Starfleet Command building, 2143-2155 The building of 22nd century Earth Starfleet Command is located northeast of the Golden Gate Bridge, on the northern shore of the small Horseshoe Bay. We can first see the building in which Admiral Forrest's office is located from the outside in ENT: "First Flight", in the year 2143. The line of vision is to the south, along the characteristic scarp at the northern bridge head with the supporting wall for the road. The building is still the very same more than ten years later in "Home" (2154) and "Demons" (2155). Both episodes use unmodified stock footage from "First Flight".

In the 22nd century the area of the Presidio (the site of some future Starfleet buildings) at the opposite shore of the Golden Gate is apparently only sparsely populated. There are no recognizable large buildings, neither on the shore nor in the hills.

Another shot that appears in "The Expanse" (at night) and in "Home" (at daylight) supposedly shows the same Starfleet Command building as above, as also indicated by the flat domes closer to the shore that are clearly the same too. If this is true, we are looking in southeastern direction, at the small hill range on the eastern shore of Horseshoe Bay. On the other hand, the remote shore appears to be at least one kilometer away, while the Horseshoe Bay measures at most some 500m across. And the hills on the other side are just a few meters high in reality. Overall, Horseshoe Bay is far less impressive in reality. In any case there are settlements alongside that whole bay, as the lights at night indicate.

Starfleet tram station, 2271 In "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" we can see how Admiral Kirk's air tram, coming from some location at the northern shore of the Golden Gate east of the bridge, arrives at a station located some 300 meters east of the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge, atop the hill range in the Presidio. The reverse angle of the bridge as seen from inside the station confirms this location. Strictly speaking, the tram station doesn't have to be a Starfleet Installation. In fact, there is a big Federation emblem on the floor, and it is well possible that another organization takes care of public transportation in 2271.

On a side note, the former roadbed of the Golden Gate Bridge itself is covered with thick plates or tubes in both versions of the first Trek movie, perhaps a part of some sort of an antigrav or maglev transportation system (that may have become obsolete because of the new free flying air tram system?). This addition will be removed until the 24th century.

For Robert Wise's Director's Cut of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" an entirely new air tram sequence was created. The shuttle now approaches from some point west of the bridge. But most obviously the air tram station is now located directly beside southern bridge head, hovering above Fort Point.

Also, San Francisco has more and taller buildings in the Director's Cut.

On a perhaps more interesting note, Kirk is staring out of the window in "Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan", in the direction of Starfleet Academy (former Earth Starfleet Headquarters), pondering about his age. On the right side of the screen cap we can see plenty of lights in Marin County on the other side of the bay, obviously meant to represent Sausalito.

The Federation Council complex has to be the same one that is visible left of the bridge from the reverse angle in the already mentioned air tram scene from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" (2271).

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We don't see this building from the outside in the movie. But obviously someone remembered its supposed location correctly when an exterior shot of Starfleet Headquarters at night was created for "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country". It is not certain looking at the according screen caps from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture", but is is possible that the building doesn't yet exist as of 2271.

There is an error in the shot from "Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country", however. In reality there is no such high hill on the right side of the bridge, which would be east of the bridge on the northern shore. As we already know, on this side the road runs alongside a scarp and the view from the 22nd century Starfleet Command is not obstructed by such a hill. The image was manipulated more extensively than just the addition of the new building. Actually, the high hill right of the bridge with the lone tree on the top should be located on the left side. The real image was horizontally flipped, and a new hill was created along with the building.

Starfleet Academy, 2368-2377 The first time that we can see Starfleet Academy is in TNG: "First Duty" (note the flag at half-mast because of the death of one cadet in the shuttle accident). In the real world the building that we look at is the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in San Fernando Valley near Los Angeles. The footage of the real location was supplemented with new upper stories and embedded into a matte painting with additional buildings and with the Golden Gate Bridge, placing this part of the Starfleet Academy campus area in the area of Horseshoe Bay, perhaps 200m northeast of the site of the former 21st century Earth Starfleet Command. Note that it looks like the bridge is somewhat farther away from the camera than in the shots from Enterprise, while the line of vision is the same.

Re-Used Planet Sets - Real Locations

Starfleet Academy appears again in VOY: "In the Flesh", here as a simulation created by Species 8472, including a member of the alien species as Boothby and presumably precise enough that Chakotay wouldn't notice the difference if he were not aware that everything was recreated on a huge space station. On the other hand, while the real year is 2377, everyone in this simulation without exception is running around in the old-style Starfleet uniforms as they were retired in 2373. It is possible that single Starfleet officers on Earth, notably admirals, may still wear the old style four years later. But certainly not everyone. So the only possible conclusion is that Species 8472 based their simulation on outdated records from Voyager's computer.

