The “MacLac Building D” project is the adaptive reuse of an historic brick structure in San Francisco’s Showplace Square historic warehouse and industrial district. Prior to Building D’s current transformation for the 21st century, since its construction in 1906 until two years ago it functioned as part of a lacquer and paint manufacturing complex. This classically gabled, industrial brick edifice was known as “Building D” in its factory complex, “MacLac”, which reflects the previous (1958-2020) owner’s name “R. J. McGlennon” combined with the word “lacquer”.
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International Interior Design Awards 2023
MacLac Building D – Rebirth of An Historic Paint Factory
Mixed-Use Interior Built
Firm
Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects with PLAD (Peter Logan Architect & Design)
Designer
Peter Logan, Kent Royle, and Marcy Wong
Design Team
Architects: Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects with PLAD (Peter Logan Architect & Design) | Contractor & Timber Installer/Framer: RHC Construction | Structural Engineer: Gregory P. Luth & Associates, Inc. (GPLA) | Mechanical Electrical Engineer: Bayside Mechanical Inc. |Steel Fabrication Sub-Contractor: Solher Iron, Inc. & Emerald Steel | Lighting Designer: Architecture & Light | Historic Preservation Consultant: Mark Hulbert Preservation Architecture
Location
San Francisco, California
Country
United States
Photographer/Copyright
©Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects with PLAD (Peter Logan Architect & Design)
The building condition that the architects found was akin to a rat maze, resulting from a century-plus accretion of ad hoc partitions, random levels, obsolete industrial equipment installations and a surfeit of detritus. The solution was to raze the maze, exposing a previously hidden, magnificent volume of the historic building and the original construction materials of brick, wood and steel. This was followed by complementing the historic materials with 21st Century steel seismic elements (braces, diaphragms) and architectural features (ridge skylights, perforated metal guard rails and stairs).
Building D’s architectural rejuvenation enhances and complements its historically industrial heritage by:
1) introducing abundant daylight through ridge skylights extending the length of the structure,
2) providing architectural lighting which highlights historic brick walls and new architectural and structural elements,
3) incorporating crucial seismic upgrading with structural diaphragms that double as an architectural level that creates usable floor area with exceptional vantage points of the building volume,
4) accentuating the symmetry of the original building with an open second level whose footprint provides geometric reinforcement.
The innovative steel ‘king post’ truss and structurally suspended Cross Laminated Timber mezzanine floor structural design visually highlight the building’s geometry, original wood, and masonry while providing seismic safety and additional column free ground floor leasable floor area. The seismic diaphragm provided by the mezzanine results in a bonus floor area, adding 2,555 sq feet to the ground level of 3,784 sq ft.
LEED Gold Certification features of the project are achieved including HVAC, recyclable and non-toxic building materials, water saving fixtures, abundant daylighting (skylight and windows), high albedo roofing, accessibility to public transportation.
This rebirth of the historic building with its newly unveiled, lofty interior volume, is ideal for uses in accordance with the City’s PDR (“Production Distribution and Repair”) zoning which includes showroom, restaurant, office, retail, light manufacturing, arts-related and design-related establishments.