San Diego Museum of Art (Photo by Frank Sabatini Jr.)
Development, Balboa Park

Major Development Slated at San Diego Museum of Art

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

When the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park turns 100 years old in 2026, an eminent architectural firm will appear on the scene to completely replace the museum’s west wing.

London-based Foster + Partners was commissioned for the project, which will afford the museum a public pavilion, an education center for school groups, restaurant vendors, and a rooftop deck that will allow us to further impress our out-of-town visitors with killer views.

The wing, which currently houses a gallery and auditorium, sits largely out of view to the left of the museum’s main-building entrance. It partly adjoins Panama 66 restaurant and the May S. Marcy Sculpture Court & Garden. The fate of those two areas has yet to be determined, although the rebuild promises a style that pays respect to the museum’s history and postcard surroundings.

Foster + Partners flaunts an impressive portfolio. Its past and upcoming projects include new extensions constructed for the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida. The firm also designed the two-acre Great Court for the British Museum of London as well as residential, neighborhood and airport developments in Egypt, Europe, India, Argentina and Australia.