The designs for the expanded building include such new features as a large-scale vertical garden on the third floor, slated to be the biggest public living wall of native plants in San Francisco; a free ground-floor gallery facing Howard Street with 25 feet tall glass walls that will place art on view to passersby; a double-height "white box" space on the fourth floor with sophisticated lighting and sound systems; and state-of-the-art conservation studios on the seventh and eighth floors.