MacLac Building D - Rebirth of An Historic Paint Factory

The big idea of the project is the preservation and restoration of a historic brick structure that enables adaptive reuse from heavy industrial functions to 21st C. commercial uses. This rebirth of the historic building with its lofty volume is ideal for uses per the PDR ("Production Distribution and Repair") zoning which includes showroom, restaurant, office, retail, light manufacturing, and arts- related, and design-related establishments.

The former factory in the San Francisco “warehouse” district, is saved from irreversible deterioration and is now protected from seismic collapse. Constructed in 1906 by the R.N. Nason Company and long used by the McGlennon Company to manufacture lacquer and paint (“MacLac”) the building is representative of San Francisco's reindustrialization following the 1906 earthquake and fire devastation. This edifice maintains the cultural and historic heritage of the city and neighborhood.

Building D’s rejuvenation accentuates the shell’s symmetric geometry by introducing abundant daylight through ridge skylights, providing architectural lighting to highlight historic brick walls and steel roof trusses, incorporating seismic upgrading with structural diaphragms that double as an architectural level that creates usable floor area with exceptional vantage points of the building volume. LEED Gold features are achieved through HVAC design, building materials, water-saving fixtures, daylighting, and accessibility to public transportation. The benefits are a cleaner, more vibrant, and safer neighborhood and the stimulation of economic vitality through job creation resulting from the metamorphosis of a decrepit, vacant shell into a seismically secure, architecturally upgraded building whose functions will both serve and provide jobs to the community.