VIEW Q3 2015 Life Above 30 by Donna Schumacher

3rd Quarter 2015

Life ABOVE

inside

O N E RI NCON • NE T Z E R O • TAYLO R ST

A NGE L P R O FI L E

I N SIDE THIS IS S U E

HELEN DUONG

Room with a View?

Breaking the Barrier

Net-Zero Water Use in Hise-Rise Buildings

Little Firm, Big World

InterVIEW: Anne Fourgeron

Restaurant Report: The View Lounge

Design-Build Rising

Playing Pick Up with the View of the Bay

A Word from Our Sponsors

Real Estate Consultor | Ronin Commercial Real Estate, Inc. Birthplace: Hanoi, Vietnam

Company: I worked at Embarcadero Center for over 35 years and retired from Boston Properties LP in February 2015. Now I enjoy real estate consulting with Ronin Commercial Real Estate, Inc. Background: University of San Francisco with a major in biology (sciences taught me the importance of being detail oriented). I started at Wells Fargo in the real estate owned (REO) department, then moved to Embarcadero Center, which is owned and managed by Boston Properties, as Manager of Lease Administration. CREW history: Joined in 2005. 2009: California Conference Leisure Activity Chair; 2010: CREW Network Convention Co-Chair; 2011: CREW Network Delegate; 2012: President-Elect; 2013: President; 2014: Past President/ Governance Committee Charities: Viet Heritage Society, San Jose; Silicon Valley Red Cross; Wheelchair Foundation; VNHELP; National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP); Urban Solutions, Advisory Committee First job: Candy striper

INSPIRED BY A TOPIC FOR A FUTURE ISSUE OF THE VIEW? If you have an idea—even a tiny gem of one—please contact us to get the conversation started. We at the VIEW are here to help you project your voice into the San Francisco real estate community. Or better yet, become a member of the VIEW’s team! Interested in a doorway to meet new people, forge new connections, and generally learn about all that is happening with Bay Area commercial real estate? Of course you are. Contact us today—we are just an email away.

CREW SF COMMUNICATIONS TEAM CALL FOR ARTICLES FOR THE VIEW UPCOMING ISSUES 2015: Quarter 4: Adaptive Reuse Deadline for articles: October 15 Angel: Debbie Leifer and Lada Kocherovsky

2016: Quarter 1: Women in Real Estate Deadline for articles: January 15; Angel: Valerie Concello 2016: Quarter 2: Role of Culture in the Making of a Global City Deadline for articles: April 15; Angel: Laurie Gustafson 2016 Quarter 3: Small Spaces: Big City Deadline for articles: July 15; Angel: TBD

Travel tip: Take one tab of Pepto-Bismol every day to prevent stomach problems during your trip. Recent travel highlight: Attended Fashion Week in New York to see my nephew debut his collection; he received reviews in Women’s Wear Daily and the Los Angeles Times. Ooh la la! Top Bay Area restaurant picks: Turtle Tower for Vietnamesestyle pho; Big T’s Seafood Market Bar in San Jose 15 minutes of fame: When I was 16, I was on television to promote my fundraiser, Walk-a-thon for the Committee of Responsibility, an appeal for children from Vietnam in need of medical care. 15 minutes of fame: International Underwater Spearfishing Association, women’s lingcod world record.

THE VIEW EDITORIAL STAFF Managing Editor Associate Editor Angel

Helen Duong

Editorial Review

Richard Isaac

Contributors

Graphic Designer Cover: One Rincon Hill, Photo by Bruce Damonte.

Donna Schumacher Angie Sommer

Jacob Arlein Andrea Beard Anne Fougeron Mark Horton Inga M. Miller Brook Rosini Donna Schumacher Angie Sommer Dave Williams Lori Seaberg Mingus

One of the most alluring parts about life above 30 stories is the view. And yet, protecting it—or even predicting it—is a perilous affair. The law provides no generalized right to retain the view as it exists upon purchase. A view of the bay may become a view of your neighbor. And when it does, it can take the mesmerized owner or tenant by surprise. With a whopping 26 skyscrapers between AT&T Park and City Hall recently completed, under construction, or approved, many of them will ultimately have views of one another. That risk is generally one tenants, owners, and residents take, knowing that someday something may be built in front of them. With so many skyscrapers in the mix simultaneously, that day is coming sooner rather than later, and in some cases, the view may change even before the new occupant moves in. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the 58-story Millennium Tower’s southwest-facing Grand Residences now look out upon the spire atop the 27-story 100 First Plaza and the green roof-deck garden below, but those vistas will be blocked by the Salesforce Tower when its 61 stories climb between them. Whether that is a bad thing or a good thing is largely a factor of personal taste. Those whose former views were supplanted by that of Millennium Tower itself were on notice since 1985 that the lot was zoned for a skyscraper, although no one knew then what it would look like—or that it would be one of the city’s tall-

