Kohl Building
Kohl Building
400 Montgomery St.
Designed by Percy and Polk in 1901, it shows Polk’s preoccupation with extravagant details as well as advanced construction. A rather plain structure up to the tenth-floor cornice, it suddenly turns into a riot of bold variations and exaggerations of Baroque and Classical styles (Partly lost with the removal of numerous lions heads in the recent interests of public safety).
The building is constructed around a steel frame, the interior employes metal lathe and plaster, the sheathing is of a handsome greenish-gray Colusa sandstone. Perhaps the first “fireproof” building in downtown San Francisco, it survived the 1906 fire intact above the fourth story, while all other buildings, once ignited, were gutted.
Alvinza Hayward, also one of Ralston’s Bank of California associates, put up the building which was later purchased by the Kohl interests. It has been said that the unusual “H” shape was the result of Mrs. Hayward’s superstitious regard for initials — a story not out of character with the nature of San Francisco’s first generation of millionaires.
400 Montgomery St.
Designed by Percy and Polk in 1901, it shows Polk’s preoccupation with extravagant details as well as advanced construction. A rather plain structure up to the tenth-floor cornice, it suddenly turns into a riot of bold variations and exaggerations of Baroque and Classical styles (Partly lost with the removal of numerous lions heads in the recent interests of public safety).
The building is constructed around a steel frame, the interior employes metal lathe and plaster, the sheathing is of a handsome greenish-gray Colusa sandstone. Perhaps the first “fireproof” building in downtown San Francisco, it survived the 1906 fire intact above the fourth story, while all other buildings, once ignited, were gutted.
Alvinza Hayward, also one of Ralston’s Bank of California associates, put up the building which was later purchased by the Kohl interests. It has been said that the unusual “H” shape was the result of Mrs. Hayward’s superstitious regard for initials — a story not out of character with the nature of San Francisco’s first generation of millionaires.
Mills Building
MIlls Building
220 Montgomery Street
Designed by the famous Chicago firm of Burnham & Root and erected in 1891-92. This ten-story, foursquare brick structure picks up the Richardson Romanesque style in its massive, intricately-carved, arched entrance, in the arches crowning the modified Corinthian pilasters that delineate the vertical line of the building, in the repetition of the Romanesque arches in the ninth-floor frieze, and in the squat columns between the windows of the top story. Yet the building as a whole is a powerful expression of the style that was developing in Chicago in the heyday of Burnham and Sullivan and the young Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Mills Building was built by Darius Ogden Mills, a Forty-niner who parlayed a Sacramento shop into a partnership in William C. Ralston’s Bank of California, and went on to become one of the authentic financial moguls of late-nineteenth-century America.
Willis Polk supervised the reconstruction of the Mills Building after the fire of 1906, and was also in charge of the additions of the rear of the building, which he executed in the same style as the original. In 1931 the adjacent twenty-two-story Mills Tower was completed to the design of Lewis Hobart.
220 Montgomery Street
Designed by the famous Chicago firm of Burnham & Root and erected in 1891-92. This ten-story, foursquare brick structure picks up the Richardson Romanesque style in its massive, intricately-carved, arched entrance, in the arches crowning the modified Corinthian pilasters that delineate the vertical line of the building, in the repetition of the Romanesque arches in the ninth-floor frieze, and in the squat columns between the windows of the top story. Yet the building as a whole is a powerful expression of the style that was developing in Chicago in the heyday of Burnham and Sullivan and the young Frank Lloyd Wright.
The Mills Building was built by Darius Ogden Mills, a Forty-niner who parlayed a Sacramento shop into a partnership in William C. Ralston’s Bank of California, and went on to become one of the authentic financial moguls of late-nineteenth-century America.
Willis Polk supervised the reconstruction of the Mills Building after the fire of 1906, and was also in charge of the additions of the rear of the building, which he executed in the same style as the original. In 1931 the adjacent twenty-two-story Mills Tower was completed to the design of Lewis Hobart.
