Project Details
- Project Name
- Pinterest Headquarters
- Location
-
CA ,United States
- Architect
- Brereton Architects
- Client/Owner
- Project Types
- Office
- Project Scope
- New Construction
- Size
- 100,000 sq. feet
- Year Completed
- 2015
- Shared by
- Hanley Wood
- Project Status
- Built
2017 AIA Institute Honor Award Winner in Interior Architecture
In a gratifyingly improbable pairing of the old economy and the new, a former factory for tractor-builder John Deere now houses the offices of Pinterest, the online visual platform presently listed as the 60th most-viewed website in the world. Only seven years old and already boasting more than 800 employees, the company now has room to grow even bigger in its new headquarters, designed by the local team of IwamotoScott Architecture and Breton Architects, in San Francisco’s tech-rich South of Market district. Its four stories hold offices, meeting rooms, and all the employee amenities that the tech industry is famous for—including, but not limited to, a dining room, coffee bar, and myriad social spaces for lounging and spit-balling.
The tech-industry aesthetic is evident from the get-go: The lobby features a coffered plywood ceiling that spans the entire length of the amenity-rich lowermost floor, with surface elements peeking playfully out of the voids; upstairs, the individual workspaces are arranged so that workers can enjoy the abundant daylight in the former industrial space. Most strikingly, a central atrium runs the full height of the office, and into it the designers have inserted what they call the “Knitting Stair,” a winding circulation system fashioned out of perforated steel that reflects both natural and artificial light to beguiling effect. With all too many high-tech companies preferring the wide-open spaces of the South Bay, Pinterest and its architects have re-created a bit more of Silicon Valley in the city.
Project Credits
Project: Pinterest HQ, San Francisco
Client: Pinterest
Architect: IwamotoScott Architecture, San Francisco . Lisa Iwamoto, Craig Scott, AIA (founding partners)
Architect: Brereton Architects, San Francisco . Donna Cook, AIA (principal)
Mechanical Engineer: Amit Wadhwa & Associates
Structural Engineer: Forell/Elsesser Engineers
Construction Manager: Urban Works
General Contractor: Novo Construction
Lighting Designer: Niteo Lighting
Furniture Consultant: InsideSource
Kitchen Consultant: Muller Design
AV Consultant: AVDG
Code: The Fire Consultants
Size: 100,000 square feet
Cost: Withheld
To see the rest of ARCHITECT's coverage of the 2017 AIA Institute Honor Awards, click here.
Project Description
FROM THE AIA:
Following the clean and simple aesthetic ideals of the client’s recently relaunched web platform, the new headquarters is located in a four-story concrete former John Deere factory in San Francisco’s SOMA district.
Organized around a large central atrium and stair, the program includes a large town hall and dining space on the ground floor, plentiful open workspace on the upper three floors, meeting rooms, lounge spaces, a maker lab, coffee bar, and design studio. To allow for glimpses of all four floors, the existing atrium was extended to the ground floor to create a central void. On the workspace levels, the atrium is encircled with primary circulation avenues, with banks of workstations along the perimeter to take full advantage of natural light.
The stair—affectionately referred to as the “Knitting Stair”—is wrapped in perforated steel and intersects itself at the midpoint. The design team implemented twin-walled perforated metal surfaces in different densities, creating a subtle moire pattern and interplay between natural light flooding a large skylight and the building’s LED lighting. The combination of the design and selected materials produces an effect akin to an ever-changing glowing heart at the center of the headquarters.
At the front of the building, a waffled plywood ceiling functions as a threshold between the city and the building’s interior. Occupying one entire bay of the building, the ceiling canopies the lobby and reception areas, which the company uses most when interacting with the public.
As a technology company, the client is rapidly expanding, and this building is its fourth in the neighborhood. The architects were able to help the company achieve its vision of creating a true urban campus that is fully integrated with the community that surrounds it.