An Unlikely Tenant

Stock Trading Firm Finds New Digs in Ferry Building Appealing

By Thomas York

Stone & Youngberg, a stock trading firm, moved its corporate offices into an unconventional location: the 250,000-sq.-ft. Ferry Building in San Francisco's Embarcadero, and the firm's chief financial officer said the new space is "a phenomenal place to work."

"We love it," added Mitch Gage, who compared the new headquarters to the interior of the renovated Gare d'Orsay in Paris, which houses 19th Century Impressionist paintings. The 106-year-old icon re-opened last summer after a two-year, $90 million makeover with typical tenants such as retail shops and restaurants, not stock traders. The $3.5 million, 35,000-sq.-ft. tenant improvement project for Stone & Youngberg was completed in June.

"They knew this would be an incredible attraction for future employees," said Mara Gourvitz, who served as the project manager for the developer, Rockbridge Group.

Building such an impressive office within the confines of a registered landmark was quite an endeavor, according to the project's managers.

Erik Sueverkrop, a principal with San Francisco-based Studios and the project architect, said preparing for occupancy was one of his biggest tests. Sueverkrop's design had to consider the building's peculiarities, namely ductwork and other features remaining from the building's original construction.

There also was the problem of how to create an open environment for a financial organization used to a more private setting.

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"We couldn't cover up certain things, so we had to celebrate it," Sueverkrop said. "We had to coordinate the new designs within the older fabric of the building."

He added that everyone from the design team to the general contractor (San Francisco-based Hathaway Dinwiddie Construction Co.) to key subcontractors had to protect existing interior finishes such as tile mosaic on the floor and elaborate millwork around exterior and interior arches.

To dampen noise from a floor occupied by 130 high-energy traders, Studios came up with a 25-ft. by 40-ft., stretched-fabric canopy suspended between ceiling and floor. In addition to soundproofing, the Eurospan-brand canopy, manufactured by Owens Corning, provides shading from sun shining through the historic skylights.

During construction, workers attached the canopy's lightweight aluminum frame at 12-ft. intervals to the steel trusses exposed in the nave of the building. "It feels like a giant cloud floating in space," said Hugh Young, Hathaway's project manager. "It's visually very appealing."

Installing the canopy and finishing the surfaces in the ceiling's exposed trusses required uncommon ingenuity. Young said canopy subcontractor Ireland Interiors and painter

Jerry Thompson & Sons used rolling scaffolding to get the materials up to the ceiling because scissor lifts and other heavy equipment exceeded loading restraints for the concrete slab floor.

In addition to the overhead canopy, Decker Electric installed sensors that raise and lower the shades on the windows facing San Francisco Bay. The shades shield office workers from the rising sun.

"There is nothing but glass on the east side of the space," Young said. "When the sun becomes intense, the window covers lower automatically."

He said the project's deadlines were so skimpy that workers finishing off the last bit of work streamed out of back exits while Stone & Youngberg traders entered the front doors for their first day of work in their new space.

"It was that tight, but we got the job done right on time," Young added.