350 Rhode Island
San Francisco
Pfau Architecture

A refurbished recycling factory brightens prospects for business

© Tim Griffith

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

Located at the crossroads between the South of Market business district and the largely residential neighborhood of Potrero Hill, this project is a ground-up, speculative office building. Red brick warehouses and light industrial sheds with clerestories and corrugated siding characterize the area. The building replaces a recycling facility that stood for almost 80 years.

The architect sought to find a solution that would maximize leasing potential and also create a space accessible to the general public. By placing a void at the heart of the block, the massing is broken into two distinct buildings that scale down the project’s volume. A landscaped, multileveled courtyard dotted with densely planted birch trees forms the center of the new block, creating through-block public access and serving as the entry to the two buildings. The birch grove gives the upper and lower level courtyards a quiet place of refuge to have lunch or sit for a moment. The two buildings are mirror images of each other. Facades share similar elements but vary in color, giving the building a different expression from north to south. Moving from the street to the inner lobbies, the surface materials become smoother, culminating in a perforated aluminum and mill-finish stainless steel curved ceiling that frames the tenant directory.

Above the courtyard, an open-air bridge connects floors between the two buildings. Other features include a recycled glass nugget gabion wall, louvered exterior sunshades, woven stainless steel elevator panels, and green fiberglass panels glazed into the window wall system.

Formal name of Project:
350 Rhode Island

Location:
San Francisco

Gross square footage:
280,000 sq. ft. leasable office, 120,000 sq. ft. sub grade parking

Total construction cost:
$35 million

Owner:
SKS Developers

Design Architect:
Pfau Architecture LTD

Executive Architect:
Gordon H Chong & Partners