Take a Look at the Transbay Transit Center's Cool New Paneling

The Transbay Transit Center in SoMa, poised to replace the Transbay Terminal (knocked down in 2010), received its decorative new porous aluminum skin today.

The old idea was to install a far chicer glass skin, but due to budget cutbacks, that idea was scrapped and in favor of aluminum. Which, while the aluminum cover still looks striking, the glass would have been downright stunning.

Nevertheless, as SocketSite points out, the perforate aluminum "shaved an estimated $17 million from the Transit Center’s current $2.2 billion budget."

The Transbay Transit Center is slated to open in 2017. This does not include the second phase of the project, the rail extension, which will cost more than the current project.

Dollars and cents aside, it's nice to see this skin go up. A few more shots:

Spaceframe+Skin #architecture #construction #sanfrancisco #transbayterminal

A photo posted by Justin Beadle (@justbeadle) on Apr 25, 2016 at 2:51pm PDT

@dsi_spaceframes @thetransbayproject #transbaytransitcenter

A photo posted by Taylor Kastilahn (@squarebiz811) on Apr 25, 2016 at 5:45pm PDT

Over the weekend, a construction crew installed the first piece of the awning on the Transbay Transit Center! #Progress #TransbayAwning

A photo posted by The Transbay Project (@thetransbayproject) on Apr 25, 2016 at 5:11pm PDT

• Transbay Cutbacks [Curbed SF]
• First Peek at the $2.2B Transbay Transit Center’s New Skin [SocketSite]
• Transbay Transit Center Asks Taxpayers For Extra $37 Million [Curbed SF]