The A’s made a significant move in their effort to build a new ballpark Wednesday, officially hiring Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to lead the design process. The A’s also signed Gensler, a global architectural firm that is also working on the Warriors’ new Chase Center in San Francisco, to assist in the process.



The A’s are deciding between two sites for their new ballpark: One is along the waterfront at Howard Terminal near Oakland’s Jack London Square, while the other is at location of the current Coliseum. BIG and Gensler will work on separate plans for both spots.



A third possibility, near Laney College and Lake Merritt, fell through this past fall. With the addition of BIG and Gensler, the architect for that previous site, HOK, is no longer involved in this ballpark project.



“We wanted someone who could really blow the doors off conventional thinking when it comes to design,” A’s...