The Metropolitan Maximizes the Views: Much of San Francisco in Sight From High-Rise Condominiums

The structural engineering firm confined structural elements to the core of the towers to help maximize the scenic views from the towers. Residents can see the Bay Bridge, Yerba Buena Island and Twin Peaks. Built by Howard S. Wright Construction, the 605,000-sq.-ft. project opened in late July.

By Thomas York

	PHOTO COURTESY OF HELLER-MANUS ARCHITECTS

In San Francisco, condominiums with sweeping vistas are in big demand.

Just ask Clark Manus, a partner in the design firm of Heller-Manus Architects.

"Views are important, and people want to take advantage of them," said Manus. "That's what we tried to do."

His San Francisco-based firm was responsible for the design of the Metropolitan, one of the newest high-rise condominiums projects in the city.

The project, which consists of a 20- story and 27-story tower, got under way in 2002 and finished in late July.

The $300 million, 605,000-sq.-ft. project, which consists of 342 units located in two towers, occupies the block bordered by First, Folsom, Fremont and Harrison streets. The parking area takes up 155,000 sq. ft. and common areas measure 33,500 sq. ft.

Buyers are snapping up the units. Condos in the first tower are sold out, while 75 percent of the condos in the second tower have been sold.

Manus said he wanted to emphasize the sweeping vistas available from the Rincon Hill site.

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"We wanted to take advantage of the site orientation and emphasize views to different georgraphical points, either the hills or the water or downtown," he added.

Those views include San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to the south, San Francisco Bay and Yerba Buena Island to the east, the financial district to the north and Twin Peaks and Diamond Heights to the west.

To maximize the Bay Area scenes that new condo owners find so desirable, Manus called on the services of Ron Klemencic, president of the Seattle-based structural engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates.

Klemencic said he confined structural elements to the core of the towers to help maximize the views from the exterior of the towers.

"The biggest challenge in taller concrete buildings is to devise a structural scheme that is not only safe but economical, and it must work with the marketing plan of the building," he said.

"Most of the time, developers are selling the view, so it is very important to keep the large beams off the exterior walls and around the perimeter and put them into the core," he added.

The Metropolitan rivals the height of many of the city's office buildings, but its significantly smaller floor plates made the engineering process more complex because building systems had to be crowded into smaller spaces.

Manus said the final structural design was different from anything else. "The two towers are among the first examples of a curtain wall in a residential tower," he added. The curtain wall incorporates floor-to-ceiling glass walls on the corner units.

The rest of the exterior features pre-cast masonry with punched windows and bay windows for the living rooms.

The San Francisco office of Howard S. Wright Construction Co. was the general contractor for the owner, Los Angeles-based Crescent Heights, which specializes in developing high-rise condominiums.

The Los Angeles office of HKS Inc. did the construction drawings, while Vancouver, B.C.-based Mitchell Freedland Design handled the interior design of the units and public spaces.

	The Metropolitan in San Francisco is a $300 million, 605,000-sq.-ft. development that consists of 342 units in two high-rise towers. Photo courtesy of Heller-Manus.

The condo units consist of studios, one-, two- and three-bedrooms in four configurations. The smaller units sell for around $600,000 and the larger units on the higher floors fetch $1 million or more.

Howard S. Wright performed the site demolition and excavation, as well as the construction of the foundation.

Manager Chris Palermo, Howard Wright's project manager, said major subcontractors included San Diego-based Clark Pacific, which did pre-cast and installed the masonry >>

exterior panels, and the San Francisco office of Dynalectric, which performed the electrical work. Fremont-based Walters & Wolf installed the curtain wall and glazing.

Palermo said problems were expected in the highly trafficked area immediately south of San Francisco's financial district.

For example, work couldn't spill into surrounding streets after 3 p.m. because of traffic congestion, he added. That restriction made for tight working conditions, especially in terms of bringing in the building materials.

Crews had access to an alley, which was heavily utilized.

In the early stages of construction, Howard S. Wright also worked closely with Pacific Gas & Electric to "bury existing overhead power lines that surrounded the site on four sides," Palermo said.

"The lines, which interfered with construction activities, almost brought construction to a halt," he added. "We were a day away from shutting down construction."

Palermo said he dedicated one employee to document and photograph the installation of sound insulation and isolators in the condominiums.

"We wanted to ensure individual homeowner integrity, so we had a full-time acoustical engineer who photographed every single wall inside before we put sheet rock on it," he said. "Buyers are given the pictures so they know what's inside the walls of their unit."

It's also a sales tool, because "neighbors hearing neighbors is not a good sign of a well-built project," Palermo added.