Hotel in San Francisco Seeks Special Status

The owner of the boutique Orchard Garden near Chinatown desires a LEED-certified facility "at any level." Energy control in each room is one key sustainable component of the $17-million project, scheduled to be completed in the summer.

By Robert Carlsen

With construction underway and a topping out scheduled for next month, San Francisco's Orchard Garden Hotel is aiming to be the first LEED-New Construction-certified hotel in the U.S., according to the owner and Swinerton Builders, the general contractor.

Bill Krill, Swinerton's operations manager and the firm's "Green Building" chairman, said the owner, Mrs. S.C. Huang, who also owns and operates the nearby Orchard Hotel, wanted a LEED certification "at any level." The rating "would give her some leverage in the boutique hotel market in San Francisco," Krill added.

A goal of LEED certified is still in place, said Oliver Dibble, senior project manager at Swinerton. "We are planning to include LEED innovation points for energy control in individual rooms by means of room key card in addition to the building management controls," he said. "We will also be using mold resistant materials and duct sealing systems to reduce future problems with mold growth in enclosed systems."

Swinerton is also using recycled content in building materials and the waste control program is being closely monitored.

The $17-million hotel project at 466 Bush St. consists of one basement below grade and 10 levels above grade. The structure is conventional cast-in-place concrete with full- height shear walls. The exterior is a mix of plaster, curtain wall, punched windows, natural stone and "Le Décor" troweled on natural limestone.

Completion is scheduled for the summer. The architect on the project is Architecture International of San Francisco; the structural engineer is Murphy Burr Curry Inc. of San Francisco.

Sustainable elements include low VOC and recycled products for interior finishes, low-flow water fixtures, FSC maple wood furniture and a "super-efficient" energy-management system that will reduce energy 10 percent to 20 percent below Title 24 standards, Krill said.

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He added that the owner is so keen on green building practices that she is planning a lobby exhibit that will detail the construction methods and products used.

Sister property to the award-winning Orchard Hotel at 665 Bush St., the 55,751-sq.-ft. Orchard Garden Hotel, near the Grant Sreet entranceway to Chinatown, will feature 86 guestrooms-including four suites with terraces-as well as a fitness center, boardroom, rooftop garden and 56-seat restaurant.

Huang, 81, and her husband opened the original Orchard Hotel in Singapore in 1958, which they sold in 1983 to build and operate another Orchard Hotel in Perth, Australia, where she now resides most of the year. The Huangs purchased a San Francisco hotel (now the Hotel Rex) and a vacant lot near Union Square in the mid-'80s. After her husband died in 1993, Mrs. Huang spent several years making plans to build and operate a new Orchard Hotel in San Francisco, which was opened five years ago.

Orchard Garden General Manager Stefan Muhle said he is anticipating room rates at the new property to be "in the $180 to $220 range" for deluxe rooms and "$300 to $400 for suites." Rates will include breakfast and morning newspaper. He said all rooms will have "wonderfully comfy beds with thick mattresses, down comforters, monogrammed high-thread cotton sheets, DSL/Wi-Fi access and flat-panel television sets."