SFJazz, the San Francisco-based organization supporting jazz music in the Bay Area, has opened its new $65 million home in the Civic Center performing arts district. The three-story, 35,000-square-foot venue was designed by local architects Mark Cavagnero Associates—winner of the 2012 AIA California Council Firm of the Year award. The center’s main auditorium features flexible seating arrangements that can increase its capacity from 350 to 700. In addition to the primary stage, the LEED Certified SFJazz Center has a smaller, 80-seat multi-purpose ensemble room, as well as ground-level public amenities that include a café, a box office, and a small retail shop. Ample glazing allows daylight into the public spaces, and allows for a visual connection to the building’s surroundings. Three jazz-centric murals were commissioned and installed in the green room and upstairs lobby of the center.
“After 30 years of presenting music in a variety of rented venues throughout the Bay, it is with great joy we announce our first season in our new home, the SFJazz Center,” SFJazz founder Randall Kline said in a statement. With concerts slated through June 2013, the center hopes to bolster interest in the city’s already vibrant jazz scene by offering educational programs for audiences of all ages.
For more details and images of SFJazz Center, visit ARCHITECT‘s Project Gallery.
