In collaboration with the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency and the city’s Planning Department, SOM developed the conceptual framework for the Transbay Redevelopment Project—a dramatic expansion of downtown San Francisco that is transforming nearly 40 acres around the Transbay Center, the region’s future transit hub.
The project involves the regeneration of reclaimed transportation infrastructure and underutilized or vacant properties, adding new housing, office and commercial space, and hotel rooms, along with public parks, open space, and pedestrian friendly alleys. As a result, a high-density, transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood has begun to emerge within walking distance of the Financial District and waterfront.
Informed by public planning processes, the Design for Development plan established frameworks for land use, circulation and parking, streetscapes and open space, and vertical development. It has served to provide consistency in urban design while allowing for architectural creativity, balance density with access to sunlight and open space, incorporate significant pedestrian-friendly public improvements, and activate ground-floor space. It has also required that 35 percent of the new residences built be affordable housing. Development controls and design guidelines were created to support the community’s vision of Transbay as a distinctly livable, economically diverse, and environmentally sustainable urban neighborhood.
Design
