Photo © Billy Hustace
The massive complex shelters 525,000 square feet under rows of skylights and solar panels. Albert Kahn’s vision of incorporating copious daylighting throughout the project could not be more resonant 80 years later. Offices are bathed in northern diffused light as seen in SunPower’s contemporary offices. Other green-oriented companies followed suit like clothing manufacturer Mountain Hardware and Vetrazzo Countertops, turning the plant into a hub for green manufacturing and distribution.
Arts and culture are given a central home in the repurposed building in the massive glass-enclosed Craneway Pavilion. It is wrapped in 35-foot windows and rolling glass doors which open to the adjacent waterway overlooking Oakland and San Francisco across the bay. The huge space hosts concerts and art performances as well as large private functions and galas in a daylit and adaptable space.
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