San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission – situated on Golden Gate Avenue – was designed to complement the area’s classically styled government buildings and the contemporary cityscape.

The building features a design twist, purposefully slicing off the upper two floors on the northwest side to enable the sun to shine on a neighbouring school yard. The earthquake-resistant design is also highly sustainable and has achieved LEED Platinum certification.

Brand: Benson

Architects: KMD Architects & Stevens Architects

Construction manager: Webcor

Owner: San Francisco Public Utilities Commission

The project

The concept

Sustainability was a priority from the outset for this government buildling. Sustainable elements include the installation of permanent sunshades on angled upper floors and photovoltaic panels. The earthquake-resistant design uses a vertical post-tensioned system, with anchored cables as an interior self-levelling system.

What did we do?

We designed, engineered, manufactured and installed 144,000 sq ft of granite and glass unitised curtain wall, including the integration of photovoltaic panels, glass fin sunshades, and automatic blinds. We employed BIM to model embedments, slab edges, steel anchors and the entire skin of the project. One elevation required cold-formed curtain wall units to achieve a concave façade. The ground floor is a point supported structural glass wall that includes pattern-cut plate mullions and stainless-steel patch fritting.