est. Perhaps a few people even selected offices with the idea that they would one day look out on a landmark building. A future tenant or owner can gain a sense of how a high-rise view may change over time by reviewing the dizzying set of city design guidelines for the neighborhood. Local governments, under their police power, can enact generally applicable ordinances meant to regulate light, air, and views. For example, San Francisco’s “Tree Dispute Resolution” ordinance stops short of promising a view, but it provides rights to private property owners related to restoring sunlight or views lost as a result of growing vegetation, as well as a dispute resolution process for neighbors. It does little, however, for things that tower over the tree line. Private owners hypothetically can contract for easements with neighbors, including for sunlight, but this is impracticable at best for the high-rise occupant except on a building-wide basis, in which case such easements are likely to be worked out in advance of construction. This means that at the point at which most owners and tenants enter the process, it’s too late to control the view by entering into any agreement with neighbors, but they still can find out what that view will look like if they look hard enough. City planning files and recorded documents paint a partial picture. Since the planning process is lengthy, tenants and owners will also want to keep close tabs on public meeting agendas for boards like the Planning Commission, where officials approve new construction. Promoting an architecturally interesting skyline is a priority among City officials. To that end, the City—not the develop(continues on page 8)

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR A visit to the Transbay Redevelopment Project Area today can seem a forbidding proposition. Late for my meeting and trundling past long stretches of construction fence, I can barely find a street number to orient myself. Wind knocks dirt into my eyes. Cars zoom past in my otherwise pedestrian-friendly city. But as I navigate my way I think to myself, “ Cranes today promise high rises tomorrow!” And as real estate professionals, we understand that these streets will be lined with cafes, retail stores, and entries to the residential towers that will soon loom above. Towers designed by internationally renowned architects (Gang Architects, the Office of Metropolitan Architecture, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Skidmore Owings & Merrill) will be scattered amid the San Francisco skyline with a density heretofore unknown. Commuters will rush to the Transbay Terminal to meet buses, subways, and high-speed trains. Residents will make their way home after a long day. Our Life Above 30: High Rise Construction issue of the VIEW explores the opportunities and challenges unique to this

building type, which will soon populate more and more of San Francisco: the views, the construction, the design opportunities. By contrast, our next issue will address “adaptive reuse,” and Team Angels Lada Kocherovsky and Debbie Leifer will steer us toward the many experts in the CREW community that have helped to shape the future re-life of our historic buildings. I wanted to take a moment to thank each of you for reading, sharing and participating in the conversation known as the VIEW. We are proud to share the ideas and contributions CREW members are making to our beautiful city, San Francisco. If friends and colleagues want to stay up to date on current trends in Bay Area real estate, please forward the link or share a comment on our group page of LinkedIn. We look forward to hearing from you! Best, Donna Schumacher Managing Editor, the VIEW

BREAKING the Barrier

Photos by Bruce Damonte.

Designed as a catalyst for urban renewal, One Rincon Hill has established a new benchmark for urban, architectural, and structural design of tall buildings. Rising amid the shadows of San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, the 1.25-million-square-foot development—the first significant addition to San Francisco’s skyline in over 30 years—includes two structurally unique towers with 695 condominiums and 14 townhouses, one of them among the tallest all-residential towers west of the Mississippi River. The buildings’ soaring height was made possible by pioneering structural solutions for building in areas of high seismic activity. Though twin 35-story buildings were originally proposed, City planners desired a taller solution for the underutilized, 1.3-acre, L-shaped site. To mark the last undeveloped hill in the city, and to clearly punctuate San Francisco’s skyline, the City’s urban planning department increased the towers’ heights during entitlements to 55 stories (390 units) for the South Tower (Phase I) and 45 stories (319 units) for the North Tower (Phase II). The varying tower heights, positioned in diagonally opposite quadrants, preserve views and create compositional interest, with the South Tower emphasizing the crest of the 100-foot hill. Height, slenderness, the desire for floor-to-ceiling glass to maximize views, and technology designed to respond to the Bay Area’s seismic activity all inspired structural innovations. These include eliminating perimeter beams with a shear core and outrigger columns, a liquid-tuned mass damper with flow control weirs to control building acceleration, and operable

sashes located at the inboard surface of the curtain wall— achieving openable windows that allow natural ventilation while maintaining expansive views.

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About the Author Brook Rosini brings a wealth of experience in arts, culture, and design discourses to her role at the architecture, interiors, and planning firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB), where she oversees and carries out branding, communications, and PR strategy for the firm. Focusing on developing compelling content and fostering authentic relationships, her work at SCB emphasizes the firm’s commitment to design excellence, activity in a variety of markets and sectors, and leadership in sustainable practices. Rosini holds a BA in philosophy from Hofstra University, an MA in interdisciplinary humanities from the University of Chicago, and a Certificate in Marketing and Fundraising from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She contributes to the design section of Newcity magazine and volunteers her copywriting and editing expertise as a pro bono consultant with the Taproot Foundation. She is an active member of the American Marketing Association, the Public Relations Society of America, and Americans for the Arts.

