California College of the Arts
![An abandoned bus station in San Francisco was converted into The California College of the Arts, a highly sustainable, solar-heated interdisciplinary educational environment.](https://www.lmsarch.com/sites/default/files/project/CCA_01.jpg)
An abandoned Greyhound Bus maintenance garage in San Francisco, designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill in 1951, was converted into a solar-heated educational environment for a progressive art and design college.
Owner
California College of the Arts
Location
San Francisco, CA
Size
91,000 sq. ft.
Image Credit
Richard Barnes
![](https://www.lmsarch.com/sites/default/files/project/CCA_06_0.jpg)
The design inserted 75,000 square feet of new studios, workshops, and exhibition space into the existing structure, retaining the original industrial character while reflecting economy and resource efficiency. The 51,000-square-foot open studio space is heated entirely by the sun, making it one of the largest solar-heated educational spaces in the nation at the time. Roof-mounted hot water solar collectors and a radiant floor system help to reduce the entire building’s energy use for heating by approximately 60%. The transformation of this dramatic post-war industrial building has served as a national model for the preservation of industrial urban fabric, the reuse of existing built resources, and the integration of sustainable design strategies within the context of adaptive reuse.
![An abandoned bus station in San Francisco was converted into The California College of the Arts, a highly sustainable, solar-heated interdisciplinary educational environment.](https://www.lmsarch.com/sites/default/files/project/CCA_02_0.jpg)
![An abandoned bus station in San Francisco was converted into The California College of the Arts, a highly sustainable, solar-heated interdisciplinary educational environment.](https://www.lmsarch.com/sites/default/files/project/CCA_03.jpg)
![An abandoned bus station in San Francisco was converted into The California College of the Arts, a highly sustainable, solar-heated interdisciplinary educational environment.](https://www.lmsarch.com/sites/default/files/project/CCA_07.jpg)
![An abandoned bus station in San Francisco was converted into The California College of the Arts, a highly sustainable, solar-heated interdisciplinary educational environment.](https://www.lmsarch.com/sites/default/files/project/CCA_05.jpg)