Letterman Digital Arts Center

The Letterman Digital Arts Center, located in the Presidio, San Francisco, became the new combined home of Industrial Light and Magic, LucasArts, and Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units in 2005. Opening ceremonies were held June 25, 2005. The $350 million, 850,000 square foot (79,000 m²) center is home to 1500 employees, who began moving there in July, 2005. The grounds were designed by landscape architect Lawrence Halprin, who has also restored San Francisco's Ghirardelli Square. The design architect for the buildings was Gensler, and architect of record was HKS, Inc. The Lobby of Building B is open to the public during regular business hours and contains a gallery of Lucasfilm memorabilia including props and costumes from the Star Wars film series. The Presidio is a former U.S. Army base. The arts center takes its name from its location on the former site of the army's Letterman Army Hospital, which was named for Dr. Jonathan Letterman, medical director for the Army of the Potomac in the U.S. Civil War. The building earned a LEED Gold certification. One of the reasons was the building was built from the recycled remains of the building it replaced, the Letterman Army Hospital.