With California facing one of the most severe droughts on record, immediate action is needed to drastically reduce water consumption. Buildings in the United States account for approximately 47 billion gallons of water use per day, which is 12% of total water use. Though this is only a portion of the water used in our society, buildings present significant opportunities to make a substantial difference, especially in showing the financial value of water conservation. Nothing is more striking and powerful than a building that recycles and reuses its own wastewater. WATER USE Water use in office buildings can be broken down into three end-use categories: restrooms (43%), heating and cooling systems (32%), and landscaping (25%). REDUCTION The first step in getting to net-zero water use is reduction. To understand how high-rise buildings can drive down water use to a level at which on-site reuse systems can offset all use, let’s walk through an example building. An average office building uses 12 gallons/square foot/year; when applied to a building of one million square feet, that is a total of 12 million gallons/year. Following the typical enduse breakdown above, that leaves us with the following total annual uses: • Restrooms: 5,160,000 gallons • Heating and cooling: 3,840,000 gallons • Irrigation: 3,000,000 gallons RESTROOMS With off-the-shelf plumbing fixture technology, tremendous water savings is possible in restrooms. The following plumbing fixture flow rates will deliver at least 40% water savings beyond the minimum stipulated in the plumbing code: • Toilets: 1.1/1.28 gallons per flush (gpf) dual flush • Urinals: 1 pint per flush • Lavatory faucets: reduction of 0.35 gallons per minute (gpm) (via a water-restricting aerator) • Kitchen sinks: reduction of 1.5 gpm (via a water-restricting aerator) That leaves total annual water use by plumbing fixtures at 3,096,000 gallons. HEATING AND COOLING In most high-rise office buildings, the vast majority of water demand comes from cooling tower water loss. For our example case, we will assume all heating and cooling water use comes

from such cooling tower loss. To reduce this water use, there are several things one can do: • Reduce the need for cooling. This will decrease the need for cooling towers to run, thus decreasing evaporation loss in cooling towers. By utilizing air-side economizers and efficient cooling equipment, a building can conservatively reduce cooling tower water use by 20%. • Increasing the number of times water cycles through cooling towers. Without going into too much depth on cooling tower function, this can decrease water use by an estimated 20%. This leads to a total reduction of cooling tower water use of 40%, resulting in a revised total estimated annual use of 2,304,000 gallons. IRRIGATION A good estimate of irrigation water savings that is possible without adding significant costs is 80%. This can be achieved with the following strategies: • Low-water-use plants. By using native or drought-tolerant plants, one can save 60% over the baseline. • Drip irrigation. This saves an additional 12%. • Moisture-sensing irrigation controllers. These can save an additional 8% by controlling the irrigation supply based on the moisture of the soil and only applying irrigation when needed. That brings total water use for landscaping down to 600,000 gallons annually. All of these strategies will result in a building that uses 50% less water than a conventional building; for our example case, the building will now use 6 million gallons a year instead of 12 million. GENERATION STRATEGIES Moving on to the other side of the equation, one must discuss (continues on page 6)

(continued from page 5) water reuse systems. For a building to achieve net-zero water use, the best generation strategy is a combined rainwater collection and reuse system and blackwater reuse system. RAINWATER COLLECTION • Rainwater collection and reuse system: This captures, stores, treats (as necessary), and reuses all rainwater that falls on the building and surrounding grounds. These systems can be standalone or connected to other reuse systems, like a blackwater system. Assuming that the one million squarefoot example building discussed above is located on a 100,000 square foot site located in Washington, DC, the site would have a total yearly rainfall collection potential of two million gallons. That means that the rainwater reuse system could supply both 100% of the irrigation demands of the building and 100% of the lavatory faucet and kitchen faucet needs (which is a percentage of the full restroom needs listed above), with about 800,000 gallons extra that would feed the cooling towers. BLACKWATER SYSTEM • Blackwater reuse system: A blackwater reuse system would collect all wastewater from a building, including both blackwater (all wastewater from toilets and urinals) and greywater (all other wastewater generated by the use of domestic equipment), treat it, and then use it to flush toilets and urinals and as cooling tower makeup water. The final piece of the generation and netzero water use puzzle is the most important. A blackwater reuse system can bridge the gap to net-zero water use. It would deal specifically with the largest end-uses in the building: toilet and urinal flushing (the remaining restroom use) and the remaining cooling tower makeup water. A blackwater system for the example building could capture and reuse 3,096,000 gallons a year from the building’s restroom use. An additional 900,000 gallons per year would be needed to achieve net-zero water use, so sewer mining would be necessary. This is the process of collecting municipal sewer water from the sewer mains, treating it in the

