This article first appeared in the 200702
issue of BD+C.
The Plant Construction Co. of San Francisco and Olson Steel of San Leandro, Calif., topped out the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco's Yerba Buena cultural district in mid-January. The 63,000-sf museum was designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind, and is an adaptive reuse of the city's historic Jessie Street power substation. Parts of the building are clad in a vibrant blue stainless-steel skin that incorporates the symbolic Hebrew letters “chet” and “yud,” which are key to the phrase “L'Chaim,” meaning “To Life!” The $46 million project should open in spring 2008.
