















Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera
Status
Size
Client
Scope
Programming, Concept Design, Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documentation, Construction Administration
Project Team
Mark Cavagnero
Kang Kiang
Felicia Dunham
Olga Luebker
Project Collaborators
General Contractor: WEBCOR Builders
Owner’s Representative: D.R. Young Associates
Structural Design/Build Subcontractor: Tipping Structural Engineers
Mechanical Design/Build Subcontractor: AIRCO Mechanical, Inc.
Electrical Design/Build Subcontractor: Decker Electric Co. Inc.
Plumbing Design/Build Subcontractor: Pribuss Engineering, Inc.
Telecommunications: TEECOM
Preservation: Carey & Co., Inc.
Architectural Lighting / Daylighting Consultant: ARUP
Acoustical Consultant: ARUP
Theater Consultant: ARUP
Green Building Consultant: Thornton Tomasetti
Specifications: Emily Borland Specifications
Code Consultant: ARUP
Glazing Consultant: Maurya McClintock Façade Consulting
Signage Consultant: Kate Keating Associates
Security Consultant: Guidepost Solutions LLC
Architectural Photography: Tim Griffith
Special Features
Certified LEED Gold
Description
The fourth floor of the historic War Memorial Veterans Building is the new home of the Diane B. Wilsey Center for Opera. The center consolidates most of the San Francisco Opera’s operations into a single site and provides two performance venues to accommodate smaller, experimental performances compared to the adjacent Opera House. The fourth floor was originally the home of SFMOMA for over six decades, then a law library and dormant for many years—until February 2016 when it reopened as the Wilsey Center and returned to a public art function.
The center houses a 299-seat Atrium Theater, a flexible Education Studio, costume studio, support spaces, two public exhibition galleries, and administrative offices. The 4,500 square foot atrium theater is reconfigurable to house raked seating and stage options to accommodate an array of productions. The theater is acoustically isolated and utilizes state-of-the-art technology to provide the best in viewer experience.
Historic detailing within the space had been covered over the passing decades and was carefully revealed and restored during construction. New design elements of glass and steel are used to be deferential to the existing Beaux Arts detailing, and by contrast celebrate the historic architectural splendor. Wherever possible, new elements are held back from the existing; new glass walls touch the historic plaster with light, thin frames and raised floors are held back from the columns or walls to not change the proportions of the historic. The building is designated as a National Historic Landmark and California Historic Resource. The project received LEED Gold certification.
Location
Recognition
Awards
Architectural Record, Good Design is Good Business Award, 2017
California Preservation Foundation, Preservation Design Award, 2016
Publications
KQED Arts, November 17, 2015
San Francisco Chronicle, November 17, 2015
San Francisco Chronicle, December 5, 2014
San Francisco Examiner, June 28, 2015
San Francisco Magazine, February 2016
Broadway World, November 17, 2015