Lucasfilm: Pressroom | Letterman Digital Arts Center

Design & Architecture at LDAC

The Presidio of San Francisco's Historic Past and Importance to the Bay Area is Honored At the Letterman Digital Arts Center

Destined to become an enduring landmark of the City by the Bay, the Letterman Digital Arts Center, the new San Francisco home of Lucasfilm Ltd., is nestled in one of the most beautiful public spaces in the country: the Presidio of San Francisco, a national park overlooking the famed Palace of Fine Arts and the San Francisco Bay. With quiet proportions, period details and low roofs, the design of this revolutionary digital arts campus pays tribute to the unique history and natural grandeur of its setting.

Of the Letterman Digital Arts Center's 23 acres, 17 are reserved for public open space, with picture-postcard views and a serene design created by renowned landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. The remaining six acres are home to four low-rise buildings -- comprising 865,000 feet of office space -- where employees of Lucasfilm Ltd. and its Industrial Light & Magic and LucasArts divisions will be housed together for the first time in the company's 30-year history.

George Lucas, Chairman of Lucasfilm Ltd., says, "When we were awarded the privilege of building in the Presidio and restoring the site, we knew we had to create something to honor this special place. We wanted to create a campus that would speak to the history of the Presidio, fit into the environment and make it look and feel like a natural part of the larger park."

Incorporating the same palette of red brick, white stucco and terra cotta roofs seen throughout the Presidio, the design is intended to bring the Letterman Digital Arts Center into harmony with its neighboring buildings, some of which are nearly a century old. "This is a significant project for the Bay Area," commented Lawrence Halprin, the project's Master Planner and landscape architect. "The first decisions were the basic ones of putting all the parking underground and opening major view corridors. After that, it was possible to transform the site to a park. We did that with gentle hills and lush grass, hundreds of trees, plants, shrubs and flowers, walkways and sitting areas. We also brought the primal quality of water to the park in the form of a creek and lagoon. The sound of flowing water is always peaceful and restorative,"

A former U.S. military base, the Presidio is home to a wealth of architectural styles, among them Italianate and Greek Revival; Queen Anne; Colonial and Mission Revival; Mediterranean; and Modern. "The Presidio is a wonderful collection of buildings from different eras, and their architectural styles appear to blend into what you could call an overall Presidio style," says Mark Donahue of HKS Inc., the architect of record on the project. "We built LDAC to reflect those styles and that history. We also made sure we preserved views of beloved City landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, the Palace of Fine Arts and the Bay," he said.

Period design elements like gables, porches and windowed corridors stand in homage to the Presidio's military heritage. On the park's grassy slope, the buildings appear to cascade down the hill as a series of solid, gabled forms, and the webs of glass that connect them are reminiscent of the former Letterman Hospital. Groves of trees soften the exteriors when seen from the heavily trafficked Lombard Street, and porches and balconies "step" the buildings back from their footprints to create a scale respectful of and complimentary to neighboring architecture. Architects also made certain to incorporate the health and well being of Lucasfilm's employees into the blueprints. The design incorporates exterior balconies to provide a connection with the outdoors; large-pane windows -- one every 10 feet -- that open to provide fresh, cool air; building configurations that maximize daylight exposures; sunlit central staircases; an employee fitness center and dining commons; and an employee childcare center that features environmental learning opportunities for kids, along with play structures, plants and trees, a water feature and growing garden.

The storied past of the Presidio gives way to a new future of digital arts with the opening of the Letterman Digital Arts Center in 2005.