A plan from Gehry Partners, LLP. and Mark Cavagnero Associates to renovate the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s 43-year-old Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall building is moving forward after a proposal was made public for the first time. 

In September, the client submitted a proposal to begin the entitlement process for renovations to the SOM and Pietro Belluschi-designed structure. The goal is to make the Symphony “publicly accessible, transparent, and inviting,” according to its press release. The institution says it is still in the exploratory phase of the process and cautions it has yet to commit to a project or submitted any other permits as the concepts are explored further.

Gehry, whose longstanding collaboration with noted acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota will again take centerstage when the expanded Colburn School of Music campus project breaks ground in the fall of 2025, is mentioned as being in charge of the interior fit-out of the Hall. Cavagnero, which recently won awards for separate performing arts spaces in the city, will be responsible for designing the building’s new envelope, lobby renovation, added recital hall, support spaces, and an outdoor performance area. 

It is understood that a glass curtain wall replacement will be preferred at the facade while retaining at least some of the Hall's original copper roofing. The total expansion covers 247,780 square feet in total, including an added 39,000 square feet of outdoor terraces and a 10,500-square-foot balcony. Seating capacity is slated to be reduced to 2,100 overall.

Reports have indicated this is possibly a $100 million effort. OJB will also deliver the landscape design for the project. Gehry has also recently been tendered to a historic renovation project in Pacific Palisades for celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck. His firm will also leverage its design for the Beckmen YOLA Center, which opened two years ago on the site of a former Burger King restaurant in Inglewood.