San Francisco

Key Players

Owner American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)

Lead Design Firm and Structural Engineer Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM)

Contractor Plant Construction Co. LLP

Civil Engineer BKF

MEP Engineers AR&B; Decker Electric; Pribuss Engineering

Construction Manager Equity Community Builders Specialty

Abandoned for 10 years and overtaken by squatters, the century-old movie theater was transformed into a multifunctional space for San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater. The team retrofitted all elements while retaining more than 80% of the original structure. Crews installed shoring from within the structure for seismic upgrades due to the tight site and to avoid disturbing subway tubes and BART rail lines. For punch-list efficiency, BIM360, a cloud-based iPad application, allowed the architect to walk the building, mark issues, attach a photo and deliver the photo to the contractor. Also cloud-based, PlanGrid continually archived and updated drawing packages, sketches and documents. The $20-million theater—completed in May—is helping rejuvenate the surrounding Market Street area.