The Dome Remains

San Francisco Centre Preserves Historic Structure

By Thomas York

A 500,000-lb., century-old dome will be part of San Francisco's newest shopping destination.

The massive steel and glass cupola was first erected above a seven-story atrium as part of the reconstruction of the Emporium department store, which was destroyed by a major earthquake in 1906. The dome will assume a prominent position atop the new $410 million San Francisco Centre project.

A 65-ft.-long section of the original 1896 façade that somehow survived a fierce fire triggered by the temblor also will be part of the 1.5 million-sq.-ft. mixed-use development.

The infill development will house a Bloomingdale's department store, 200 specialty stores and nine-screen cinema complex, plus 235,000 sq. ft. of commercial office space when it's finished by September 2006.

Los Angeles-based Westfield America and Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises are developing the project, which will connect to an existing multi-story mall next door. Once combined, the complex will be the largest urban mall west of the Mississippi at 1.5 million sq. ft., according to the developers. Westfield Construction, a unit of Westfield America, is the project's general contractor.

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Cleveland-based KA Architects is the executive architect for the project and provided working drawings, while the Los Angeles office of RTKL Associates Inc. served as the design architect for the retail, entertainment and office portions of the project.

Construction has been under way since the spring. Foundation work is mostly done, and ironworkers are now erecting the steel frame.

In May, ironworkers fitted the 100-ft.-wide dome to a temporary steel-frame perch so that Westfield could complete the demolition of the existing structure and start construction of a new building.

Barry Widen, Westfield's senior project manager, said lifting the dome took "several years" of planning and preparation by his firm and two San Francisco-based subcontractors, Sheedy Drayage Co. and general contractor Swinerton Builders.

"I had never done anything like this before," Widen added.

Before raising the dome, workers removed the glazing, paint and roofing materials and wrapped it in a protective blanket.

Ironworkers then put the dome on a steel-frame "table" before lifting it with four powerful jacks to its temporary resting place. With the steel table and protective materials, the overall weight to be lifted grew to 650,000 lbs. "A massive amount of weight to lift," Widen said.

He said workers lifted the dome in two 30-ft. lifting stages. Each lifting stage took four hours.

Once ironworkers erect the steel frame for the new building, they'll lower the dome 2 ft. to its permanent home, Widen said.

"We did a tremendous amount of mulling over the structural and engineering issues," he added. "But the actual lifting of the dome … came off without a hitch. We believe our success was due to the fact that it had been thought through so well."

Similar measures were taken to protect the historic seven-story-high wall that has been facing Market Street for 108 years.

Crews built a temporary concrete support wall and tube-steel frame structure behind the façade and secured the old facade and frame so that the new shell can be built behind it.

Widen said directing such a complex project in the heart of San Francisco's retail district has proved daunting. "Since there is no lay-down room outside the building footprint, we have to go from the truck right into the building," he said.

To ease traffic congestion on Fifth, Market and Mission streets, Widen said he created the position of dock master to schedule deliveries from suppliers.

"He observes traffic flow around the job and tells people to go away if they're not scheduled to be there," Widen said.

He said he also dedicated two tower cranes plus three lifts to haul materials directly from trucks onto the site.

The project got under way in December with the demolition of the old store building and 12 small structures used by the old Emporium store fronting Mission Street.

Major subs include the Oakland office of the Cleveland Wrecking Co. (demolition); Concord-based Conco Cement Co.; Pleasanton-based Herrick Steel; Architectural Glass and Aluminum (the glass curtain wall and panels); and the Concord office of KHS&S (drywall and plastering).

John Tindall, project developer for Forest City, said the original Colusa sandstone facade would be restored "as best as possible," given the number of paint coatings it's received over the years.

The sandstone, taken from a quarry in rural Colusa County, northwest of Sacramento, was used to cover a number of the city's late 19th century buildings, including the Flood Building directly across the street and the Ferry Building at the foot of Market Street.

"[The wall] has been painted so many times over the years that we're just going to go ahead and paint it again" rather than attempt to restore its original appearance, Tindall said.

He added that bits and pieces of the old building, such as the balustrades, escalators and stairs reconstructed after the 1908 earthquake would be melded into the new mall.

San Francisco-based Carey & Co. Architecture is providing design services for the preservation elements. New York-based Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates designed the exterior of the new five-story 338,000-sq.-ft. Bloomingdales store, which will face Mission Street with a glass curtain wall. Dallas-based Robert Young Associates is serving as architect for the Bloomingdale's shell.

"Bloomingdales' philosophy is modern and cutting edge," said Kohn co-founder and partner Gene Kohn. "Traditional department store design features solid walls, but Bloomingdales has turned that notion inside out. Pedestrians will be able to peer into the store and watch all of the activities inside. The glass wall is elegant, but expensive, but it will give a vitality to the street and draw people into the store."

Steve Eimer, vice president for Westfield's development efforts, said the project will use about 38,000 cu. yds. of concrete, 8,500 tons of structural steel and 2,200 tons of concrete reinforcing.

"Now that it's under construction, things are coming together quite well," he added.