on-site blackwater system, and supplying it to the building. (This strategy was employed in 1 Bligh Street in Sydney, Australia, as described below.) FINANCE Net-zero water use is not only possible but also better for the bottom line. Based on several similar projects that have been evaluated, these are the rough cost estimates for the example building: • Rainwater reuse system: $1 million • Blackwater system: $1.2 million • Water use reduction strategies: $200,000 o Many of the reduction strategies do not add any first cost. The cooling tower chemical management system will likely add costs, as will a drip irrigation system. • Total price: $2.4 million The savings side of the financial equation is quite impressive. The example building will save 12 million gallons annually. Using national average water costs, that equates to an annual savings of $140,000. Using an annual water cost increase of 9%, the project would be cash flow positive in around 11 years and have a 25-year net present value (NPV) of $2.3 million. EXAMPLES Though the strategies recommended in this article are not common, the following highrise building projects have successfully used them to target significant water savings: • Office tower, San Francisco: A large office tower in San Francisco (which cannot be named as it is still in the midst of construction) is setting high sustainability goals. One of the major strategies is a comprehensive focus on reducing water use, including: o 40%+ savings from plumbing fixtures o a low–water use landscaping scheme o a rainwater collection system that provides 100% of the irrigation water needs o a blackwater system that will capture and reuse about 40,000 gallons a day This project is attempting to achieve nearly 80% total water savings, and its blackwater system alone is projected to (continues on page 8)

Little Firm, ,,,,,,,

If you didn’t already know, San Francisco’s downtown and Embarcadero districts have been going through some major changes—and they will continue to do so. Namely, the transformative Transbay Transit Center will improve infrastructure, provide transportation, and create housing. It will include 10 new buildings, the blocks for which are owned by the City’s Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure (OCII). OCII held competitions for the projects, featuring teams of developers and architects, and it was announced that Fougeron Architecture, along with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), will be designing Transbay 9. After the announcement, I got a lot of questions about working with such a powerhouse in architecture. THE HISTORY First, it’s imperative to understand the landscape of the world of architecture (pun intended), where women and minorities are severely underrepresented, even in 2015. White male privilege reigns supreme, and when you look at major firms or architectural organizations, their boards often comprise one very overrepresented demographic. (Organizations like the Women’s Initiative have made moves toward leveling out such skews in the workplace and correcting societal biases.)

Photos by x.

Having worked in architecture since 1980, owned my own firm since 1987, and served on multiple boards, I have learned that—despite the efforts I make in my own business as well as my many personal victories—change must also be an institutionalized decision. In 1998, in an effort not only to encourage city growth but also to help prevent discrimination, San Francisco created a series of charters aimed to overcome societal biases for minorities, women, and small business owners: the Minority Business Enterprise, Women Business Enterprise, and Local Business Enterprise (MBE/WBE/LBE) programs.1 (continues on page 14)

(continued from page 3) er—suggested that One Rincon Hill’s two towers climb 45 and 55 stories. The design submitted by Urban West Associates proposed heights of just about half that size—280 feet and 330 feet—but city officials lobbied for the taller buildings in order to pursue a goal of highlighting the topography of San Francisco’s hills through architecture and making a more interesting view from afar, as well as from other buildings. The city of Vancouver, Canada, receives accolades for using its regulatory power to improve views for residents in its financial district by setting back each tower 12 feet from the street, half of which is utilized as a sidewalk and the other half for shade trees and seating. The tops of the towers are just slightly more than half the square footage of those in San Francisco, at merely 6,000 square feet, allowing for more light to pass between towers. A height limit tops the buildings at 300 feet (about a third of that of the Salesforce Tower). While San Francisco’s ordinances have not won the acclaim of Vancouver’s or shown the consistency of what has become known as “Vancouverism,” the City takes into account shadows that will be cast by buildings on public plazas, parks, and publicly accessible or financed private open spaces and requires buildings be shaped so as to reduce wind tunnels. For example, all buildings on Rincon Hill taller than 110 feet have to be spaced at least 115 feet apart so as to provide adequate sunlight and air to streets and open spaces. And when city voters passed Proposition B last year, they guaranteed a citywide vote on approvals for buildings exceeding the height limit along the waterfront. Therefore a future occupant might use those guidelines to guesstimate that if a park is planned next door, the chance of retaining more sunlight might be greater. Occupants might also assume that a view of the bay will not be obstructed, barring a city vote, since the future occupant’s prospective building abuts the waterfront district and the particular unit is above the waterfront’s height limit.

