GOLD AWARD-2021 BD+C RECONSTRUCTION AWARDS

San Francisco Animal Care and Control Facility, San Francisco

PROJECT INFORMATION:

Project size: 74,520 sf (the actual shelter is 65,000 sf)

Project cost: $55 million

Construction time: May 2019-February 2021

Delivery method: CM at Risk

RECONSTRUCTION TEAM:

Submitting firm and general contractor: Clark Construction Group-CA, LP

owner: San Francisco Department of Public Works

Architect: SFDPW Building Design & Construction

Structural Engineer: Department of Public Works

Mechanical engineer: Control Air

Electrical Engineer: Becker Electric

Plumbing Engineer: JW McClenahan

Construction Manager: Department of Public Works

JUDGES’ COMMENTS:

“GC used autonomous robot dog for 360 [degree] photo captures, scanning of floor flatness, quality control, etc. This complicated project—with seismic upgrades, new roofing, and new MEP/FS systems—was completed on schedule and below budget. Incredible attention to detail, quality, and safety.”

“Unique building and unusual final use. Careful preservation of building materials. Exterior is understated [and] shows restraint, giving attention to the original masonry details. Interior reorganization showed creativity in problem solving. [The project also had] site constraints.”

NARRATIVES:

This is an adaptive reuse of a building that, when originally constructed in the 1890s, was one of the largest electrical generating facilities in the US In the 1940s, San Francisco’s Municipal Transit Agency started using the building as a maintenance depot. The latest reconstruction, which involved nearly a decade of planning, created a world-class veterinary center and provided a new home to the city’s Animal Care & Control agency, which had been operating out of a crowded, outdated warehouse built in 1931.

This reconstruction, which was completed on time in 21 months and under budget, consisted of a major seismic upgrade, new site utilities, new mechanical systems; and a new roof, floor decks and courtyard within the existing building envelope, which was restored to preserve the 19th-century façade.

The building is part of the city’s Showplace Square Historic District, once a cluster of warehouses and factories. “We were able to preserve an important part of the City’s past and deliver a safe, modern and user-friendly facility that will serve the needs of San Francisco for years to come,” said Alaric Degrafinried, acting director of San Francisco Public Works.

The Animal Care & Control facility is located in San Francisco’s Showplace Square historic district.

The project’s accomplishments included meeting modern animal welfare requirements, building emergency response resilience, preserving a historic landmark, boosting the local economy, and delivering the project during a pandemic.

METICULOUS PRESERVATION

During initial demolition, some 300 historic bricks were salvaged for reuse. Broken bricks from the façade were painstakingly cut out, one by one, then replaced with the salvaged bricks. Craftsmen used specialized grinders to preserve the surrounding bricks while also using safety methods to prevent silica exposure.

The building’s wood windows and the original brick were carefully cleaned. Exterior doors and the roof profile were restored to maintain historic integrity.

The existing building’s windows and brick were carefully cleaned and restored.

The team took extraordinary measures that required careful preplanning and development coordination to protect the historic façade of the structure during construction. To get materials and equipment into the interior of the site, the team had to crane everything over the masonry wall, including cumbersome MEP equipment and landscaping elements.

READY FOR NATURAL DISASTERS

Designed and constructed to meet current seismic resiliency standards, the new Animal Care & Control center can perform emergency operations after a major earthquake and when power and water services are interrupted for three days. A standby generator (installed in the parking lot) is designed to activate in under a minute in case electricity from the main grid is cut off. The new facility is fitted with a below-grade domestic water storage system to boost emergency response capabilities.

Parenthetically, this facility neighbors a critical agency that responds to public transit emergencies for the City and County of San Francisco, and access to their loading dock passed through the North end of the project site. To maintain the mandated 24/7 entrance and exit access, the project required constant close coordination and communication.

The seismic retrofit of a historic structure was a highly complex effort. Beginning with the foundation renovation, crews installed reinforcing shotcrete walls along the perimeter footing to support the brick envelope.

Newly installed horizontal diaphragms or diaphragm trusses transmit horizontal forces to and from shear walls for seismic resistance.

