E*Trade 123
San Francisco
STUDIOS Architecture

South of Market warehouse hosts funky e-commerce business 

© Michael O'Callahan

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Conversion of an aging coffee warehouse into facilities for an Internet-based banking and stock trading company reassesses common assumptions about what financial services offices should look like. This project, located in San Francisco’s South of Market District, across from the new San Francisco Giants baseball stadium, consists of eight levels, six above grade, with variable floor heights and columns. A railroad spur runs through its ground level, containing an integral ramp in its sloping concrete floor.

Several interventions dramatically changed the atmosphere of this brick building. To the side of the main lobby, a large light well rises from sub-basement to the mezzanine, making the two below-grade levels surprisingly bright. A large wood and metal staircase with a curved bridge runs over much of the lobby. At its back stands a glass and metal enclosed ramped corridor to office and conference areas that spans the length of the floor, creating a strong axis. Some parts of the corridor are cut back to reveal pebble-filled basins. Two conference rooms, one open, the other enclosed, float over the former railroad spur, perpendicular to the main corridor. Large window walls sit behind the conference rooms and enclose the former railroad entrances; they lend an urban atmosphere to the interiors. 

Three different office furniture systems accommodate varying needs and provide flexibility. Touch down spaces and small private offices that can be used by management for extended stays provide balance in this extroverted, open work environment. Carefully considered design details, along with an imaginative use of the three-dimensionality of the building’s spaces and the incorporation of the structure’s historical heritage, make the E*Trade offices an outstanding modern office design.

Formal name of building:
E*Trade Offices

Location:
King Street, San Francisco 

Gross square footage: 
148,000 sf on eight stories

Owner:
E*Trade Securities Inc.

Architect's firm: 
STUDIOS Architecture
99 Green Street
San Francisco, CA 94111 
Tel: (415) 398-7575 
Fax: (415) 398-3829