Project Details
- Project Name
- Dandelion Chocolate Factory
- Location
- CA
- Architect
- Gensler
- Client/Owner
- Dandelion Chocolate Factory
- Project Types
- Retail
- Project Scope
- Adaptive Reuse
- Shared by
- Madeleine D'Angelo
- Project Status
- Built
This article appeared in the June 2020 issue of ARCHITECT.
One of two wins for Gensler in this year’s Interior Architecture Awards, the firm’s design for the Dandelion Chocolate Factory combines atmospheric nostalgia with state-of-the-art functionality, all in pursuit of the perfect chocolate bar. Located on the northern perimeter of San Francisco’s Mission District, this carbon-sensitive adaptive reuse project transformed a century-old vacant warehouse into both a tourist-friendly boutique—complete with a café, a shop, and a tasting station where visitors can sample the wares—as well as a fully operational factory, equipped with all the complex mechanisms necessary to sustain commercial-grade artisanal production.
The café has been closed for all but limited pickup orders since San Francisco’s shelter-in-place restrictions went into effect in early March, and remains so at press time. But when it reopens, chocolate lovers will once again be confronted with a fresh interior in a palette of white, brown, and black, with carefully detailed metal fixtures and wooden displays for the chocolate on offer. Glazed partitions allow unimpeded sightlines all the way back to the work floor, where staff busily tend to a variety of boilers, sifters, and refrigerators. A redwood-lined corridor that passes above the machinery affords a bird’s-eye view of the Wonka-esque goings on; for those interested in a more hands-on understanding of the cocoa biz, the chocolatier offers classes in adjacent brick-walled learning spaces, where company professionals share the secrets of their trade (literally spilling the beans).
In a densely populated city where real factories have become scarce in recent decades, Gensler’s project is a model of neighborhood-friendly manufacturing, with an interior as sweet and mellow as their client’s signature product.
Project Description
This project won a 2020 AIA Interior Architecture Award.
FROM THE AIA:
This new home for Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco embodies the company’s core mission and brand. In a previously vacant century-old industrial warehouse, the growing Dandelion Chocolate has the space it needs to both engage the community and showcase the skill of small-batch artisan chocolate.
Founded in the Bay Area in 2010, Dandelion Chocolate has emerged as a leader in America’s craft chocolate movement. Its new home required a wide array of uses, including production space, a cafe, an elegant tasting station, and a retail area. Throughout the redesigned and retrofitted space, every detail engages the senses. To reinforce the idea of craft and tradition, the team opted for finishes and details that echo the spirit of manufacturing. The brush-painted wood siding, handmade tile, and redwood millwork found throughout help enunciate the design intent.
Guests are greeted by a marble entry stone with an inlaid cocoa pod, then led to a chocolate and espresso bar boasting a custom redwood counter and windows that reference the building’s previous use and draw in natural light. Centering the space is the jewel-box chocolate salon, where the tasting experience is enhanced by beveled glass walls, polished brass surfaces, and slabs of redwood. Beyond the salon, guests can see the production area, where the process of crafting chocolate is seemingly ceaseless. An elevated catwalk evolves into stepped seating, prompting a close look at the production process. In a nearby classroom space, the company’s chocolate connoisseurs provide information on sourcing and production.
To support the design of the production and business operations sections of the new space, the design team became intimately involved with the cocoa production process. Executed with extreme attention to detail, the design supports all facets of the production of artisanal chocolate. The required MEP systems are concealed where possible in an effort to reduce visual clutter and boost the simple industrial character of the space. Work spaces can be flexed into gathering spaces and are fitted with custom-made desks from a local woodworker.
Project Credits:
Project: Dandelion Chocolate Factory
Interior Design/ Architecture: Gensler
Base-Building Renovation Architect: Gensler
Contractor: Terra Nova Industries
Structural Engineer: Murphy Burr Curry, Inc.
M/E/P Engineer: Henderson Engineers Inc
Lighting Consultant: Gensler