(continued from page 6) produce $157,000 in net savings in year 1 and a cumulative 20-year savings of $8.85 million. • 1 Bligh Street, Sydney, Australia: 1 Bligh Street sets the benchmark in innovation and environmental design for highrise buildings in Australia. Utilizing water recycling systems (blackwater and rainwater), it is estimated that 90% of water demand at 1 Bligh Street will be met by using recycled water. The high-rise is fitted with a 35,000 gallon per day blackwater recycling system that draws raw sewage from the building, as well as city sewers (sewer mining), contributing to an estimated savings of approximately 26,417 gallons of drinking water per day. 1 Bligh Street captures nearly 100% of its wastewater and reuses it in the building. • The Tower at PNC Plaza, Pittsburgh, PA: Claiming to be “one of the greenest skyscrapers in the world,” the Tower at PNC Plaza is using low-flow fixtures, rainwater harvesting, and grey- and blackwater systems to reduce its water demand. Recycled blackwater will meet 80% of the building’s restroom water demand by recycling 15,000 gallons per day and supplementing that with 10,000 gallons of storm water daily. Recycled blackwater allows the tower to save an estimated 3.6 million gallons per year and reduce water consumption by 77% compared to a traditional commercial building. With one of the biggest droughts in the state’s history ravaging California and global water scarcity reaching unprecedented levels, innovative projects need to pave the way for significant water savings. High-rise buildings—one of the more difficult building types for water use reduction— will be leaders in the effort toward broader market adoption if they show that net-zero water use is not only a possibility but also financially beneficial.

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About the Author Jacob Arlein is a partner and the Director of Certification Services at Environmental Building Strategies (EBS), which aims to optimize the value of making intelligent and sustainable building and operation decisions by combining comprehensive financial analyses with building science techniques. He leads all LEED consulting projects and has managed a total of 70 LEED certification projects. At EBS he has led over 20 buildings and seven million square feet through the LEED-EBOM certification process nationally and internationally. Arlein is currently working on the Salesforce Tower, Park Tower, and the four Embarcadero Centers.

The results of such investigation are best digested with a grain of salt, since the City can generally change design criteria (other than those regulated by Proposition B) and allow exceptions memorialized in the eventual development agreement. In mixed-use districts, the tenor of a view may also change with use. Views of residential curtains, for instance, might lend a different feel to those sitting around a conference room table than views of another office.

The takeaway may simply be that when contemplating life above 30 stories, the safest assumption is that the view is up in the air.

There are no guarantees until a development agreement is inked, and even then, it should be viewed as simply a better guess of what will be built, since they may be revised up to— and even during—construction.

About the Author Inga M. Miller, principal of Miller Property Law, assists individuals and businesses in navigating the public process, resolving disputes, and negotiating and documenting real estate deals.

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InterVIEW: Anne Fougeron

Managing editor Donna Schumacher sat down with architect Anne Fougeron, owner and founder of Fougeron Architecture. Fougeron Architecture is working on the design of two of the major high-rise projects in the Transbay Redevelopment Project: Block 9, in collaboration with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) San Francisco; and Block 8, in collaboration with the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) from New York. These projects are being implemented by the Office of Cultural Investment and Infrastructure (OCII), a successor agency to the former Redevelopment Agency, which was disbanded in 2012. These projects are required to fulfill Local Business Enterprise (LBE) percentage quotas, which promote the inclusion of businesses based in San Francisco, with a particular emphasis on women- and minority-owned businesses. Anne Fougeron, FAIA, is a principal at Fougeron Architecture in San Francisco. Born of French parents and raised in Paris and New York, she credits her bicultural upbringing as the source of her aesthetic values, which combine a respect for historic precedent with an interest in melding old and new. After earning a BA degree in architectural history at Wellesley College and a master’s in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley, she worked for San Francisco architect and urban designer Daniel Solomon for three years, an experience that informed her awareness of the interplay between buildings and the urban environment. In 1986 she founded Fougeron Architecture and went on to design award-winning private- and public-sector projects in a decidedly modernist vocabulary.

DS:

The statistics are a bit daunting regarding the number of firms solely owned by women architects. What inspired you to take the plunge and go out on your own?

AF: Naïveté, I always say. Truthfully. I had been working for Dan Solomon’s office for a number of years, but there came a time when I was ready to move on. I looked around at the San Francisco architecture scene and didn’t feel particularly compelled to work for someone else. I just did it. My experience as a project manager with Dan’s office which was small at the time, gave me an idea of what it took to run a small office. It seemed the natural and logical next step. Many of my peers were doing it at the same time, both men and women. I assumed that I would start with smaller remodels and then get a slightly bigger job and another, not realizing quite how difficult it could be and how long it might take to get there.

Photos by x.

DS: You weren’t intimidated by the low number of women ar-

chitects in the field at the time? Did you think that you should team up with a man to help break down the barriers?

AF: I had been to an all-women’s college and no, it didn’t concern me. It was a time when feminism was not a bad word, and we just assumed that the boundaries would be broken, as they had been in all sorts of ways. I assumed that if I was capable and confident, the opportunities would be there. (continues on page 10)

Among my colleagues at Berkeley, there were so many of us: Susie Couliver, Laura Hartman, Cathy Simon. I didn’t feel particularly alone or adventurous. As time went on, yes, the numbers dropped off. There was a certain backlash perhaps. As an architect you are working in a world where there are not many women. If you go to a construction site, you might see one woman working on the job. This has an influence on the world’s perception of a woman’s place in construction and architecture.

