Flexibility Meets Curiosity at the Exploratorium

Kanbar Forum at the Exploratorium
San Francisco, CA

The Kanbar Forum within the Exploratorium science museum establishes a new range for venues of its type.  As a room for 200 to convene, it was the mission of the Exploratorium to create an all-age venue that framed the idea that has finally come to mass appeal: science is approachable, accessible and hip. When Rob Semper, the Exploratorium’s Executive Associate Director and Director of Programs, came to us through the Architect, he had in mind a bar, one in particular—Belly Up in Aspen. He was intrigued by the venue’s casual configuration that created a sense of comfort.

With the partial flat floor, wide terraces, and loose furniture, Kanbar’s flexibility of seating styles from simple rows, to cocktail rows, to cabaret and dinner events is readily adaptable, and yet sight lines and an ease of circulation through the space and to the presentation area are uncompromised. The room’s restrained verticality also helps to promote this audience-audience and audience-presenter relationship.

Since the Exploratorium intrigues its visitors with examining perception, it was clear to all that, from a pure flexibility standpoint, the Meyer Sound Lab’s Constellation™ system would give the room another level of range of use by providing many type-specific acoustic conditions. In basic modes, it can support amplified lectures and media, and then stretch the sense of sound reverberating through the room as an excellent music space. Its other uses include taking surround sound to another level to inspire artists to create soundscapes. 

Completion: 2013
Architect: EHDD Architects
Scope: Theatre & AV Consulting
Photo Credit: Bruce Damonte
See What’s Playing: The Kanbar Forum