One South Park Design Take Challenges to Heart

Toby Levy, FAIA, president of San Francisco-based Levy Design Partners, said that one of the goals of the One South Park project is to preserve the integrity of the historical structure while creating modern livable space.

That said, the former tobacco warehouse and sewing sweatshop has proved to be a construction challenge. "Complying with the planning commission on residential condominium codes and regulations for old buildings, complying with ADA requirements, working with the city landmarks board for preservation matters, and just dealing with the structure itself - all of this brings out the pros and cons of restoring these kinds of buildings," said Levy.

"But in the end, this should be an interesting building and a great addition to the South Park neighborhood."

Webcor and LDP discovered that the structure "could have been built with better concrete," said Levy, and that resulted in the replacement of the entire superstructure. The roof, which the builders and designers hoped to preserve, was also not structurally up to par and would need replacement.

The thick-walled, square-shaped building would also need light in the center of the site, so Levy designed two courtyards. An outside terrace, located near the preserved historic railroad tracks that run through South Park, is also planned.

Complying with another landmarks board "suggestion," Levy said that instead of filling in the building's historic loading bays, the design calls for "something similar, where the curtain wall appears to float behind the concrete archways."

-- Robert Carlsen

The Project Team

Owner: Santa Fe Partners, Salt Lake City (SFP South Park, LLC)
General Contractor: Webcor Builders, San Mateo
Architect: Levy Partners Design, San Francisco
Structural Engineers: Murphy Burr Curry, San Francisco
Major subcontractors: Bay Area Reinforcing, Napa (rebar); Allied Fire Protection, Oakland; Capitol Glass, Hayward; Cleveland Wrecking, Oakland; Dees Hennessy, San Carlos (shotcrete and micro piles); Delta Steel, Benicia; J.W. McClenahan, San Mateo (mechanical engineer); Rosendin Electric, San Jose; J&J Acoustics, San Jose; CMI, Menlo Park (HVAC and sheet metal).

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