Making a Statement

Developer Says "Arterra will be San Francisco's First LEED-Certified Green Highrise Community."

By Robert Carlsen

Seattle-based developer Intracorp's first foray into green building is now going vertical at San Francisco's Mission Bay redevelopment district.

Arterra, located at 300 Berry St. at Fifth St., will feature a total of 268 one-, one-plus-den and two-bedroom residences and townhomes. The $81 million multi-family development will consist of three structures ranging from six to 16 stories; homes are laid out around a private podium garage, featuring 260 spaces under a landscaped courtyard.

Bovis Lend Lease is the general contractor on the project, which is scheduled for completion in March 2008.

In order to differentiate itself from all the other projects along Mission Bay's Berry St., including two affordable housing projects by Nibbi Bros., two residential buildings by Signature Properties, Webcor's Avalon mixed-use complex, Cahill's Mission Creek Senior Housing and Opus West's Park Terrace condominiums, Intracorp decided to go green - and in a big way.

Or perhaps the developer was convinced to go green by the enthusiasm of the project's architect, Kwan Henmi of San Francisco.

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"Our architect, Kwan Henmi, was interested in using a material called Trespa on the exterior, so that piqued our interest," said Mike McCone, vice president of development for Intracorp. "Sustainable design is something Kwan Henmi strives for, so we got on board and supported their design."

Kwan Henmi principal Sylvia Kwan said that Trespa, a material made from end-of-lifecycle recycled materials, would make an ideal cladding for Arterra.

"It's being used more and more on exteriors," Kwan said. "We used it on a project at Oakland International Airport, on interior walls, and it's very lightweight and durable."

Considered one of the most environmentally friendly products available for façade cladding, Trespa, manufactured by a Dutch company with North American offices in Poway, is made from Kraft paper, phenolic resin and polycarbonate resin.

Kwan, who confirmed that the team was going for a LEED certified rating on the project, said her architect team was also bullish on recycled carpet, bamboo flooring in the kitchens, use of FSC wood, flyash concrete, low- or no-VOC paints and adhesives, use of renewable glass and cork, and Marmoleum flooring, a linoleum product manufactured by the Dutch company Forbo that is both natural and very resilient.

McCone said another key green feature of Arterra are the living roofs - natural coastal grass-covered rooftops designed to help reduce heating and cooling costs.

Intracorp contends that Arterra will be San Francisco's first LEED certified "green highrise community."

"Our challenge is to maintain the schedule," said McCone. "And there's a bit of a lull in the marketplace currently, but hope it will change by the time the project is completed."

Bovis is also working with Intracorp on another San Francisco housing project, The Hayes, an 111-condo, 17-below market-rate apartment project at 55 Page St.

The Project Team:

Owner and Developer: Intracorp
General Contractor: Bovis Lend Lease
Architect: Kwan Henmi
Green Consultant: WorldBuild
Major subcontractors: Critchfield (mechanical engineering), RLH (fire protection), Rosendin Electric, Shen, Milsom, Wilke (acoustical), ACCO (HVAC), Architectural Models, C& B Engineers, Van Mulder (exterior skin), Martha Fry (landscaping), Treadwell & Rollo, Telamon Engineering, Tommy Siu Engineering