Some spaces welcoming, some aren’t
Public areas in S.F. often feel closed based on design and management
Besides the chance to catch rays and people-watch, this month’s sunny weather has offered a great excuse to experience San Francisco’s privately owned public spaces.
And to be reminded that there’s a big difference between living up to the letter of the law and truly making us feel welcome.
This tension has existed since 1985, when the city first required new downtown office buildings to include spaces open to the public, and it is especially apparent when those spaces aren’t located outdoors along a street. Design is part of the solution — but so is a management style that isn’t afraid to offer people a clear invitation to come in and kick back.
The indoor corner spaces at two new office towers show that tension vividly, while a pair of neighbors underscore the value of both visual and physical connections.
One newcomer is the 26-
story glass high-rise at 222 Second St., designed by New York architect Thomas Phifer and occupied by LinkedIn.
While the tower is darkly aloof, the 25-foot-high wall panels along Howard Street and at the corner of Second are clear enough to showcase the red teak walls and ceilings inside. Not only that, three of them are pulled back most days to create wide, tall entries from the sidewalk.
If that isn’t enough to entice the curious, there’s a coffee bar in the back, five steps up. And the walls are adorned with three eye-catching Frank Stella murals from different points in the New York artist’s career.
The 30-story 350 Mission St., which opened last year, also has colorful art: a billboard-size LED screen that’s impossible to miss within the 50-foot-high lobby. But on repeated visits this spring I’ve pretty much had the steep stack of stylish bleacher seating to myself. Which is no surprise — until last Tuesday the glass panels at the corner, designed to part invitingly on nice days, were sealed shut.
So much for “blurring the threshold between the public and private realms,” the goal spelled out by architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill in its description of the tower. Don’t blame Skidmore, though: The ones calling the shots are the tower’s sole tenant, Salesforce, and developer Kilroy.
“As long as weather permits, we prefer to honor the design and keep the panels open,” a Salesforce spokesperson now says. Friday, when the skies were blue but the air was crisp, 350 Mission’s panels were closed. Not so at 222 Second.
The closed panels at 350 Mission don’t break any rules, since the space can be reached by conventional doors on Mission and Fremont streets. And each entrance is flanked by a mandated plaque that states the public is welcome inside on weekdays, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can even bring your lunch — though the officially designated “public seating area” so far has no waste, compost or recycling bins.
Meanwhile, the canopy above the doors on Mission has raised metal letters that proclaim “Salesforce East,” and the company logo hovers above the security counter. The only conventional seating is three leather-clad benches — where you find coffee-table books touting Salesforce.
The overall vibe? We the people are tolerated. The glorified lobby really exists to serve the folks upstairs.
Compare this to 222 Second, where LinkedIn’s lobby is up the block from the bright public nook, which comes with teak tables and movable chairs. They obviously are there to be used, unlike 350 Mission’s handsome but austere procession to a mezzanine where, eventually, there will be an upscale restaurant.
Another indoor space that works is at 101 Second St., a Skidmore-designed, 26-story tower that opened in 1999. Some of its wall panels can snap open to create sidewalk openings, though they usually are closed. But it also beckons strollers with a large sculpture and statuesque trees, both inside near the windows, and it attracts everyone from art students to that most exotic of creatures in 2017, the tie-wearing executive.
A space like this is a public resource, which is why the 1985 public space edict was part of a rezoning that nudged the Financial District south of Market Street into a then-transitional area that lacked parks. Three dozen such zones have been created as a result, from spacious plazas to remote rooftop terraces.
If there’s a common thread in the success stories, it is this: The fewer barriers, the better.
You see this at the LinkedIn building, with its rich colors and come-hither buzz. An even more obvious example is the outdoor plaza at 525 Market, which has been redesigned twice since the 38-story tower opened in 1973.
The current version is by architect Richard Keating with conceptual assistance from PWP Landscape Architecture. One purpose of the makeover was to open up the sight lines for a more secure feel — but it also is genuinely enticing, with a variety of seating options and a clear, round fountain along Market Street that rises from black volcanic rock.
The fountain pulls people in. So do such visible elements as tiered steps along a pedestrian alley leading toward Mission Street. And as with 222 Second, the tower’s lobby is wholly separate.
Even with its corner panels parted, the Salesforce space at 350 Mission will be problematic. Unlike the LinkedIn building or 525 Market, too many messages are mixed.
But on days when the corner stays open, the “public seating area” at least has a chance to attract a public of its own. Stop by and see for yourself.