Crissy Field Center
1199 East Beach, Presidio
San Francisco
Tel: 415-561-7768
Designer: Project Frog

Last year’s announcement that San Francisco’s Presidio Parkway relocation would force the Crissy Field Center to find a temporary home left officials scrambling. They had less than a year to find a space for the center, a joint educational venture between the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and the National Park Service. Enter Project Frog, a San Francisco–based manufacturer of smart and sustainable buildings that is the brainchild of architect Mark Miller. The firm created a 7,500-square-foot facility composed of four FROGs (Flexible Response to Ongoing Growth), structural steel and glass modules, which, with walls made of pre-engineered 4-by-8-foot panels, could be quickly assembled. With their 12-to-19-foot sloped ceilings and clerestory windows, the FROGs are light and airy, and intelligently house their infrastructure underfoot, freeing up ceilings and walls from heating, cooling, and electrical systems and making future add-ons easy. The project broke ground in July, and the center recently hopped into its new home, a picturesque waterfront location with the Golden Gate Bridge as backdrop. The center will remain in its new location for five to seven years. In addition to the center, with its ecological programs that serve urban youth, the facility also houses the Beach Hut Café, which serves coffee and muffins. LEED Gold certification is pending.