Tiburon Bayside Visitor Center 
ARH 350

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The Romberg Tiburon Center is Located on 36 waterfront acres,it is the only academic research and teaching facility located on the shores of San Francisco Bay. Our mission is to illuminate the vital connections between, science, society, and the sea.

The project is designed as an immersive coastal research and education center that connects visitors to the landscape, ecology, and changing tidal conditions of the site. The research center is embedded within the hillside, minimizing its visual impact while integrating the building into the natural topography.

Across from the research center, the exhibition building is designed as a transparent glass volume with panoramic 360-degree views of the surrounding landscape and the bay. Positioned as a public-facing counterpart to the more integrated research spaces, the exhibition building creates a strong visual connection between visitors, scientific research, and the coastal environment.

A recreation building near the waterfront supports public engagement through kayak rentals and water-based activities, encouraging direct interaction with the bay. Beneath this building, an underwater exhibition space responds to tidal changes—the exhibition gradually reveals and conceals itself as the tide rises and falls, allowing visitors to experience the changing relationship between architecture and natural systems.

Connecting these spaces, a central public plaza acts as both circulation space and an interactive learning environment. Visitors move between the buildings while engaging with touch tanks and hands-on educational elements that bring marine ecosystems into everyday public experience. Together, the project creates a sequence of exploration, education, and environmental awareness that integrates architecture with the rhythms of the site.