PROJECT SPOTLIGHT

McCarthy Employing Innovative Technology to Overhaul Historic San Francisco Building for BAHA

By Carol Eaton (SOMA)

Talk about a building transformation. In San Francisco’s South of Market District, McCarthy Building

Companies, Inc. is nearing completion on a more than $100 million project that takes the concept of building renovation to a whole new level. The seismic upgrade and complete building makeover is underway for the Bay Area Headquarters Authority (BAHA), an organization which represents a collaborative of local agencies. As the new home to BAHA, the histor-

ic, circa-1942 building is departing from its more industrial uses of years past. The dramatic redesign includes a full eight- story atrium that cuts through the center of all levels to allow natural light to infuse the interior, a new terrace spliced into the side of the 525,000-sq-ft structure on the eighth floor, and a newly cut in tree well on the outside perimeter that will support a full size tree spanning the sixth to eighth floors.

New Vision The new modern vision for this nearly

75-year-old, formerly utilitarian structure, required the demolition and reconfigura- tion of much of its interior components. Initially built for use by the Federal as an assembly plant

Government tanks,

chitectural for

the building’s structural and ar- elements

still reflected that

original purpose when the renovation project kicked off three years ago. Existing components included massive 10-in-thick concrete walls and floor slabs; 10 ft floor- to-ceiling heights; a 25,000-pound capac- ity elevator built to transport tanks; and a network of 5-by-8 ft “spy” tunnels utilized by the U.S. Postal Service when it took over tenancy of the building for use as a high security sorting and postal inspection fa- cility, among other things. The building had fallen into a state of

disrepair when BAHA decided to purchase and overhaul the structure. At that time, it was occupied by various tenants includ- ing the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA),

which maintained a lab on the eighth floor. Turning the no-frills, darkly lit in- terior into a modern, inviting, transfor- mative space demanded the unique skills of a dedicated, highly collaborative design and construction team. They included lead architect Perkins+Will, interior architect/ design firm TEF Design, and McCarthy as the general contractor.

Collaborative Team “From the very beginning we have had

a great partnership with BAHA and the design teams,” said McCarthy Project Ex- ecutive Ranjit Sinha. “I think a lot of the project’s success is that partnership, under BAHA’s guidance. They wanted a big room feel so people could throw ideas on the table and have the whole team evaluate it to create the best value. There has been a solid partnership with a lot of open dia- logue, really trying to seek out the best so- lutions for an existing facility that brought with it a lot of challenges.” Like many major building renovation

projects – particularly ones of this epic scale – the design and construction chal- lenges have been intense. Among them: Working Around an Existing Tenant. The need to work around an eighth floor

tenant well into construction

proved extremely challenging, accord- ing to Sinha. “As time went on, it be- came very difficult because we had to keep their fairly stringent lab up and running for most of the project,” he said. “The tenant had significant infra- structure throughout the building in- cluding the air handlers and power that snaked all

throughout the building.

It created lot of work-arounds for the construction team, as well as the owner and architect.” The DEA finally moved out of the facility in March of 2015.

The team from McCarthy is pictured on the Bay Area Headquarters Authority (BAHA) renovation project, looking out from the eight-story atrium that cuts through all eight levels of the building.

16 September/October 2015

Weighing the Best Seismic Upgrade Approach. The team worked through extensive design scenarios during pre- construction and performed in-depth cost, flexibility, and schedule studies to determine the best approach for the seismic upgrade. Eventually, they settled on a perimeter shotcrete solu- tion in lieu of sheer walls. “It not only

California Constructor