Consultancy services for the expansion of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, which features a rippling fiberglass facade.
LEED Gold achieved
The new 10-storey expansion structure for the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art almost doubled the gallery’s size, and almost tripled its available exhibition space. Eckersley O’Callaghan provided engineering consultancy services for the building’s distinctive rippling facade.
The facade consisted of a mix of solid and glazed surfaces, with over 700 uniquely shaped fibreglass reinforced plastic (FRP) panels attached to a curtain wall system. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art was the first building to be clad in FRP at this scale.
Embedded into the surface of the panels, silicate crystals react to the changing daylight. The glazed elements included tall frameless panels specially designed to accommodate seismic movements.
We assisted in the rationalisation of the glazing and solid wall, FRP construction, and the evaluation of the contractors’ proposals to achieve the design intent in a cost-effective solution. Through fabrication and installation, we carried out quality assurance monitoring to ensure that design quality was maintained.
© Eckersley O’Callaghan 2025
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