Warriors unveil new arena design | Matier And Ross | an SFGate.com blogMore views, more glass and less parking are some of the changes the Golden State Warriors have included in their newly refined design for a San Francisco waterfront arena.
The revisions for the 18,000-seat arena at Piers 30-32 appear to be aimed at making the $1 billion-plus project more waterfront-friendly — and in the process help win approval from local, regional and state regulators.
“We are very happy with the idea that over 50 percent of the pier space is open and accessible at different times of the day for people who want to enjoy the waterfront,’’ said Craig Dykers, the lead arena designer for architectural firm Snøhetta, a Norwegian outfit with U.S. headquarters in New York.
Unlike many arenas that “are complicated-looking structures — strange shapes,’’ the proposed Warriors arena has a “very simple, very contemporary design that doesn’t have lot of visual chaos,’’ Dykers said.
In other words, the architects hope to minimize the arena’s impact on waterfront views — and give the public new vistas to enjoy as well.
Toward that end, Snøhetta and its project partners from the design firms AECOM and BAR are proposing to reduce the arena’s height by 10 feet, to 125 feet — roughly the size of a 12-story building.
They also plan to reduce on-site parking from 630 spaces to 500, move the arena back from the water’s edge to make room for a park that would encircle the structure, and wrap the arena with a spiraling, exterior pedestrian walkway that would allow for views of both the city skyline and the bay. It would be open to the public both during and outside game times.
Also — taking a cue from the knot-hole fences at AT&T Park that let fans watch games for free from the outfield — the arena architects have yanked out 750 seats to add a 25-foot-wide glass curtain on the walkway that would allow people to peer inside during games, albeit probably with a limited view of the floor.
The plan also calls for retail buildings along the Embarcadero and acres of terraced plazas — as well as both a 150-foot-high hotel and a slightly taller residential tower across the Embarcadero.
The design team has killed the little kayak ramp at Piers 30-32 included in earlier plans to satisfy regional regulators’ requirement that the arena have a “maritime use.” It’s been replaced with a full cruise-ship berth, plus a new fireboat station for the city on the opposite side of the property.
The Warriors think that will help the proposal before the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the state Lands Commission, which, as it now stands, must OK the arena.
“The input from the regulatory agencies really helped the plan,’’ said Jesse Blout, the team’s development point man.
However, the Warriors’ squad of lobbyists is pushing to win state legislative backing for a bill that could allow the team to bypass potentially drawn-out hearings before state regulators, and get an arena built by 2017.
The changes aren’t likely to quell the criticism coming from environmentalists and a newly formed alliance of arena foes led by former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, ex-state Sen. Quentin Kopp and retired City Administrator Rudy Nothenberg.
They don’t object to the Warriors coming to town — but they do think the proposed arena is too big for its waterfront site and will lead to gridlock.
“The design has never been an issue,’’ Nothenberg said. “It’s the location and use … that are wrong.’’
http://www.nba.com/warriors/sf?venue
:yoda:
