Project 0752: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, California

Scope and content:

Created a master plan and conducted conceptual design for 24 acres in downtown San Francisco. Project part of a redevelopment project called Yerba Buena - joint venture of Beverly Willis Architects and Zeidler- Roberts Partnership, Toronto, Canada.

Extended Description: Covering 24 acres--four city blocks--in downtown San Francisco, the Yerba Buena site was seen as a bridge that could extend the economic success of the financial and Union Street districts into the surrounding urban neighborhood ravaged by poorly conceived urban renewal projects. In 1980, the master plan put forth by the team of Beverly Willis Architects, Olympia & York, Ltd., the Marriott Corporation, and Zeidler-Roberts Partnership, Ltd. won an international competition for the site's development.

Consisting of 1,250,000 square feet of office space, a 1,500-room hotel, 250,000 square feet of retail, 350 apartments, and an exhibition and performance art complex, the master plan created transitions in scale, use, texture, access that seamlessly rewove the urban fabric into an integrated whole. Ground level components were reduced in size creating a comfortable pedestrian street-scape that negated the presence of the 'super block' towers. A series of open spaces, sited for maximum sunlight and minimal wind, further reduced the scale and offered a variety of outdoor environments.

Access and use