Mark Cavagnero Associates Architects

    • Projects
    • Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education and Leadership
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Learn More
    Exterior Rendering
    Learn More
    Exterior Rendering
    Learn More
    Exterior Rendering
    Learn More
    Exterior Rendering
    Learn More
    Site Model
    Learn More
    Building Model
    Learn More
    North Entry
    Learn More
    • Photography
    • Renderings
    • Models

    Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education and Leadership

    Status

    Completed, 2019

    Size

    25,500 SF

    Client

    Monterey Bay Aquarium

    Scope

    Design

    Project Team

    Mark Cavagnero
    Kang Kiang
    Christopher Campbell
    Katy Hawkins
    Natalie Ramirez
    Sean Kelley
    Sean Wong
    Federica Carrara
    Tammy LePham
    Steven Brummond
    Carol Ishii
    Timothy Waters
    David Kwon
    Jacqueline Law
    Jaime Colburn
    Sara Sepandar
    Charlotte Hofstetter

    Project Collaborators

    Contractor: Blach Construction
    Structural: Rutherford + Chekene
    MEP/Fire/Photovoltaics: WSP
    Civil: Whitson Engineers
    Landscape: SWA Group
    Acoustics: Charles Salter Associates
    Lighting: Auerbach Glasow
    LEED Consulting: Urban Fabrick
    Animal Life Support System Engineer: TJP Engineering

    Description

    Working alongside the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we recently completed the new Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education and Leadership. It represents an ambitious investment in the aquarium’s mission to inspire the next generation of ocean conservation leaders. The project centers sustainability in its design, its technology, and its programming. Here, sustainability is more than a concept — it’s an integral element, a functional component of the building, and a teaching tool for science education.

    Designed to engage architecturally with the industrial history of Cannery Row, the infill concrete-frame structure features large expanses of corrugated fiber-cement panels, as well as as a transparent ground floor that stretching across the ocean-facing glass façade to connect visitors inside with the Pacific Ocean across the street. The entryway along Cannery Row cuts into the building at a dramatic angle, diverting passers-by to a new public exhibit space and maintaining the active Cannery Row streetscape experience.

    Inside, the building opens up to high ceilings and wide spaces designed to be flexible without sacrificing the requirements of the uniquely programmed spaces. Primary vertical circulation is housed in a triple-height glazed space that runs along the eastern façade, a pronounced gateway to the heart of the project on the second floor: four STEM learning labs that open up to wide views of the ocean, connecting the lessons inside with their real-world expressions. Live animal exhibits within the labs are complemented by a life-support system that mirrors that in the main aquarium building, with mechanical, biological, and chemical filtration elements serving a closed-loop seawater circulation system. Four large, dedicated classrooms are designed to meet the current need of 80,000 students visiting annually, with additional generously sized spaces within the building, allowing the facility to grow with increasing future demand.

    The uppermost floor serves as a conference center and event space for Aquarium and community events. Its design achieves seamless continuity between the enclosed pavilion space and an exterior wraparound deck and living roof that allows the entirety of the perimeter to be used for instruction. The integrated and multi-faceted nature of the pavilion echoes that of the entire project: flexibility-by-design that will allow the space to be adapted and re-used for years to come, stretching out the life of each its material components and the sustainability of the project as a whole.

    Location

    Recognition

    Awards

    ENR California 2019 Best Project in Northern California

    Publications

    Silicon Valley Business Journal, September 17, 2019
    Monterey Herald, February 19, 2016