-span concrete frame and glass construction, in a mild temperate climate and urban context. A high-sustainability building, based on extensive daylighting, solar hydronic heating, and natural ventilation.
| Retention of extensive original steel sash glazing retained daylighting and views, maintained historical character, and reduced cost. Thermal deficiencies offset by use of solar heating, etc. |
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| Classrooms are built as buildings with the building, allowing for selective conditioning. Concrete topping slab encapsulates toxics in original slab beneath from prior use as a bus maintenance facility while providing thermal mass. |
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| Top, side, and clerestory daylighting provides the desired high illumination levels while reducing electrical load and heat gain from fixtures. |
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| Solar heating using rooftop collectors and radiant slab. |
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| Operable windows. Ventilation enhanced by retention of leaky original industrial windows. |
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| Adaptive resue of existing full-lot-coverage urban building. |
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| Adaptive reuse preserves neighborhood character. Low-rise massing preserves viewshed. |
| 3D Computer Model (DesignWorkshop format) Model Viewing Instructions |  |
"It's an eloquent testament to the importance of reusing materials. The architect and owner were able to recognize what's special and good about this building and create a final result that is more wonderful than what they started with."
"The design team was faced with a tough problem. To condition it using standard practice would have cost more than any school could afford. Its creative use of an energy efficient radiant heating system is an appropriate solution, and the building takes advantage of its environment through the use of natural ventilation. Enhancing natural light while installing baffles to improve the quality of light without destroying the old facade is a very noble effort."
"The project is simply captivating and demonstrates a lot of restraint. The design team created a building inside a building for the classrooms where there was need for them, isolating the spaces that needed finer conditioning. The first conceptual decisions are really what made this building."
— 2000 Savings by Design Awards Jury
The Creator's Words
"...To heat it, California Title 24 tells you that you have to upgrade the skin of your building to make it efficient to a certain level. With the glass, there was no way to heat that. We would have had to replace the entire skin, and everyone was in an uproar about that. But we realized that if we provided solar heating, it would make us exempt from Title 24, according to California regulations. So basically the cost of the solar system was the cost of replacing the glazing. We were able to weigh that and say, 'Let's go for the solar.'"
— Tom Monahan of LMS Architects, interviewed by Brian Libby for ArchitectureWeek, 2003
"Industrial Facility Turns to the Arts", by ArchitectureWeek, ArchitectureWeek No. 8, 2000.0705, pD1.1.
CCA Savings by Design Award, 2000
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