Sharon Building
39-63 New Montgomery Street
Architect: George Kelham
A handsome steel frame, brick clad office building with what must be the city’s broadest projecting cornice and a narrow ell that fills the New Montgomery Street frontage. It was one of the many buildings constructed for the estate of William Sharon in these years. Sharon was a colorful pioneer who was once William Ralston’s partner in the Palace Hotel and who later was United States Senator. In composition, the building is a three part vertical block with Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation and terra cotta details at the base and capital. Both Webster Cigars and the House of Shields retain their original interiors. The building was being constructed under a general contract at a time when old methods of bidding and contracting with individual trades were being challenged. It is a steel frame structure with reinforced concrete curtain walls, and is “thoroughly fireproof.” In both its structure and the process of construction, this building was considered to be a model in its day. Appropriately, the original occupation was largely by architects and the building trades.
This building is a major element of New Montgomery Street.
Architect: George Kelham
A handsome steel frame, brick clad office building with what must be the city’s broadest projecting cornice and a narrow ell that fills the New Montgomery Street frontage. It was one of the many buildings constructed for the estate of William Sharon in these years. Sharon was a colorful pioneer who was once William Ralston’s partner in the Palace Hotel and who later was United States Senator. In composition, the building is a three part vertical block with Renaissance/Baroque ornamentation and terra cotta details at the base and capital. Both Webster Cigars and the House of Shields retain their original interiors. The building was being constructed under a general contract at a time when old methods of bidding and contracting with individual trades were being challenged. It is a steel frame structure with reinforced concrete curtain walls, and is “thoroughly fireproof.” In both its structure and the process of construction, this building was considered to be a model in its day. Appropriately, the original occupation was largely by architects and the building trades.
This building is a major element of New Montgomery Street.
333 Bush Street
333 Bush Street
Architect: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
333 Bush Street is located between Montgomery and Kearny streets in the Financial District of San Francisco within a close proximity to Union Square. The property improvements include a 43 story, multiple use building containing 542,743 square feet of rentable office space (30 stories), seven stories of separately owned residential condominium space, two mechanical levels, one retail level and two basement levels.
The building facade includes spandrel and column panels of rose colored polished granite. Tinted window systems are provided between spandrel and column panels with single glazed windows. Finished ceiling height at the tenant spaces is eight feet, nine inches. Office areas are typically column free between the core area walls and the windows. The main lobby is finished off in white marble with a ceiling height of sixty-eight feet and reaches to the bottom of the seventh floor.
Note: Reflects the 'deconstructionist' architecture of the 1980's
Russ Building
Russ Building
100 Bush Street
Architect: George Kelham
The Russ Building is a California State Historic Landmark located in the heart of the San Francisco Financial District. It fronts the entire block of Montgomery Street between Pine and Bush Streets. Completed in 1929, it stood for 30 years as the tallest building west of Chicago. The building has a neo-Gothic architectural design giving it a majestic look compared to the neighboring contemporary structures. It is a steel frame building with a curtain wall constructed of terra cotta tile and brick. The interior is exquisitely detailed with the finest materials and finishes featuring granite floors and marble wainscoting, elevator lobbies with ornate area rugs, and pendant light fixtures. The building has been carefully maintained and periodically refurbished so that it offers a modern office environment within a classic and meticulously preserved structure.
One Hawthorne
One Hawthorne
645 Howard Street
165 luxury one-, two- and three-bedroom homes and penthouses in a variety of sizes (550-2200 square feet), as well as 124 below-grade parking spaces and 3,000 sq. ft. of ground floor retail on the corner. Sales are anticipated to begin in early/mid 2009, and pricing is expected to start in the $500,000s.
The Monadnock Building
Monadnock Building (1907)
685 Market Street, Suite 550
Architect: Frederick H. Meyer
Construction on the exquisite Beaux-Art style Monadnock Building began in 1906. Before its west wall was even completed, the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire struck. Somehow the building managed to survive not only those calamities, but two separate attempts by the U.S. Army to destroy it with dynamite, hoping to create a firebreak that was intended to save the original Palace Hotel.
Hidden Treasure:
There is a twenty-four foot barrel-vaulted atrium lobby has outstanding Tieolo-inspired trompe l'oeil murals, featuring famous people from the city's past, by the Evans and Brown Co.
The theme of this mural is "San Francisco Renaissance." It is painted in the Renaissance Baroque style trompe l'oeil (which means to fool the eye) and chosen because the facade of this building was inspired by that period. That is why all these San Francisco and California characters are dressed in such costumes.
