Broadway Pier, San Diego

Transcription

Rita Vandergaw: The Broadway Pier has been around since 1913. Piers were built to sustain the Maritime operation. Deep water ports, ranging from cargo that used to be on a warehouse that covered the entire pier with rail tracks that went out onto the pier and cars were actually brought in and out of this pier, as well as cotton, fertilizer, and passenger ships. Then the new cruise industry evolved, beginning in the late 70s. And almost immediately, San Diego became one of the port cities that had cruise business. How did we design the building so that it can be used for the public uses? The building itself, while designed to meet all the operational needs of a cruise industry, also has unique spaces in it that will function for public use. Over one-third of the building is what we call the Pavilion. It is actually was designed with glass doors that open up on three sides that give you a Pavilion effect. Through the community outreach folks told us they wanted something that made them feel close to the water - they could smell the water; they could see the water. This actually creates that impact. You could have an event in there for a couple thousand people looking out at the Bay across to Coronado. And when it's not used for an public event it serves as customer service area for the cruiselines. On the second floor is what we call the Broadway View room. It has a spectacular view right down the heart of Broadway looking back at the city of San Diego. It also has glass that looks out to the Midway on one side and down toward the Embarcadero on the other side. ÊThere is a little 1,000 square foot room inside there called the Big Bay room that could be used for catering for a special small function. It really will be a true multi-purpose facility. Mark McIntire: We started construction in July 2009. This most recent phase, which included not an enlargement of the pier but a seismic reinforcing to bring it up to both current seismic code requirements and to provide additional structural capacity to support the new building. The Port has taken great strides in addressing the sustainable elements of the building. They include: our LEED certification, which will be Silver certification, the first of its kind for a cruise terminal as well as the first that we know about for a building constructed on a pier. The glass materials on the East and South elevations of the building are coated with a material called fritting. This pattern consists of small dots that are applied at the factory to the inside face of the glass, they are baked onto the glass so it is a permanent material. It's purpose is to reduce the glare and solar heat gain coming into these portions of the buildings. In addition there are photovoltaic panels that have been installed on the roof that supply between 15 and 30 percent of the building's electrical consumption needs during peak operation. Shore power for cruise ships have also been implemented into the project. The shore power equipment is located both in the corner of this space, which switches the power from the main utility to the point of connection on the cruise ships. Out on the end of the pier, there are plug in locations and a socket that supports a crane that feeds the cable out to the ship. We're standing out on the end of the pier, which is open to he general public. Access to this space is from the south lane along the side of the building from front of the pier at Harbor Drive. During operational hours or during special events, access to this space could be restricted. But generally, for most of the days of the year, the end of the pier and the access along the south lane is accessable. Rita Vandergaw: The board decided to make a commitment to Public Art and has brought in a world class artist, Leni Schwendinger, from New York City, and she has created a piece called "Tidal Radiance". It will come on every evening just before sunset and the color will change based on the seasons. In addition to that, the art will casts patterns down on the concrete and that will happen day and night. This has been a project that has been in the works for five years. It began as a temporary tent, evolved to a temporary building, and now to what I believe a building that is going to be a great civic benefit to the community.