Sand Studios and Residence

Larissa Sand transforms a nondescript 1940s warehouse slated for the wrecking ball into a vibrant dwelling, design studio, and gallery

By Linda C. Lentz

When a fire in 2003 forced Larissa Sand, a designer who studied architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, and her husband, Jeff, an industrial designer, to find new quarters for their growing family and business, Sand Studios — a multidisciplinary studio and custom fabrication shop — there was little time to be selective about real estate. But misfortune morphed into opportunity when Sand got wind that a nearby circa 1943 warehouse slated for demolition had become available for sale. The development company planning to replace the building with new condominiums had lost its financing due to a series of events that began with local opposition and construction delays and ended with the economic downturn. Planning to rehabilitate, rather than destroy, the dilapidated building, Sand purchased it directly from the bank for a bit less than the going market rate. 

Program

Located on a 3,730-square-foot corner lot in San Francisco’s rapidly gentrifying South Park — a once exclusive area that fell into decline after the 1906 earthquake — the aging three-story structure is just two blocks from the couple’s former workplace-cum-residence and only one from the neighborhood’s eponymous oval park. Over the years, owners had sectioned it into a warren of small, dark photography and art studios and retrofitted a second-floor storage space with an odd array of floor-to-mid-wall replacement windows. The electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems also required an overhaul.

Still, the 8,500-square-foot masonry-and-timber post-and-beam construction was basically sound and had a solid industrial aesthetic that appealed to both Sands. An existing loftlike residence on the top floor would not be difficult to upgrade, and the lower floors were large enough to accommodate a spacious office on the second level, as well as the safety and logistical requirements of an active machine shop specializing in metalwork on the ground level. Ample skylights and windows provide plenty of daylight and natural ventilation. And since the building had two individual addresses with separate entrances, it presented the lucrative possibility to rent 2,500-square-feet as street-level gallery or retail space.

Solution

To retain the integrity of the original structure — and send as little to the landfill as possible — Sand salvaged what building materials she could and did her best to replace what she couldn’t with natural and/or recycled materials. At the same time, she introduced new elements that complement the building’s humble character. While she removed interior partitions and scraped, sandblasted, and sealed the structural concrete walls and timber beams and rafters, she inserted floating ceiling planes to house or conceal new lighting, electrical, and mechanical equipment. She also repaired or faithfully reproduced skylights, installed old gymnasium flooring to replace irreparable plank floors, and preserved steel windows.

Referencing the sturdy geometry and operable center panes of the existing fenestration, Jeff Sand devised a pair of tall windows, roughly twice their height. Each has a trio of panels that operate manually via industrial chain pulleys regulated by custom-machined gear boxes. These not only replace the slipshod windows on the second floor but serve as a visual break in the longitudinal elevation’s expanse of masonry and vertically align the first two stories.

Sand made her most acute intervention when she sliced through the two lower levels and added steel seismic reinforcements to create a central two-story atrium that brings light into the 7-foot-10-inch-high office and allows workers to observe the shop. The double-height space also allows for the fabrication of the extra-large mock-ups required for many of the studio’s custom installations. To provide street access, Sand cut a 12-foot-high opening through the exterior wall adjacent to this area, covering it with massive barnlike doors that she designed out of ipé wood, glass, and steel — a device she repeats in front of the freight elevator at the rear of the building.

Sand, who specializes in such architectural products as doors, hardware, and light fixtures, employed many of her own designs — all fabricated by her company — throughout her new workplace and home. For instance, she designed the smoky steel doors and glass storefronts, fitted with clever pivot hinges to facilitate performance, as well as a chandelier made of etched-glass tubes over the dining table. She also created a rolling ceramic-coated-steel chalkboard that doubles as a window covering, and an ingenious pivoting wall for flexibility with art installations in the gallery. In each case, her design stays true to the restored building.

Commentary

Painted an amphibian green, the Sand Studios restoration project is a welcome addition to a neighborhood that has survived natural and economic catastrophes and struggles to overcome myriad new real estate developments. With its side doors rolled open, the building emits the lively sounds of buzzing machines and friendly banter. Activity animates the place day and night.

The Sands have not only revived a spot that might have become another generic condo, they’ve infused it with a spirit of innovation, rehabilitation, and reuse that embodies San Francisco’s history of enterprise and recovery.

Total construction cost:
Approximately $900,000

Client:
Larissa and Jeff Sand/Sand Studios

Completion date: May 2009

Gross square footage:
8,500 sq. Ft.

Architect:
Sand Studios

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