Project Description
FROM AIA SAN FRANCISCO:
Located in San Francisco's burgeoning Mission Bay district, the 285,000-square-foot Public Safety Campus represents a significant investment in a prominent public facility. State-of-the-art engineering and a landmark scale unite in a highly resilient structure that consolidates critical civic services under one roof —the city’s police headquarters, a relocated district police station, and local fire station. The complex incorporates an historic fire station renovated for contemporary community uses, which further reinforces the project as an important civic presence in one of the city’s critical redevelopment areas.
The building is designed to blend into the neighborhood’s future development, while establishing a distinct presence befitting a significant civic landmark. The master plan unifies the new building, composed of two, six-story-high wings, and the two-story masonry fire station into a civic complex that signals the site’s heritage and the neighborhood’s ascendant place in the city. A gracious entry plaza and south plaza connect with generously landscaped sidewalks, reinforcing the fire station’s unique identity while serving an important role on the site. A public art program sponsored by the city’s Arts Commission provides new civic memorials to complete the composition.
Targeted to achieve LEED NC Gold, the building is designed to thoughtfully and carefully engage the site in order to align user needs and efficient environmental performance. A concrete plinth establishes a secure base for the towers, which are enclosed with a variegated, high performance glass curtain wall. The two 63-foot-long bars connect via a transparent east-west oriented core to form an offset H-configuration that tempers the tower’s perceived massing from the street, and facilitates the penetration of daylight, views and ventilation into the building’s interior.