DS:

Personally, I was raised with the mythology that if you had a family, it would compromise your professional life somehow. One of the most interesting points that I got from reading Lean In was that the most successful women are in fact married, married to men that are supportive of their careers. A relationship and a family does not need to be a conflict. Were you concerned at all concerned about work/life balance? Particularly after your divorce, when you were raising your daughter by yourself?

AF: I am often asked by women starting out, how did I raise my daughter and maintain my practice? How? I got up in the morning, and my daughter went off to school. We got through the day. Day by day, we dealt with the challenges and charms of family life. No, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a happy life. Sometimes, I think that women hold themselves back by these assumptions that it can’t be done. What are these assumptions? Where do they come from? Women have a tendency to be their worst critic. Assuming failure before trying.

DS: How did you eventually break into the larger projects? Did you feel there were barriers because you were a woman? Or opportunities, such as the requirements for the inclusion of local business enterprises (LBEs) on projects that are part of the OCII with the City of San Francisco, projects such as your work on the towers for Transbay 8 and 9 with internationally recognized architects such as OMA and SOM? AF: Sure, when I started, the industry had a hard time getting

accustomed to women being in architecture. My basic strategy was to just keep doing what I was doing, and to do it well. During interviews, I maintained eye contact and kept talking until I felt that I had represented myself in the way that I liked. Contacts, contacts, contacts, publications, and working on those contacts. Over time, I learned the importance of making contacts

and asking for help. It was these contacts that ultimately led to the recent larger work. In hindsight, I realize that I could have asked for more help from the beginning. Initially, it just didn’t quite occur to me. But in time, it has proved invaluable. Our first break into the world of larger housing projects was a collaboration with the architectural firm Kwan Henmi. The developers were AF Evans and the CCDC, working closely with the SF Redevelopment Agency, putting together affordable housing for seniors on Gough in Hayes Valley. For Transbay 9, Craig Hartman of SOM invited us to collaborate. He has been terrifically supportive, and we work well together. We share a value for design excellence at all gradations, creating a single team with similar values. So when the opportunity to work with OMA for the Transbay 8 came up, we already knew how this type of collaboration worked and naturally were excited to be a part of this exciting new development project for San Francisco. One project does lead to another.

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RESTAURANT

REPORT

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With real estate in San Francisco continuing to spread to some of the only space left—the empty expanse between us and the sky above—it’s a bit surprising that the immense selection restaurants and bars in the city remains largely Photos by Ashley of Batz. grounded at street level. Perhaps these high-visibility locations draw customers most easily, but being up in the clouds, so to speak, certainly has its advantages. The aptly named View Lounge (or The View) can be found at the tip-top of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis at 4th and Mission Streets in downtown San Francisco. The space crowns the 39-floor hotel and is famous for its domed floorto-ceiling starburst windows, which showcase an unrivaled panorama of the Bay Area and beyond. And though the space provides an eye-popping delight to locals and visitors alike, its less obvious history makes it even more intriguing. The San Francisco Marriott Marquis—and the View Lounge—opened its doors on October 17, 1989. Only hours after cutting the ribbon, the joyful occasion was overshadowed by an event that would not be soon forgotten: the Loma Prieta earthquake, which rocked the Bay Area at 5:04 p.m. that day. The guests and employees of the View Lounge unexpectedly swayed and shook right along with millions of others in the region. While other structures suffered major damage from the relatively large 6.9 quake, the state-of-the-art design of the hotel provided a safe place for guests and employees alike. Reported damage to the overall structure was limited to a single window pane, while up in the View Lounge, where the 436-foot tall building was

swaying horizontally up to four feet with respect to the ground below, anything not anchored to the building tumbled across the space. After the 15 seconds of chaos, employees reported that all but one martini glass broke. Opening day never goes quite as planned, but management probably didn’t imagine anything quite like this. Since replacing the shattered glassware in the lounge, The View has been serving martinis and other cocktails to guests for over 25 years. In 2014, the lounge was entirely refurbished following upgrades to the hotel’s 1,500 guest rooms, lobby, and other amenities. The updated lounge, which reopened in February 2015, reflects the chic, contemporary style of its prime SoMa location, with modern furniture and finishes, sultry lighting, and a moody color palette throughout. Central to the venue is the grand circular bar, which is graced by a new variegated wood surface and streamlined high-top seating. An eclectic mix of fashion photography, city images, and sculpted metal artwork introduces a modern yet timeless appeal. When the space received a makeover, so did the menus. Executive chef David Holland’s contemporary cuisine captures the vibrant (continues on page 14)

