Project Spotlight January 15, 2024

A creative community grows in an old San Francisco shipyard

Pier 70’s Building 12 makes the future through the past.

Building 12

Project

San Francisco, California

Location

230,000 square feet

Size

Perkins&Will

Brookfield Properties and the Port of San Francisco

Developed by

Building 12 was constructed on San Francisco’s Pier 70 in 1941, when it was one of the most prolific shipyards in the U.S. Decades after shipbuilding in the area declined, Brookfield Properties and the Port of San Francisco teamed up to transform the industrial site into a mixed-use neighborhood, repurposing Building 12 as a hub for a new community.

Today, the building’s weathered steel façade invites the public into a grand market hall and new mezzanine through three striking red entry portals and operable window walls. Artisan and maker studios fill out the added second level, while the upper floor is home to a flexible workspace. With its special blend of industrial grit and refinement, Building 12 ties the new neighborhood to its roots while looking to the future.

From its heyday in the late 1800s to its golden years during World War II, Pier 70 and Building 12 have had their share of ups and downs. While the war sparked a new wave of construction, with skilled shipwrights and ironworkers bustling about, the fervor gradually faded after the 1950s, leading to a period of stagnation.

However, in 1982, when the Port of San Francisco took ownership, a 20-year redevelopment plan went into full swing to revive the once-thriving shipbuilding site.

With its raw textures, lofty ceilings, and time-worn patina, the renovation of Building 12 showcases its industrial aesthetic while adapting it for the building’s new use as a catalyst for innovation. Visitors enter via three new crimson entryways, a nod to the original structure’s historic use, paint, and scale.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

The potential of the site is limitless—from a taproom and production bakery to bespoke shoemaking and furniture prototyping. Building 12’s flexible design and programming reflects a unique public-private partnership that adapts to changing market trends.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

With retail and events on the first floor, a hands-on maker space on the second, and an office loft on top, the building is designed to foster idea exchange and encourage unexpected collaborations.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

The catwalks on the north and south ends offer panoramic views and transparency, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the manufacturing experience, feel connected to the surrounding landscape, and appreciate the sheer scale of the building.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

What is old is new again. A mix of tenants will soon flood the space—all with the common thread of local craftsmanship—a new generation of people using the same place in different ways.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

To make the project resilient in the face of a projected 100-year sea level rise, the team lifted the 2,100-ton building 10 feet off its original foundations and raised the surrounding site with fill soil.

The new elevation allowed for the creation of basement parking. A new second level and mezzanine were also added during the renovation, nearly doubling the building’s square footage.

(Photo: Courtesy Plant Construction Company, L.P.)

Now perched atop fresh columns and concrete walls, the beauty, charm, and history of Building 12, along with the adjacent Building 15 structural canopy, are on full display.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

“We did not touch the outside; it looks almost exactly the same as it did,” says Tim Bacon, Senior Director of Development at Brookfield Properties. The interplay between the weld marks left by the lifting infrastructure, blending with the existing structure’s quirks and imperfections, become a part of the building’s continuing story.

(Photo: Bruce Damonte)

“Today cities are becoming more homogeneous, but developers can reverse this trend by embracing adaptive reuse. Putting a historic building back into use is not only a greener and more profitable choice for your bottom line, but authenticity is also a selling point for consumers and tenants.”

Tim Bacon, Senior Director of Development, Brookfield Properties

Learn more about the Building 12 project >

(Main Photo: Bruce Damonte)