Warehouse Design

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An old warehouse transformed into a multi-use workspace by Aidlin Darling Design gave San Francisco its first gold level LEED NC building.

When an old warehouse in San Francisco was to don a new avatar as a multi-tenant workspace, the architects decided to retain the original timber and concrete frame while renovating the interior spaces. The 14,000 sqft, 355 Eleventh was built around 1912 and functioned as a bottle-storage facility for a brewery located nearby. As part of the new mixed-use program, it was proposed that the first floor and the exterior courtyard be occupied by a LEED Platinum candidate restaurant and bar. The second floor was for the owner and the contractor’s office while the third floor was to be leased to design professionals. Matarozzi/Pelsinger, the contractors for the project, view green construction an important part of their work philosophy. Their new headquarters needed to embody those values and hence a range of sustainable strategies was employed in the project.

According to Joshua Aidlin of Aidlin Darling Design, “From the beginning, we asked ourselves, ‘What should be preserved?’ The building has a beautiful concrete foundation and a beautiful Douglas-fir, post-and-beam structure. So our challenge was to design around these great elements.”

For the space to be used as an office, the interiors required more air and light than what was already available. However, due to the historic status of the structure, the San Francisco Planning Department placed limitations on the introduction of new fenestration. Also, it required the architects to preserve the industrial character of the building by replacing the structure’s original corrugated siding “in-kind”. Renovation of the building would include a new exterior envelope along with interior spaces, revamping of the seismic structural system and vertical circulation, a living roof and landscaping.

With the aim of retaining the historic post-and-beam structure, the original fenestration of the building’s north façade was preserved and refurbished. The existing timber and concrete frame was carefully sandblasted to reveal the warmth and texture of the original materials. The structure needed seismic retrofitting, which involved sinking 78 new steel piers underneath the building and adding steel Z braces.

The architects felt that the key to transforming the structure lay in the skin of the building as it would resolve a number of issues that the city’s planning department had regarding a monolithic façade. The result was replacement of existing panels which contained lead with new corrugated panels containing zinc. The double-skin façade served dual purpose; it retained the industrial character and also mitigated solar heat gains while enabling cross ventilation in the interior space. The design of the skin provides a solar shade for windows on the south west enabling passive cooling of the building. Variations in the size of the perforations added texture to the skin while the placement of solid panels, where there were no windows created different levels of transparency. The perforated panels, set in front of the operable windows, reduce solar loads and create a pocket of tempered air which gets circulated inside.

Sensitively inserted metal and glass apertures function as access points while letting in light necessary for the building’s new mixed-use program. The largest of these apertures unfolds within the interior to become a bridge traversing the two-story lobby, finally terminating as a reception desk for the second floor offices.

During the day time, the skin acts as a curtain and keeps the unsightly views at bay. However, after dark, when the lights inside the building come on, the skin reveals the juxtaposition of the historic column beam structure with the modern façade. The skin also breaks down the scale of the structure by stacking two fields of diverging and inversely converging series of perforations.

The new fence surrounding the dining patio on Eleventh Street is a patterned bar-relief of wood panels, recessed light pockets, and view slots. The sectional profile of each light pocket reflects light from a single, hidden fixture toward both sides of the fence, thus maximising the efficiency – and phenomenal effect – of each bulb. The dark color of the fence serves as a muted backdrop for the vivid hues of the surrounding plantings.

Major sustainable strategies were used while renovating the structure. Sensitive planning and design resulted in maintenance of more than 75% of the original structural fabric. The new windows and skylights ensured cross ventilation and also allowed an outlet for the warm air. A 30kW photovoltaic array, which is a renewable source of energy provides for 70% of the building’s electricity requirements.

Over 85% of the non-built area of the site has permeable surfaces to allow storm water to add to the underground water table rather than entering the city sewers. Naturally sandy soil in the immediate area absorbs water readily, discouraging saturation. Over 90% of the site surfaces are either planted or high-albedo, serving to lower surface temperatures and thus help to mitigate the urban heat-island effect. The roof that has been planted with drought-resistant plants serves dual purpose of filtering storm water and insulating the building. The landscape too consists of native plant species that will not require supplemental irrigation after the initial one year establishment period.

The architects and builders have maximised the use of recycled materials. Almost half the steel is recycled and the wood salvaged from the building’s timber frame is used for interior finishes and furniture. Eco friendly building materials like bamboo for flooring , concrete with 20% flyash and ceramic-based porous pavers have been used in the building. All paints and coating are low-VOC and most are 100% acrylic. For countertops inside the building, the architects used a special concrete mixture with crushed recycled glass as aggregate.

Customised CNC milling allowed the creation of a seamless, building-scale gradient that ranged from opaque to over 50% open across the entire façade. This smooth gradient functions to dematerialise the industrial surface of the corrugated metal. The amount of detailing that the architects went into is evident by the research done by them with the CAD/CAM fabricator. This revealed that up to 4 corrugated panels could be stacked and cut simultaneously without increasing either milling time or cost. This feedback was exploited in the panel design and resulted in 12 unique panel types that repeat 4 times each. Maintaining consistent panel size and hole spacing allows the gradient to be flipped about the horizontal midpoint of the façade, creating a visual shear that amplifies the impact of the graduating hole sizes.

Though the original structure for the warehouse had not been aesthetic in its looks, the architects had to preserve the original fenestration on the northern and southern façade. They also had the task of convincing the planning authorities that the new western façade respected its history. The steel sleeves projecting beyond the glazed opening are a reminder of the building’s past as does the use of industrial material like corrugated zinc and rolled steel.

The project is a culmination of a design process focused on the simple goals of reducing the need for energy consumption and maximising the use and application of renewable energy sources. The result is a sustainable and eco-friendly building.

Text: Hina Nitesh

Photographs: Matthew Millman and Richard Barnes

Project:	355 11th Street
Location:	355 11th Street, San Francisco
Architect:	Aidlin Darling Design
Structural Engineer:	Bill Lynch, Berkeley Structural Design
Green Consultant:	Bill Worthen, Simon & Associates