Design-Build RISING

Design-build has long been a standard procurement method in the Bay Area for certain scopes of work in high-rise construction. In most new Bay Area high-rises, you will find high-quality, costeffective mechanical, electrical, plumbing, sprinkler, curtain wall, and window washing systems designed and built by reputable design-build subcontractors. In this very busy market facing everincreasing construction costs, a few new high-rises are being built with another design-build trade: structural concrete. The Indigo, a 750,000-square-foot residential high-rise in Redwood City, is a prime example. After a year of traditional structural design by engineering firms and competitive bidding in the marketplace, the owner accepted an offer from Pacific Structures to take on the concrete structure design-build. Why? The owner was able to achieve 10% savings in the structure cost versus traditional delivery, as well as over a month in construction schedule savings. The Indigo exemplifies the benefits of design-build delivery for a high-rise structure. The most compelling benefit for most developers is cost savings. In a traditional design-bid-build model, a structural engineer is selected based on the fee, backed up by an acceptable résumé. However, the engineer’s fee is typically only 2% of the cost of the structure. A 20% savings on the fee yields less than a 1/2% savings in construction costs. Unfortunately, owners have no guarantee that their engineer will design a cost-effective structure. On the other hand, a design-build structure creates several points of alignment that reliably produce high-value structures. The engineering team is selected based on a firm knowledge of the cost and constructability of prior designs. Within the constraints of the architecture, the design is driven to maximize constructability and cost-efficiency. Site logistics issues and means and methods particular to the site inform the design details. Constant, open communication between design and construction personnel produces details that are both structurally effective and easily constructible—and when they don’t, the lesson is learned by the design team as well as the construction team. For all the reasons above, design-build typically results in a shorter construction schedule as well. Highly constructible details, well known by field crews and responsive to site conditions, mean fewer requests for information (RFIs) and a smoother schedule. Established relationships and well-worn paths of communication between field supervision and structural engineers result in quicker solutions to problems when they do occur. The Indigo topped off in early June of this year, two weeks ahead of the design-build schedule and six weeks ahead of the original schedule. Based on that experience, the owner is engaging Pacific Structures much earlier in the design process for the next high-rise.

Photo Golden State Photographic.

While a design-build structure can create value late in the design process, it can create even more early on, especially in a busy market. Primarily, it relieves the owner of significant risk on the project. With a firm design-build price, the owner has price certainty on the single largest construction cost of the high rise: the structure. Cost escalation, design creep, and other factors normally beyond one’s control are no longer risks to investment. In addition, the likelihood of securing quality tradespeople and timely materials is greatly increased. With ample lead time to levy the resources and a fixed price and schedule as motivation, the design-build contractor is well positioned to field a high-performing construction team. Early design-build structure commitment will typically also result in a lower structure cost than a late switch. When a switch to design-build is made late in the design process, key elements of the design are already fixed by architectural constraints such as unit layouts, skin details, etc. As a result, the greatest savings opportunities are either lost, or are offset by additional design costs by other consultants and delayed permit submittal. Despite its benefits and use in certain high-rise systems, designbuild structures remain the exception for Bay Area high-rises. While Pacific Structures has several design-build projects in its pipeline, including 923 Folsom in San Francisco and Blu Harbor in Redwood City, only 20% of its current volume is designbuild. Williams is hoping for more: “Our clients are happiest, our crews are at their best, and I personally feel the most satisfaction, when we make design-build commitments that save owners money, and we deliver on them.”

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About the Author Dave Williams, president of Pacific Structures, is a veteran structures expert with 20 years in the construction industry, and a passion for quality and design innovation. He optimizes structural designs with an efficient, high-performing system to save clients money, so they can spend it where it generates a return. Pacific Structures is a West Coast concrete contractor headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area. With over 300 employees, the company will have a 2015 volume of $130 million, 25% of which is design-build.

Creating stunning architecture in a high-rise San Francisco apartment with a breathtaking view is not significantly unlike playing a pickup game of basketball with Michael Jordan. No matter how good you are, you can’t compete. So your only hope is to shine a few seconds and let the game take on a brilliance of its own. MH/A’s project on the eighteenth 18th floor of 1750 Taylor Street was just such a task in exactly that. No matter what we did architecturally, we were never going to measure up to the 270 degree ° view that took in the Golden Gate Bridge at one end, the Bay Bridge at the other, and all much of San Francisco in between, splayed out below like a threedimensional Google map, in between. Three objects, among others however, attempted to capture short moments of brilliance in this composition. A bronze tube tensegrity light fixture, a wood-clad amoebic column, and an Eadweard Muybridge art wall were used to provide moments of delight. The 10’ x 3’ x 2.5’ tensegrity custom light fixture consists of four-foot bronzed rods cut with thin slots to reveal the LED light source within. The rods are held together by cables in tension, which act both as the structure and the power source. The entire fixture floats in the air, defying gravity only as a tensegrity structure can. The eucalyptus-clad column disguises a square-base building concrete column within, serving as an ode to California’s interloper tree, which is used throughout the entire project. And Muybridge’s 1878 panoramic photo of San Francisco, enlarged to just over 30 feet in length, expands the view from

