SFWS Bushnell Center for Athletics & Community

Design Team
Coffman Engineers (Civil); EDesignC (MEP); Strandberg Engineering (Structural); Hyphae Design LAB (Landscape); Habitat Horticulture (Growing Wall); Rollo & Ridley (Geotech); ESH Consultants (Fire Protection); Auerbach Pollock Friedlander (Theater); JPM International (Specifications); Oliver & Company (General Contractor)

The Bushnell Center for Athletics & Community fulfills a long-held aspiration for a multipurpose space for the San Francisco Waldorf School. It is designed to be a hub for athletics, performances, lectures, and community gatherings. The new center is sited to create a sheltered courtyard between the existing and new facility. It provides a variety of spaces supporting outdoor learning, social gatherings, and casual connections.

The facility has a 358-seat gymnasium that will host the school’s robust athletic program and double as a flexible space for school and community performances, a classroom, and a commercial kitchen for school and catered events. The space also can accommodate up to 970 people for the school’s popular Winter Fair, Spring Night and graduations.

The building was conceived as a simple steel structure clad in cedar siding to reinterpret the texture of the existing concrete high school building. The street façade features a growing wall of native pollinator vines that create a dynamic identity for the campus as well as a life-long metaphor for learning, nature, and growth.

The plantings, selected by Habitat Horticulture, support the Waldorf pedagogy and will provide materials for basket weaving, dyes, and culinary arts. They reflect the school’s commitment to climate resiliency.

The Bushnell Center is the second phase of a multiphase project for the San Francisco Waldorf School. Designed to be solar photovoltaic-ready, the school will have the ability to provide power for the entire campus and achieve net-zero energy goals.

Additional Information

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