Sustainable Community of Treasure Island
San Francisco has been in the throes of a green revolution for approximately 10 years. Vying for the greenest city with Chicago by creating a Department of the Environment, sponsoring a written Green Plan, developing an alternative energy policy and now creating a mini-sustainable- city on Treasure Island.
Considered prime real estate, this island in the Bay represents the ultimate opportunity to create a vibrant live-work community that is more than just a housing development.
Originally constructed in 1938 to host the Golden Gate International Exposition, celebrating the engineering marvels of the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges and acknowledging the ascendancy of California and San Francisco as an economic, political and cultural force, Treasure Island is once again poised to become a one-of-a-kind destination and incubator for bold ideas of what the future of this region holds. The decommissioned naval air station was recently handed over to the city of San Francisco, which is working with a spirited developer and design team to outline a vision for a coherent, diverse, sustainable, public-spirited urban community. The plan's specific design solutions address the challenge of access to an island community in a congested region that demands innovative, efficient and sustainable solutions. Features include:
- A complex and thoroughly articulated urban design and architectural plan, illustrating relationships between buildings, public space, transportation, views and natural factors.
- A compact, transit-oriented community with 3,500-5,500 housing units, 600 hotel rooms and 200,000 square feet of retail/ commercial, providing a threshold community size that supports ferry service, neighborhood retail, community services and public amenities.
- A commitment to sustainability un- paralleled in the Bay Area, including a climate-responsive urban form, transit- first agenda, detailed renewable energy proposals, an innovative green-building agenda, organic farming and a constructed wetlands providing stormwater retention and wildlife habitat.
- A series of major, new public open spaces, including 260 acres of wetlands, parks and playgrounds, serving as public frame- work and resident amenity.
Every aspect of the proposed design facilitates convenient access by foot, bicycle and transit, reducing private auto trips on and off the island. The dense, integrated development pattern facilitates walking and cycling for on-island trips, and access to ferry and bus service for commuting. Hotel and retail uses are clustered around the ferry quay, with 40 percent of the proposed housing units located within a five-minute walk of the ferry terminal and 84 percent within a 10-minute walk. Streets are designed to support a range of travel modes at moderate-to-low speeds, and a system of pedestrian oriented tertiary streets radiate from the terminal area into the surrounding districts. Parking is clustered in key blocks, allowing convenient access by car without sacrificing the island's pedestrian character.
November 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue
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