Monochromatic terminal sheds any pretense about Pier 27 role

San Franciscos newest maritime structure shows how the citys relationship to the working waterfront has changed and what the concept of our working waterfront has come to mean.

Its the James R. Herman Cruise Terminal at Pier 27, a crisply detailed shed of corrugated aluminum thats 40 feet tall and 504 feet long. The specifications are tailored to the needs of a leisure industry whose ships are exponentially larger than the new structure, with an interior that can moonlight as a flexible venue for private events.

The glassy wall doesnt line up with the Embarcadero, as is the case with the historic pier structures to the north and south. Instead, it sits behind a 2.3-acre raised plaza with grass and benches intended as a respite for passersby who know the northeast waterfront not as a clamorous industrial zone, but as a viewsome promenade.

But if the $100 million structure that officially opened Thursday will be a monochromatic backdrop more than a destination, its also a stylish if austere work of functional architecture.

No obvious flourish

The design is by KMD Architects and Pfau Long Architecture, two local firms that arent prone to flamboyance, especially with a budget nowhere near as lavish as it sounds. Except for the gently angled canopy that faces into the triangular pier protection from the elements and a visual transition from closed structure to open space theres no obvious flourish at all.

Ive already heard from readers put off by the restraint who would prefer something supposedly iconic. In fact, this is a service building for the real icons, cruise liners such as the 3,080-passenger Crown Princess that docked Monday a balconied white tub with the nose of a dolphin and the dimensions of a container ship, 952 feet long and 195 feet high.

At its most basic level, this terminal serves to funnel passengers on and off ship with a minimum of fuss, under security procedures just a notch below the ones in airports.

Travelers enter a tall, airy foyer in the northwest corner of the structure where the lone decorative feature is an art installation that honors the buildings namesake, a former president of the International Longshoremens and Warehousemens Union and a longtime member of the San Francisco Port Commission before his death in 1998. Up a set of escalators awaits the line of metal detectors. Beyond that is a spacious waiting room with a close-up view of the floating village entered on a second-level gangway that can rise or fall 10 feet to respond to tides and remain fully accessible to people with walkers or in wheelchairs.

The eastern half of the second floor is walled off from the waiting area thats where passengers go from the ship through customs, then descend to pick up their luggage and pass through another security checkpoint before exploring San Francisco. Both the waiting and customs areas have no fixed seating or counters, so that the spaces can be used for private events such as dinners and small conferences when cruise ships are absent.

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Monochromatic terminal sheds any pretense about Pier 27 role