The reconstruction team demolished existing structural columns and installed horizontal diaphragms or diaphragm trusses. This system transmits horizontal forces to and from shear walls for seismic resilience. The horizontal diaphragms had to be high enough to clear the clerestory windows but low enough to get decent head height below the bracing, creating a functional attic space. The composite metal deck slabs were then installed, followed by interior finishes.

Always looking to innovate, Clark Construction’s VDC team used this project to test an autonomous robot dog that performed 360 photo captures, scanned the floor for flatness, flagged defined safety hazards, and created as-built point cloud scans and asset tagging.

INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING DESIGN

The main lobby accentuates the facility’s mass.

To figure out how to maintain the building’s historic integrity while meeting the animal care center’s needs, the ReCon team evaluated several case studies, visited other Bay Area shelters, and attended numerous conferences in animal care facilities. The team’s solution was to slice the building horizontally into three different levels.

The main entrance accentuates the volume of the original structure, revealing the triple height space of the facility. Three lobby areas also serve as canvas for art created by a local artist from the East Bay. The colorful, large-scale images made of wood and glass energize the spaces and draw visitors into the rooms, while also serving as wayfinders for the center.

The courtyard is one of the main design features of the new ACC, and checks off three must-haves: a functional outdoor space, more daylight, and showingcasing the historic shell.

The rooftop deck on the building’s third floor is another key design feature and includes animal runs separated into two areas, one for dogs and one for smaller creatures such as bunnies. Artificial turf conceals a flushing/rinsing system to handle pet waste and odors. The roof deck also offers seating areas and houses the facility’s MEP system.

Large water storage tanks are part of the facility’s resilience that was designed to keep the center running after a natural disaster.

Every animal area has been doubled in size from the ACC’s old home. The new ACC is laid out with the latest in ventilation technology specific to animal care. And the facility boasts a state-of-the-art veterinary suite in which veterinarians can now perform two operations simultaneously. That expansive suite contains more recovery cages in the room so vets can observe the animals as they are coming out of anesthesia. A new X-ray machine allows the center to provide improved dental care, removing a huge barrier to adoption.

To maintain the building’s historical integrity and meet the new facility’s programming needs, the structure was divided into three levels.

While the facility was designed and built with animals in mind, it was also made with concern for the staff and volunteers who take care of these animals. Administrative and volunteer spaces are bright and airy, taking advantage of historic industrial windows. The team also sought feedback from ACC employees and volunteers about amenities they would like to have to help them carry out their tasks.

The post A cautious historic preservation creates a brand new animal care middle in San Francisco appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Hours before she was likely rejected by the San Francisco Board of Directors at its Tuesday meeting, Historic Preservation Commission Mayor Christina Dikas withdrew her nomination. Dikas has been the fourth person in a row to be appointed to the regulator by Mayor London Breed in recent months. Because of her appointment, Dikas met fierce opposition, which meant there would be no LGBTQ representation on the commission.

The regulatory committee at its meeting last Monday, April 5th, voted 3-0 against Dikas, an architectural historian and cultural resource planner who works for Page and Turnbull. The vote was expected because all three committee members had told the Bay Area reporter that they would not support Dikas when their nomination was announced.

The BAR editorial board had urged the full board to reject Dikas at its April 13 meeting, as had local LGBTQ heritage protection advocates and the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club’s political action committee. A source had told the BAR on Tuesday that there are likely to be at least six votes on the board of directors against confirming Dikas, the minimum required to turn down her nomination.

Faced with this opposition, Dikas announced to Breed Tuesday morning that she would take her name out of consideration for the oversight role. She thanked the mayor for trusting her and said it was her honor to be considered.

“I looked forward to joining the Historic Preservation Commission and eager to continue the work and conversation to balance our city’s development needs and the rich historical and cultural character of our city and its various communities through landmark labels and other conservation programs to recognize initiatives, “Dikas wrote. “In my work and volunteer efforts at the California Preservation Foundation, both based in San Francisco, I will continue to be involved in heritage conservation discussions and initiatives about housing needs, the effects of climate change, and the recognition of previously underrepresented people Communities and Voices. “

Jeff Cretan, a spokesperson for Breed, did not immediately respond to the BAR’s request to comment on Dika’s decision.

