The San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s Bowes Center is a dynamic social and cultural destination that melds musical education, performance, and public experience. The new building, designed as a “vertical campus” incorporates housing, dining, classrooms, rehearsal rooms, performances spaces, faculty offices, and a radio station under one roof. This rich program is consciously stacked in order to minimize footprint while maximizing impact on the Conservatory’s educational mission. Set within the historic Civic Center's cultural and arts district, the Bowes Center asserts itself while also blending into the context through compatible materials and proportions that respect its historic surroundings.
Housing equity is a primary driver of the project. Student housing suites provide affordable housing for over 400 music students in the heart of the arts district. 27 rent-stabilized apartments replace units from the site’s previous building, and the tenants have moved back into new units at their prior rents.
The base of the new building is lined with highly transparent low-iron glass to visually reveal the creative activities occurring within, to draw the public in to hundreds of free performances each year. The central lobby is a porous, community-oriented entrance to the ground floor, which is anchored by three major programmatic spaces – a café, an informal student lounge, and a glass-enclosed recital hall – all visually accessible to passersby. On the top floor, a double-height performance space cantilevers over Van Ness Avenue, making a visual connection across the street to Davies Symphony Hall and the iconic dome of City Hall.
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