The Avery Mixed Use Building / OMA + Fougeron Architecture

Curated by María Francisca González

Architects: Fougeron Architecture, OMA
Area: 906470 ft²
Photographs:Bruce Damonte, Jason ORear
Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
MEP Engineer: CB Engineers
Interior Design: Clodagh Design
Landscape Architect: CMG, Cliff Lowe Associates

The Avery Mixed Use Building / OMA + Fougeron Architecture - Exterior Photography, Cityscape, Facade — Courtesy of Fougeron Architecture. Image © Jason ORear

Text description provided by the architects. Related California, the West Coast affiliate of the nation’s largest privately-owned real estate firm, Related Companies, announces the completion of the penthouse and amenities of its highly anticipated residential high-rise, The Avery. Located in the heart of San Francisco’s newly emerged Transbay District, the tower is designed by OMA in collaboration with New York firm Clodagh Design (tower interior), Fougeron Architecture (podium architects), HKS (architect of record) and Jay Jeffers (penthouse interior).

Located four blocks from the San Francisco Bay, The Avery will be an important anchor along the eastern end of Folsom Street. Comprised of a 576-foot tower and two podium buildings, OMA’s masterplan for The Avery defines a residential development with an urban gesture.

“Transbay is changing into a place where San Francisco’s future is developing. Our building is located at the neighborhood’s center, so we wanted the site to be both a connector and a destination” said Jason Long, Partner at OMA. “We are thrilled to be completing our first tower on the West Coast. The building is shaped to weave together multiple scales and optimize views out to the city and Bay,” continued Shohei Shigematsu, Partner at OMA

While residential towers are typically closed off from the life of the city around them, The Avery opens the site to the public by introducing a new lane connecting Folsom Street―the neighborhood’s main boulevard—with Clementina―an intimate pedestrian corridor. Splitting the podium in two, the lane activates the building’s base with an urban living room lined with retail amenities, lush green walls and landscaping to provide a respite for the neighborhood.

At the west side of the site, a 56-story residential tower combines condominiums, market rate apartments and affordable housing with various shared amenity spaces. The same urban gesture that creates the lane translates vertically up the lower half of the tower. At the 33^rd Floor, above the datum established by adjacent buildings, the south face of the building is sculpted to mirror the sloping façade on the north below. As on the north face, the tapering façade on the north is expressed as a series of stepped projections or crenellations.

The tower interiors were designed by Clodagh Design, who were inspired by the Bay Area’s connection to nature and wellness. Informed by the architecture as well, the design establishes warmth and intimacy within the building. “The Avery design experience has been both a deep joy and an honor for me and for the entire team at Clodagh Design, from start to finish,” said Irish-born, New York City-based Clodagh. Related Companies understands and encourages Clodagh Design’s wellness tenets of biophilia, Feng Shui, biogeometry and chakra healing that create total harmony and wellbeing for all of The Avery’s residents and the staff alike.

TRANSBAY BLOCK 8

Block 8 begins with an urban gesture to the neighborhood and a desire to open the site to the public. Introducing a mid-block passage between Folsom and Clementina activates the interior open space and creates a paseo for both Block 8 residents and neighbors alike. The paseo lends a sense of discovery, respite and community just steps away from the vehicular traffic of First, Fremont and Folsom.

The Folsom Street side of Block 8 is filled with retail shops and residential lobbies creating active edges as well as porosity around and through the site. The porosity is further enhanced with the paseo. At the podium level, the buildings flanking either side of the paseo gently slope back to enable more light and air and invite Block 8 residents and any neighbors to wander into the open space. On Fremont, the folding planes of the podium building along with the dynamic massing along Folsom Street create a lively streetscape and playful podium.

The open space, or urban living room, is surrounded by retail shops, a resident community room serving the affordable housing population and residential lobbies. These diverse program elements will create a blend of users to activate the space day and night. Pedestrians can pick up a bite to eat, read a book, meet friends, or take a shortcut to pick up their two-wheelers at the bike kitchen. The urban living room may transform into an outdoor cinema under the twinkling Tivoli lights. The paseo might be filled with pop up market stalls to host a farmer’s market or the Clementina pocket park might host a block party.