Photos by x.

the apartment exactly in the direction in which it is hidden in reality by the base building core and adjacent units. What’s not apparent are the construction details required to bury the top and bottom window mullions, the soffitted mechanical diffusers, and the recessed trim throughout - all details that contribute to the clean minimal finishes which remove the barrier between inside and outside and extend the living space into the environment beyond. The natural beauty of San Francisco remains the main attraction from this high-rise vantage point. The architecture inside adds glimmers of enchantment between the outward glances.

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About the Author Mark Horton, FAIA, is the principal of Mark Horton Architecture in San Francisco. The firm engages in an extremely wide spectrum of work, ranging from sports facilities, to houses of worship, to single family homes. Projects have been published in journals and books around the world and have won awards on local, state, and national levels.

(continued from page 7) These charters allow women and minority-owned businesses (as well as small businesses, or all of the above) to pursue contracts they previously couldn’t, by setting aside microprograms only for small businesses, offering incentives for larger companies to work with smaller companies, or taking advantage of an increased availability of subcontracts. Essentially, the City of San Francisco promotes opportunity where it would not have previously existed.

(continued from page 11)

As OCII owns all the land for the Transbay projects, it therefore follows the City charter regarding LBE/MBE/WBE participation. LITTLE FIRM, MEET BIG FIRM In architecture, you are almost always up against someone else. Your art and your work are contingent on “winning.” My getting a job means someone else did not. This creates a competitive atmosphere that has its pros (always striving to be better, smarter, and cheaper) but also cons (being distrustful and reserved, and infrequent collaborations). But several factors make this project different. The opportunity to collaborate with a large firm like SOM on the Transbay project is thanks in part to the MBE/LBE/WBE charter, and also to the Transbay sites being a large, linked project tackled by multiple firms, rather than simply one firm designing all 10 buildings. This move by the City of San Francisco was imperative for architecture and small businesses to thrive in an all-encompassing way. As Fougeron Architecture works with SOM to build Transbay 9, I am finding that when collaboration is made intrinsic to a project, you can find a true example of the sum of the whole being greater than its parts. The resources of scale that a larger firm can offer (arrays of experiences, materials, and people) is balanced with what makes a smaller firm more desirable (greater attention to detail, personalized client interactions, and more time spent with the principal architect rather than staff). What I have found in the Transbay 9 project is that the dialogue is no longer about competition but rather cooperation. And because all senior architects on the project are equals, you also find a refreshing honesty within the team. Buildings, especially city buildings, can be made better and smarter. And that value is immeasurable.

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Note: 1. https://archive.org/details/disparitystudyci1998huma

About the Author Anne Fougeron, FAIA, is a principal at Fougeron Architecture in San Francisco. She credits her bicultural upbringing as the source of her aesthetic values, which combine a respect for historic precedent with an interest in melding old and new. In 1986 she founded Fougeron Architecture and has since designed award-winning projects in a decidedly modernist vocabulary. Fougeron has taught architectural design at the California College of the Arts in San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley, where she served as the Howard Friedman Visiting Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Architecture.

flavors of San Francisco’s multicultural neighborhoods with a seasonal menu of small plates that includes such delights as Braised Pork Belly with braised daikon and miso glaze, yellowfin tuna Crudo Three Ways, and Baked Laura Chenel Goat Cheese in a spicy tomato fondue. In addition to the delicious bites, the lounge serves a curated collection of regional wines and craft beers, as well as a creative selection of handcrafted specialty cocktails. The vibe of the space now attracts as many locals as it does visitors. “We’ve evolved with the neighborhood and are thrilled to introduce the ‘new’ View—offering 4,500 square feet of luxury high above the San Francisco skyline. From the picture-perfect vistas to the cuisine to the art, guests will experience a delicious taste of San Francisco,” comments general manager Chuck Pacioni. Even though contemporary high-rises in the city now soar over twice the height of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis, the View Lounge still provides one of the most unique— and elevated—places to enjoy great cocktails and gourmet nibbles. And as an added bonus, it’s proven that it can withstand a significant earthquake—a trait that makes it truly a San Francisco landmark.

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About the Author Angie Sommer is a senior engineer at ZFA Structural Engineers, a medium-sized engineering firm with five Bay Area offices and a broad range of experience in the commercial, residential, educational, retrofit, and correctional sectors. In her spare time, she writes restaurant reviews for her blog, Broccoli and Chocolate (broccoliandchocolate.com); helps people write wedding vows and construct ceremonies via her business, Vow Muse (vowmuse.com); and is a cofounder of a small collective of copywriters, Copy Muse (copymuse.com).

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