Page & Turnbull, Plant build Walt Disney Family Museum

General contractor Plant Construction has finished building The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco.

The 77,000-sq-ft museum presents the life and work of the animation pioneer and entertainment entrepreneur. The museum was converted from an old army barrack, a gymnasium, and a storage facility at the historic Presidio in San Francisco.

Architect Page & Turnbull and interior designer The Rockwell Group designed the project.

The Walt Disney Family Museum was built to tell the story of Walt Disney while adapting old, historic buildings for entirely new use. Three structures make up the museum, forming a recognizable “campus within a campus” at the Presidio.

The converted barrack will serve as the key public element in the Disney museum complex, providing space for the main exhibit galleries, a 113-seat screening room, a learning center, a museum store, and a café. The former gym will be used for offices, collections, and special exhibitions, while the old storage building will house the museum’s mechanical equipment.

The former gymnasium on 122 Riley Avenue that houses the Walt Disney Family Foundation’s collections and offices is the site of a 2,000-sq-ft hall that will be used for special programs and concerts until the special exhibition program begins in January 2012.

The permanent galleries of the museum are located at 104 Montgomery Street, one of the five identical barrack buildings built in the 1890s that flank the west edge of the Main Parade Ground. To accommodate the exhibits and better facilitate circulation, a 20,000-sq-ft addition was designed to occupy the U-shaped barrack courtyard.

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