Click Here> to read more about these outstanding murals and the history of the building.
Mellennium Tower
Millennium Tower (2008)
301 Mission Street
Millennium Tower was recently topped off, signifying the completion of vertical construction. The largest residential tower west of Chicago, Millennium Tower offers 60 stories of unprecedented luxury, three distinct residentail living experiences, a 20,000-sq-ft Club Level and a private, residents-only dining room for Michael Mina's m74 restaurant. All created by the people who bought you Four Seasons San Francisco.
Click Here> for their website for current updates
KPMG Building
KPMG Building (2002)
55 2nd Street
Architect: Heller Manus Associates
25-story, 379,000-square-foot office building in the south financial district area of downtown San Francisco. Built in 2002, the KPMG Building was designed by Heller Manus Architects, and is a distinctive element of the city's landscape, with a modern design including strong verticals, sconces near the building crown, and an eight-story pedestal set off with paired cornices.
ENERGY STAR certification for the KPMG Building is the result of an original building design that emphasized energy efficiency. For example, the building employs high-efficiency, double-pane windows, which help to reduce thermal gain in warm and sunny weather while reducing heat loss in the winter
AWARDS:
ENERGY STAR
101 California
101 California (1982)
(Block bounded by California, Front, Pine and Davis Streets)
Architect: Philip Johnson/John Burgee
Located in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District, 101 California is a 48-story tower encompassing 1.2 million square feet of office space. The tower is cylindrical in shape with articulated edges of alternating bands of granite and glass, featuring a seven-story, glass-enclosed lobby at its base, and a granite-paved triangular plaza that contains seasonal flowers, seating and a fountain.
Awards:
BOMA Awards (1987 & 1990) , ENERGY STAR label, and Strybing Urban Landscape Award (1989)
JPMorgan Chase Building
JPMorgan Chase Building (2002)
560 Mission Street
Architect: Cesar Pelli & Associates
The JPMorgan Chase Building is a 31-story, Class A office building. The 667,782-square-foot building also features two levels of underground parking and a large ground level plaza. The building is 100% leased to JPMorgan Chase & Co. and is their West Coast headquarters.
Awards
American Society of Landscape Architects (2003) and ENERGY STAR label (2004)
Hallidie Building
Hallidie Building (1917)
130 Sutter Street
Architect: Willis Polk
Polk’s commercial masterpiece was one of the first buildings in the world to utilize the steel frame for its potential to support a transparent glass wall. The glass curtain wall represents one of the great revolutions in architectural design, turing a building from an opaque mass into a transparent and reflective presence. Here, cast-iron tracery and corner fire escapes add to the impression of a diaphanous curtain pulled from the sides
The Chronicle Building
The Chronicle Building (1890)
343 Market Street
Architect: Burnham & Root
The four-story clock story, ballyhooed by the Chronicle newspaper as "the only bronze one in the United States", lasted only to 1905, when it was set ablaze by skyrockets set off by supporters celebrating the re-election of Mayor Eugene Schmitz, who the Chronicle had opposed, as they paraded past its offices. The next year was even worse. The building survived the Great San Francisco earthquake, but a fire broke out in the top floor, sending the heavy typesetting equipment plunging all the way through to the basement.
In the 1960's, long after the Chronicle moved to a new location in 1924, the old building underwent a disfiguring "modernization" that saw Root's original facades covered over in aluminum and glass.
You can see what that atrocity looked like, and the re-unveiling of Root's original Richardsonian entrance arch, in Curbed/SF's sequence of photos.
Crown Zellerbach Building
Crown Zellebach Building (1959)
1 Bush Street
Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill
Shimmering surfaces constitute the best glass curtain wall in San Francisco, whose concept was created by Walter Netsch and executed by Chuck Bassett. Two functionally slabs make up the highrise, an opaque cube for circulations, and for the offices , a set of stacked lofts. Think steel mullions frame the green-tinted-for heat absorption--curtain wall. The one-story, diamond-shaped glass hall at the southwest corner of the site brilliantly do not fully occupy their wedge-shaped site; instead, they are irregularly situated in a garden and plaza. The ground plane is further complicated by opening up the base of the steel column grid and depressing part of the plaza beneath the street level