Transbay Transit Center Tour

Hamilton + Aitken staff were able to get a backstage tour of the Transbay Transit Center, currently under construction. Tour-goers were impressed by the structural design as well as the geothermal system.  Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the new 5-story Transit Center features a Caltrain and California High Speed Rail terminal at the bottom, a shopping center level, a concourse level, a bus terminal level, and a 5.4 acre park on the roof.  According to the guide, Ned Kahn’s water jets at the park will correspond to the level of activity on the bus deck, so perhaps you will be able to tell whether your bus has arrived by the height of the water jet.

Hilltop Then & Now

The Sunshine School (now Hilltop High School) was built as a New Deal project in 1937 to combine the Sunshine School for Crippled Children with the Buena Vista Health School, which served children affected by lung and heart ailments. Despite its intended use, the Sunshine School had very few accessible features. Some Buena Vista students had to be carried up the stairs to their classes.

Hilltop is now used as a high school and support service center for pregnant and parenting teens; a Family Service Agency site providing childcare, counseling, and community services to the public; as well as the offices of the San Francisco Education Fund. While updating the site to current standards and uses, Hamilton + Aitken paid particular attention to the quality of finishes throughout, given the historic importance of the building.  For instance, to retain a piece of the building’s historic use, we repurposed the mosaic tiled walls of the building’s original hydrotherapy pool to serve as the kitchen servery line.  The overall result of the project is a multifunctional, modern building that serves the community, pays homage to its past, and now has an elevator!