Professional Projects
Below is a sample of professional work projects that I have worked on over the years:
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - New Building
After nearly 90 years in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences decided to completely rebuild their facility. The new building was designed by Pritzker award-winning architect Renzo Piano and was built to the highest environmental standards, ultimately achieving a double LEED Platinum rating (New Building Construction, Existing Building Operations & Maintenance). On this project, I served as part of the Project Management team, representing the interests and needs for the Academy staff in terms of research collections storage, office layout and configurations, retail and restaurant tenant improvements, and also public art installations. Additionally, I oversaw the development of the office spaces as well as the relocation of the staff and more than 25 million scientific specimens into the new building.
After nearly 90 years in Golden Gate Park, the California Academy of Sciences decided to completely rebuild their facility. The new building was designed by Pritzker award-winning architect Renzo Piano and was built to the highest environmental standards, ultimately achieving a double LEED Platinum rating (New Building Construction, Existing Building Operations & Maintenance). On this project, I served as part of the Project Management team, representing the interests and needs for the Academy staff in terms of research collections storage, office layout and configurations, retail and restaurant tenant improvements, and also public art installations. Additionally, I oversaw the development of the office spaces as well as the relocation of the staff and more than 25 million scientific specimens into the new building.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - New Building Exhibits
For the opening exhibits of the new building, I worked closely with the architects and engineers to develop exhibit infrastructure systems that would allow for easier future exhibition changes as part of an effort to ensure that the new museum could remain fresh and current beyond opening day. The infrastructure systems included developing a distribution system for power, data, and audio/video as well as a floor anchoring system that were both integrated into the radiant, hot water heated floors. Additionally, anchoring systems were integrated into the ceilings and walls at regular intervals to increase flexibility for future exhibits. I also helped coordinate the design and installation of various exhibitions with a team of external exhibit developers and fabricators.
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES - Transition Building
In order to completely rebuild the California of Academy Sciences building in Golden Gate Park, a new temporary home needed to be created to house the staff, research collections, and live animals from the aquarium. As Project Manager of this effort, I initiated a search of viable properties, and negotiated a favorable temporary lease which included a substantial tenant improvement allowance. I then achieved all city approvals and managed the design and construction of the building. This building included a temporary aquarium, a temporary natural history museum, a retail store, a small cafe, office workspace for 350 staff and storage spaces for more than 25 million scientific specimens (which required sophisticated fire protection systems for alcohol-stored items).
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - Times Square Studios (ABC Television, New York)
This project was a partnership between thee divisions of the Walt Disney Company (ABC Television, Disney Development Company, and Walt Disney Imagineering). The CEO at the time (Michael Eisner) wanted a new television studio for Good Morning America that would be iconic and destination worthy. A building was selected in Times Square and Walt Disney Imagineering was chosen to develop the exterior treatments. The design concept for the exterior treatment was "Media as Architecture." The facade was wrapped with undulating LEDs and included a Sony Jumbotron in the middle. It was one of the largest LED signs ever built at the time.
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - Downtown Disney (Disneyland Resort, Anaheim)
A retail, dining and entertainment development connecting the Disney Hotels with the two theme parks (Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure). On this project, I was responsible for managing the design and construction of the iconic wayfinding signage, themed lighting elements, and three retail/dining tenant spaces (Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, Compass Books & Cafe, and the Island Charters Clothing Store).
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - Bon Voyage Retail Store (Tokyo Disneyland Resort)
Retail at Tokyo Disneyland does very well because of the cultural norm of providing gifts to friends and family after having visited the theme park. To leverage this opportunity, the decision was made to build a major Disney store outside of the theme park next to the train station. Given the location, the design theme "Travel" and the entire store was designed to look like oversized luggage with travel stickers on the exterior and oversized travel items inside the store.
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - American Waterfront (Tokyo DisneySeas, Tokyo Disney Resort)
American Waterfront is one of seven lands in the second theme park, Tokyo DisneySeas, adjacent to the original Tokyo Disneyland. This land was themed to look like New York during the turn of the 20th Century and contained several retail stores, restaurants, a live stage theater, several rides and other attractions. For this project, I served as the Architecture & Engineering Manager, overseeing all design and documentation up through Design Development where it was then handed off to our Japanese colleagues for final documentation with Japanese translations and permit requirements. Below are illustrations of the project up through Design Development.
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - Disney Fair (traveling attraction)
I served as Project Manager on this attraction and was in charge of developing a large traveling entertainment venue that attached to large state fairs, leveraging the idea of taking the Disney Experience to where people live. The concept was that everything was inflatable (or appeared to be) and would inflate upon arrival in your town. It featured a large stage show, an interactive tent and a retail tent (all housed in seven tensile membrane structures).
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - Indiana Jones Adventure (Disneyland)
An adventure thrill ride built for Disneyland that featured a motion-based simulator with onboard computers adapting the program for a unique ride experience each time. On this project I served as one of the Construction Project Managers, working closely with engineers to integrate large show-action equipment (moving walls, ceilings, rolling boulder, etc.) and special effect systems (spike ceiling, projection systems, etc.) with the building and ride systems.
WALT DISNEY IMAGINEERING - Mickey's Toontown (Disneyland)
A new land that was built at Disneyland as the "home" for Disney characters. The land featured several rides, attractions, retail, food venues, and "Meet & Greet" opportunities with the characters. I served as Assistant Project Manager for the overall land (Mickey's Toontown) and Project Manager for major ride (Roger Rabbit's Cartoon Spin).