As reported last May, when the plans were first unveiled, the new wing focusses heavily on the dialogue between the museum and its surroundings.

The design team, made up of Snøhetta and San Francisco’s EHDD, is keeping the originally planned stepped terrace and five-metre-wide pedestrian path set to run from Howard Street to Natoma Street. New is the direct route between SFMoMA and the Transbay Transit Center (currently under construction) two blocks east of the museum, as well as the entrance facing Minna Street.

The new blueprints reveal what’s in store for the interior. Plans to demolish Botta’s legendary three-storey granite staircase will create a giant foyer, where traffic will flow to and fro from the two main entrances and serve as the connecting lane to 12,077 square metres of galley space – double what the current building offers.

With entrances on every side, a boost in circulation routes (both inside and out), two new terraces and a sweeping glass facade, Snøhetta’s plan sure does supersize public access.