Project Description
Located at the corner of Howard and Beale streets in the Transbay district of San Francisco, this commercial office tower sits across the street from the new Transbay Transit Center and just three blocks from San Francisco Bay. The 45-story tower is designed with a massing that integrates three different floor plates. Within these distinct floor plates, a series of large outdoor terraces are carved out to provide substantial outdoor tenant amenity spaces—mini “parks in the sky.”
The tower’s façade is composed of floor-to-ceiling glass and is articulated with vertical glass fins that relate to the location of the tower terraces, which occur at a three-story module. The podium façade also utilizes a series of single-floor fins to break down the scale at the pedestrian level. The fritted pattern is repeated through to the base of the building to help continue the tower articulation and materiality throughout the overall massing.
At the base of the tower is a covered 3,600-square-foot outdoor plaza with a 35-foot-high ceiling. The area is designated as privately owned public outdoor space (POPOS) that abuts both the tower’s main lobby and adjoining retail space. Along with a series of outdoor seating areas, a major focal point of this outdoor space is a large, site-specific art installation, entitled “Night Writing” by Teresita Fernandez, which is integrated into the main wall of the tower’s core.
With design features such as raised floors, natural ventilation and high-efficiency building systems, the project addresses several sustainable initiatives and is certified LEED Gold.