The Studio for Urban Projects is currently working with scientists from San Francisco State University’s Estuary & Ocean Science Center in developing and prototyping a series of modular and easily deployable reef elements and seawall panels for the Living Shorelines Project. The structures are designed to create buffers to storm surges and rising tides with native oyster reefs while helping to restore biodiversity. They are currently installed and are being monitored at three locations in San Francisco Bay, including the cities of San Rafael and Sausalito, some of the most vulnerable communities in the Bay Area. The reef system is being tested for future use throughout the San Francisco Bay estuary and nationally.

Date: September 2021-present

Funded by: The California Coastal Conservancy

Studio Team: Richard Johnson & Packard Jennings

Collaborators: Biologist Katharyn Boyer, Estuary & Ocean Science Center, Boyer Lab Postdoctoral Fellow Daniel Harris, Ecologist Chela Zabin, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and Project Manager Marilyn Latta, California Coastal Conservancy