Influential Dutch firm MVRDV has unveiled a new mixed-use residential building planned for San Francisco's waterfront. The 23-story tower's blocky design is inspired by the rugged topography of the city.
The project's rather boring name of Building A comes from it being one part of a major development named Mission Rock. The development is a dozen years in the making and will transform 28 acres (11 hectares) of windswept parking lot into a new neighborhood. It will also feature buildings by Studio Gang, Henning Larsen, and WORKac.
Building A will rise to a height of 240 ft (73 m) and feature an integrated podium plus another that's not actually joined to the tower proper. The roofs of the podiums will sport greenery and terraces that offer choice views.
Its pixelated design brings to mind MVRDV's other works, like the Baltyk Tower and Downtown One Tirana and its interior will measure 380,000 sq ft (roughly 35,000 sq m). This will be split between retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, offices on a few floors above, and residential space for the remaining floors.
"San Francisco combines rigid grids with a daring natural topography," says MVRDV's press release. "While Mission Rock will become an extension of the city’s existing urban grid, the site misses the topographical qualities and challenges that make some of San Francisco’s traditional neighborhoods so charming. What if we recreated a rocky hill within the parcel? MVRDV’s concept design for Building A was inspired by Californian rock formations, with a narrow valley running between steep rocky walls that extend all the way up the tower western facade."
Building A also involves Perry Architects and the project, along with the larger Mission Rock neighborhood, is being developed by Tishman Speyer along with San Francisco Giants, and the Port of San Francisco. Construction is slated to start sometime in 2020 but we've no word yet on an expected date of completion.
Source: MVRDV