The mayor will certainly continue to be under pressure to nominate an LGBTQ person for the seat. In February, Breed did not reappoint the two gay members of the Historic Preservation Commission, Jonathan Pearlman and Aaron Hyland, who had served as president of the commission. Pearlman’s 3rd place is slated to be occupied by an architectural historian, and LGBTQ community leaders have encouraged Breed to name Hyland.

Breed had appointed Ruchira D. Nageswaran as Hyland’s seat and reappointed Commissioners Diane Matsuda and Chris Foley. The regulators then confirmed that the three will apply in the HPC on December 31, 2024.

Instead of putting Hyland or another LGBTQ person in Pearlman’s seat, Breed nominated Dikas in early March, who at the time did not respond to the BAR’s request for comment. She has worked on various historical conservation projects with minority communities in the city, from Japantown to the South of Market district of the Philippines.

She also worked on an oral history project with the Polk Gulch Restaurant Grubstake Diner, aimed at the transgender community in the 1970s. The property was the focus of a protection struggle, as it is intended for renovation.

“I am very pleased to have the opportunity as Commissioner to contribute to the heritage of my city,” Dikas told the members of the rules committee last week.

But District 8 gay supervisor Rafael Mandelman, the board’s only LGBTQ community member, declared his rejection of her appointment by reaching out to one of his board predecessors, the late gay supervisor Harvey Milk. In the 1970s, Milk routinely requested diverse leadership in city administrations and commissions, which included LGBTQ people in his columns in the BAR and on the Campaign Path. He himself was one of the first to be appointed to a city inspectorate by a mayor.

“Harvey Milk was a very strong believer and often said it was important not only to have allies in positions of power, but also strange people, as it was important that all minorities are represented on commissions and elected bodies,” said Mandelman, the vice chairman of the rules committee.

While stressing that Dikas was qualified for the position, Mandelman said he still could not support her and accused the mayor’s office of not nominating an LGBTQ person for the seat. Following Dikas’ decision to back out, Mandelman again urged Breed to appoint an out agent who could continue the work Hyland cited on LGBTQ conservation issues.

“I know there are strange women and people of color who are ready, willing and able to continue this work,” Mandelman said during the board hearing when regulators 11-0 for filing on Dika’s decision of the point were correct. “I think this is an opportunity to look for candidates who can continue this work and increase the diversity of representation on our commissions.”

District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin, Chair of the Rules Committee, and District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan have repeatedly agreed with Mandelman’s claim that a member of the LGBTQ community must be on the Historic Preservation Board.

“I’m looking forward to an appointment that really represents the LGBTQ community on the Historic Preservation Commission,” Chan said last week.

On Tuesday, Peskin noted how rare it was that the rules committee turned down an appointed mayor and that he did not seek the seat after a dispute with Breed’s government. But he again urged the mayor to appoint a qualified LGBTQ person ready to serve and is committed to addressing LGBTQ heritage conservation issues in the city.

“I think we should start there instead of letting the mayor appoint people who are LGBT but don’t have that commitment and demonstrate the story,” Peskin said. “I’ll leave it there and thank Ms. Dikas for withdrawing her name from the exam this afternoon.”

The question of the seat on the board of directors comes from the fact that a number of LGBTQ listed items are going through the city’s approval process. The city’s landmarks are also going through the approval process for the Noe Valley residence of the late pioneer lesbian couple Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, as well as the gay Eagle bar in SOMA, popular with the leather community.

However, other local LGBTQ historic sites remain on the city planning department’s list of future potential landmarks for the city as initial talks focused on transforming Milk im Castro’s former home and camera business into a national historic site.

UPDATED on 04/13/2021 with comments from supervisors Mandelman and Peskin.

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The post Going through doubtless rejection by the supervisors, straight San Francisco historic preservation physique nominee withdraws appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.