Alameda, California, USA

Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects and Peter Logan Architecture and Design have completed the Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal, a civic facility that provides public transportation while creating an icon that environmentally and architecturally enhances Alameda, an infrastructure development commissioned by the City of Alameda and the San Francisco Water Emergency Transportation Authority.

The Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal project has recently been awarded a 2023 American Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture, Design, and Urban Studies.

This ferry terminal benefits the community by providing a critical development element for kick-starting the economic rejuvenation and ecological remediation of a former U.S. Navy Naval Air Station site which was transferred to the City of Alameda for redevelopment and is now known as Alameda Point.

The construction materials were specified for longevity, sustainability, economy, and aesthetics: fabric roof, steel roof structure, glass windscreens, concrete foundation, ramps, steps, and floor.

Given the frequently cold and windy conditions of the waterfront site, transparent five-foot “bird-safe” glass windscreens protect passengers along the terminal perimeter without blocking the 360-degree spectacular views.

The most visually impactful element of the project is the sculptural membrane roof which creates a translucent medium which architecturally lit, and transforms the terminal into a luminous beacon at dusk, dawn, and evening.

The ferry terminal design for this low-lying island city accommodates the several feet of sea level rise scientifically projected in the coming decades.

The design solution simultaneously ensures the terminal’s future usability despite projected sea rise: the terminal floor level is raised several feet above the roadway, and is accessed from the road with ADA-compliant ramps and steps architecturally integrated into the design.

Fortunately, this technical solution justifies the current architecturally dramatic approach of ramps and steps leading to a terminal floor raised above the Bay Trail.

Over time, the roadway itself will be raised in stages to accommodate the increased water rise, and eventually approach the elevation of the terminal floor itself.

Landside project improvements include a portion of the San Francisco Bay Trail – a public amenity that circumvents the entire San Francisco Bay.

The Trail, which traverses the Terminal project site, is designed as part of the project, and provides access for joggers, walkers, and bicyclists access to the continuous 500-mile loop running across all nine Bay Area counties.

Project: Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal
Architects: Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects
Associate Architects: PLAD (Peter Logan Architecture and Design)
Lead Architects: Kent Royle and Peter Logan
General Contractor: Trammell Crow Residential and Maple Construction Inc.
Client: City of Alameda and WETA (San Francisco Water Emergency Transportation Authority)
Photographers: Billy Hustace