SPUR Urban Center: the architecture of honesty

  SPUR Urban Center/photo Calys

“What does the building want to be?”

 

That question served as the great architect Louis Kahn’s organizing principle for architecture and it could just as well be architect Peter Pfau’s mantra for the recently completed Urban Center in San Francisco’s South of Market district. The Urban Center will open this week as the new permanent home for San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR), the preeminent think tank for urban policy in San Francisco.

Formerly housed in some rather tired office space on Sutter Street, SPUR truly needed a new location and look. Acquiring the property at 654 Mission Street was SPUR’s first challenge. Raising funds to construct a new building constituted the next challenge; as a nonprofit member-driven organization, SPUR had to convince donors that each dollar would be spent wisely, even frugally. 

 

As I’ve noted in earlier columns, it is often the challenge of a limited budget that produces some of the most satisfying architecture. After a decade of over-the-top, mega-budget architecture around the world, the Great Recession had put the brakes on extravagance for extravagance’s sake. Pfau, who hasn’t been an architect of that cloth anyway, reflected, “SPUR is an organization open to all who are interested. Therefore, a transparent, visually accessible building was critically important.” The building exemplifies what I call the “architecture of honesty” and stands in stark contrast to the recent trend of ostentatious, yet poorly designed, buildings

 

Pfau embodied the transparent nature of SPUR in the building with a predominantly glass façade punctuated with horizontal louvers for shading. Completing the transparent nature, each floor has fenestration on the back, alley-facing wall. This not only allows a clear view through the building, it provides daylight in the deepest areas of the building. 

 

The translucent tower on the east side of the façade encloses the staircase, which is so prominently placed in the building that one is rather encouraged to use it instead of the obligatory elevator. No formal staircase here but a simply designed and satisfying way to get from floor to floor. The translucent glass panels illuminate the staircase interior with—once again—daylight. At night, the stairs tower glows over the street, illuminated by the backlit glass panels.

 

The choice of materials tends toward the simple; steel, glass, and exposed concrete block make up the building envelope. Yes, that’s exposed concrete block and most of the lateral walls in the private offices and conference rooms have it. It’s a frugal statement but one that is in keeping with the mission of SPUR—good solid work with no frills. Same with the steel seismic bracing—it’s there, it’s visible, and it works within the architecture.

 

The organization of the building is so straightforward as to be obvious when you walk in the front door. Gallery space on the first floor, public meeting room for 125 on the second, staff and office space on three, and an urban research library on four. You intuitively understand exactly where you are in this building.

 

The SPUR Urban Center is open to the public all day Saturday and is featuring the first of a series of exhibits on urban planning in San Francisco over the years. Go on by and check out the exhibit and the building. You’ll find a “building that wanted to be” an honest expression of its occupants, an honest piece of architecture.