Back in July we told you that three design teams had been chosen to complete in a conceptual redesign of the Fort Mason Center. The challenge was to create a "creative and practical design" to "further enliven and integrate the site." Yesterday it was announced that West 8, an urban design and landscape architecture firm, has won the competition for the 13-acre waterfront campus. West 8's design calls for seven key strategies that are in line with preserving the site's history and military identity. It improves pedestrian access and parking, and Pier One will be known as an Art-El (art-oriented hotel), with a spa, exhibition space, education center, and restaurants. The other buildings will be centered around lively public plazas. Waterside improvements include floating pontoons, and bridges that weave the site together.
The new granite-paved plazas trace and emphasize the historic rail tracks. Wooden platforms are aligned with the old rail tracks to serve multiple functions in the plaza—as furnishings, for display, and as stages—which are flexible for many types of events.
You're in luck if you want to get up close and personal with the Bay's freezing water. There will stepped platforms into existing boat slips. Three wooden floating pontoons each have a different design expression: a viewing dock, a swimming pool, and a hill. They're moveable so no worries if you want to create your own fancy version of a Waterworld set.
· Sharpen Your Pencils [Curbed SF]
· West 8 wins Fort Mason ideas competition [SFGate]
· Fort Mason Design Competition [West 8]
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