Another inaccuracy is that the building in "In the Flesh" and its immediate surrounding is very similar but evidently not the same as in TNG: "The First Duty". Since the data the simulation is based on probably dates back to 2371, we wouldn't expect the area to change that much in only three years since 2368. Still it looks like the "Tillman Plant" was heavily modified and some of the surrounding buildings demolished (and rather not destroyed in the Breen attack that would occur as late as in 2375). Well, the Golden Gate Bridge appears to be closer in "In the Flesh", actually just as close as in the Enterprise episodes. It is well possible that this is another part of Starfleet Academy, one that was built on the site of the former Earth Starfleet Command or is located very close to it, presupposing that the historical building in which the Federation was effectively forged would never be knocked down just because it isn't needed any longer.

On a different note, we can notice many highrises in San Francisco on the opposite shore, in an area where they obviously didn't exist in the 22nd century and may have been covered by the building on the left in "The First Duty". Considering that the cityscape of San Francisco varies considerably between the 22nd and the 24th century --let alone "Star Trek (2009)"--, at least this trend is consistent.

The fairly symmetrical Golden Gate Bridge being the only point of reference, we could still claim the actual site is on the opposite side near the Federation Council, only somewhat more to the west. However, this alternative area is nowhere as low and flat in reality as it looks on the image, and it seems very unlikely that Starfleet would level the hills at the entrance to the bay so much to obtain a large building ground there (and additionally an unobstructed panoramic view).

On a side note, the stone garden at Starfleet Headquarters in "Homefront" is exactly the same as the one at Starfleet Academy in "In the Flesh", the obvious reason being that it is the actual surrounding of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant.

In "Paradise Lost", the second part of the double feature, we can see what is supposedly meant to be Starfleet Headquarters at night. But in the night shot the upper stories of the building are missing. What we see is just the Tillman building without additions. In an in-universe explanation we could ignore that the upper stories are missing. Or we could be looking at any other building of Starfleet, perhaps the one of Starfleet Headquarters that would be destroyed in the Breen attack three years later (see below, 2375) and whose architecture is at least similar.

Also in "Paradise Lost", we can see the Golden Gate Bridge from inside Leyton's office, supposedly at Starfleet Headquarters. However, the bridge runs almost parallel to the office wall, which would be possible only from some point in the middle of the bay between Alcatraz and the bridge. Looking more closely, the hill range in the background and the buildings that are visible underneath the bridge insinuate that we are looking at the bridge from outside the bay and that the image has been horizontally flipped.

Starfleet Headquarters building, 2375 In DS9: "The Changing Face of Evil" we can see another shot of a building very similar to Starfleet Academy from nearly the same angle as later in "In the Flesh" and Star Trek Enterprise. While Martok speaks of "Starfleet Headquarters" and Sisko adds that he had a lot of friends in those buildings after looking at the monitor showing the aftermath of the Breen attack, it is well possible that the news footage actually shows Starfleet Academy. Considering that it was a large-scale attack on more than just one building (considering the damage on the bridge and the smoke in the city), it is only plausible that Starfleet Academy was hit just as well. On the other hand, the emblem that is visible on the ground is the one of Starfleet Command, not of Starfleet Academy. 

The destroyed building in the foreground looks like it is yet another one on or near the Starfleet Academy campus. Most obviously it is much closer to the shore than any of the other ones, including those of 22nd century Starfleet Command. On the other hand, the later produced shot of the Academy for "In the Flesh" (2377, data from 2371) rather follows the lines of the building and its surroundings in "The Changing Face of Evil" (2375) than those of "The First Duty" (2368). Perhaps it was transferred from the Academy to Starfleet Command prior to its destruction?

"The Changing Face of Evil" too shows us shiny new tall buildings on the hill tops of San Francisco, albeit different ones than later in "In the Flesh".

Starfleet Academy (alt.), 2258 We can see Starfleet Academy on two occasions in "Star Trek (2009)", before Kirk's Kobayashi Maru test and once again when Nero's drilling begins in San Francisco Bay. The particular building or the complete campus of this timeline is located on the shore of the Presidio, not far away from the southern end of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The first shot of the bridge (Kirk meets McCoy prior to the Kobayashi Maru test) is taken from a point just west of the former air field. On the other hand, we also see a pan in the opposite direction, where we can spot the present-day Transamerica Pyramid, perhaps 1 or 2 kilometers away, amidst many much taller buildings some of which must be more than 2 kilometers high. The direction of the building is roughly correct, but the real Transamerica Pyramid is located some 4km from the airfield. Moreover, in order to be able to see the building from there the way it is possible in the movie, it would require to lower Russian Hill, one of the most prominent parts of San Francisco, almost to sea level! Since the movie doesn't get the topology of the city right, perhaps we should assume that the location on the airfield is right, rather than the sight of the Transamerica Building. Perhaps it is a replica of the original building that was erected on the other side of Russian Hill?

The second scene (drill scene) is meant to show the same building, as the staircase and the railing is identical. Yet, it must be from a location a few hundred meters to the east, as indicated by the distance and the viewing angle of the bridge. Well, perhaps there is another building with similar stairs in this place. It also looks like the shoreline in the second shot is not the real one as of 2008. It is as if the former air field was carved out to a bay.