Designers Share Plans for Public Safety Building

SAN FRANCISCO — Designers of the new Public Safety Building in San Francisco gave a presentation on the planned structure at a December meeting of the Academy of Architecture of Justice, which is hosted each month by the American Institute of Architects. The $164 million building fits into the city’s plan to replace its existing Hall of Justice. The structure will house the San Francisco Police Department Command Center Headquarters, the Southern District Police Station, and a new fire station for the Mission Bay area.
Charles Pankow Builders, out of Altadena, Calif., will serve as the general contractor on the project, while St. Louis-based firm HOK and San Francisco company Mark Cavagnero Associates are collaborating on the design.
HOK Senior Vice President Chuck Oraftik explained the new structure was needed because the existing Hall of Justice was more than 50 years old. “It’s overcrowded, functionally obsolete, energy inefficient, in need of major repairs, seismically challenged and so on.”
Laura Blake, a principle for Mark Cavagnero Associates, explained the new building would be constructed next to an existing historic fire building, which would be renovated in the process, creating a campus of public service organizations.
Blake added that the project would be designed specifically for San Francisco, “with 96 hours of backup for water, power and waste so that the building can truly remain operational during a major seismic event.”
She also pointed out that there was a significant amount of water retention planned in the design, to help contain runoff, feed this backup water system and provide reserves for firefighting purposes.
The new building will consist of two six-story rectangular glass towers that are parallel, but offset, and connected by a glass bridge. A parking structure runs under the bridge and the historic fires station will occupy a corner of the campus, near the end of one of the towers. The designers are aiming for LEED Gold certification.
Paul Woolford, director of design at HOK, explained the building concept was to create “two linear buildings that would be very thin and could get a lot of daylight and be very pleasant places to work in.”

Mark Cavagnero, principal at the design firm bearing his name, added that the building was very strong, built from cast concrete, but was meant to feel like a public structure, not a fortress.
“What we talked about a lot was to not let this be a bunker-like building, even though it needs to be very secure and very safe and it’s for police administration. We want it to feel civic and safe but also accessible, this is San Francisco.”
Woolford agreed, “What happened in Oklahoma, when they rebuilt the federal building, what they did, in order to react to the threats and the security concerns, they turned it into a fortress that only opened itself up on the inside. We felt like that wasn’t going to work in San Francisco. This needed to be accessible and seen as transparency in government.”
Cavagnero emphasized there was an abundance of sunlight in the towers, with 13 feet of glazed glass on many of the floors, with a steel frame and zinc panels to provide adequate protection from high winds and seismic events.
A roof garden on top of the parking structure will provide an outdoor gathering space, connecting to a dining area. The garden will be somewhat visible from the ground and neighboring buildings but will feature trees and windscreens, giving a level of privacy. Local San Francisco firm Cliff Lowe Associates will design this garden and other landscaping features.
The highlight of the project is a memorial art piece in the entranceway of the police headquarters, designed by internationally-known artist Shimon Attie. A glass cylinder hangs from the roof, lit by a skylight during the day and various lighting sources at night. A poem honoring officers that have passed away runs along the interior of the translucent cylinder. The words are written in glowing letters on the clear glass, creating a stunning visual from all angles. An inscription on the wall behind the cylinder reads “Look Up, Their Courage Shines.”
At the end of the presentation, Charles Higueras, project manager for the San Francisco Department of Public Works, praised the architects for their work, and assured the audience the building would greatly increase the safety of police officers compared to their current outdated offices.
“There are a host of attributes that you all didn’t talk about because if you did we would be very upset, that pertain to how safe and secure this building has been designed to be,” he explained.