Photo by Billy Hustace Photography

The oil house's once dank, dark storage basement is now the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center.

Built in 1931, the former Ford Motor assembly plant was designed by noted industrial designer Albert Kahn. In 1989, just a year after its listing on the National Register of Historic Places, the factory was ravaged by the Loma Prieta earthquake. In August 2012, the project team delivered a rejuvenated treasure to the city of Richmond. The former material-delivery and dispatch area has become a multipurpose entertainment venue. The oil house's once dank, dark storage basement is now the Rosie the Riveter Visitor Center, which honors the stalwart 1940s women who assumed trade jobs while servicemen were at war, forever changing U.S. worker demographics.

Key Players

Contractor Dalzell Construction, Alamo

Owner Orton Development, Emeryville; National Park Service, San Francisco

Lead Designer Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects, Berkeley

Structural Engineer The Crosby Group, Redwood City

MEP Engineers Mechanical Design Studio, Walnut Creek; SCE Engineers, San Francisco

Consultants Architecture and Light, San Francisco; Charles M. Salter Assoc., San Francisco; Camilla Alexander, Richmond; Preservation Architecture, Oakland