Bayfront Park / Surfacedesign

Architects: Surfacedesign
Landscape Architects: Surfacedesign, Inc. -James A. Lord, Partner, Roderick Wyllie, Michal Kapitulnik, Tyler Chandler, Senior Associate Annie Hansel, Penelope Leggett, Associate
Client: Mission Bay Development Group (FOCIL)
Structural, Electrical, & Utilities: GHD
Geotechnical: Langan
Civil: Lotus Water
Irrigation: Brookwater
Contractor: Hosele
City: San Francisco
Country: United States

Bayfront Park by Surfacedesign in San Francisco repurposes Oakland Bay Bridge steel to create public spaces along the Mission Bay waterfront. Built on a former industrial site near Chase Center, it features a promenade, terraced steps, and a waterfront path. Steel elements serve as sculptures, seating, shade structures, and an observation deck. The park includes lawns, a basketball court, picnic areas, and barbeques. To address sea-level rise, the site was elevated and reinforced with rip-rap, while a historic seawall was reused as seating. Native plants and bioretention gardens manage stormwater. Developed by Mission Bay Development Group, the park reconnects Mission Bay to its maritime history, completing a waterfront redevelopment.

The local landscape design studio Surfacedesign has completed Bayfront Park, a waterfront park in San Francisco, incorporating steel elements from a recently demolished section of the Oakland Bay Bridge. Situated on the eastern shore of the Mission Bay neighborhood, the park was built on a former industrial site directly across from San Francisco’s Chase Center arena.

Surfacedesign stated that Bayfront Park emphasizes material reuse and a strong sense of place along the evolving waterfront. The studio explained that with its rugged and reclaimed materials, the park reconnects present-day Mission Bay to its maritime history. The project features a wedge-shaped design with a promenade along its urban border and terraced steps that descend to a waterfront path.

For the project, the studio obtained leftover steel from the Oakland Museum of California’s Bay Bridge Steel Program, which distributes materials from the demolished portion of the Oakland Bay Bridge to public projects across the state. The studio incorporated the steel material throughout the park, positioning beams vertically and horizontally to form various elements, including a slim cantilevered observation deck.

The team stated that steel elements from the demolished eastern span of the bridge were integrated throughout the park as sculptural features. The team explained that vertical steel elements enhance the 16th Street Plaza, serving as supports for shade structures, while repurposed beams function as informal seating along the waterfront and plaza, as well as part of the observation deck. The steel elements and public plazas surround two elevated lawns. One plaza features a colorful basketball court and seating, while the 16th Street Plaza includes barbeques, picnic tables, and shade structures. Surfacedesign addressed sea-level rise by elevating the site and reinforcing the waterfront with rip-rap.

Sections of a nearby historic seawall were incorporated into the park as informal seating. The studio incorporated a blend of native and naturalized plant species in the landscaping, along with bioretention gardens to manage stormwater runoff.

Developed by Mission Bay Development Group, the park serves as one of the final components of a larger redevelopment, designed to connect visitors to the waterfront. The team described Bayfront Park as a democratic and iconic public space at one of the last remaining waterfront sites in Mission Bay, embodying the dynamism and optimism of San Francisco.