Rising Above the San Francisco Skyline, DPR Performs One-of-a-Kind, 60,000-sq.-ft. Renovation for Dodge & Cox

Unique and original—words that immediately come to mind when describing DPR’s latest project in the 1.8 million-sq.-ft. 555 California Street building located in the heart of San Francisco’s financial district. Towering above the famous city skyline, the roughly eight-month, 60,000-sq.-ft. headquarters project for Dodge & Cox, an asset management firm, included the demolition and renovation of the 39th and 40th floors of the 52-story Bank of America building, transforming the 35-year-old space into a “one-of-a-kind office with a view to remember.”

Unique Features

According to Steve Suzuki of Gensler, the architect of record, the 40th floor was one of the original executive floors with a 12-ft.-high ceiling, which is unusual for high-rise office buildings.

The extra height provided some unique design opportunities for Ronette King, hall of fame designer for Gensler, who was responsible for all of the custom design features.

“The challenge was to add functional office space while taking advantage of the ceiling height and the incredible view,” said Suzuki. “We tried to maximize the vistas by using an enormous amount of glass—12 ft. high—and designed custom grid-patterned wood walls around the perimeter to create an open feeling among the private offices.”

Incorporating the existing granite on the walls of the elevator lobby and exterior columns, the design called for the addition of two communicating stairs, one with a two-story wood wall and the other with back-painted, acid-etched glass cladding that ties the two floors together. The same glass cladding is carried throughout the space and can be found in the bathrooms and kitchen and pantry areas. The project also included custom built light fixtures, work stations and motorized, high-density file systems, as well as a sound masking system to pipe in white noise to help eliminate sound transmission between offices for increased privacy.

In addition, DPR built out two trading floors, complete with its own Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) system, and four audio/visual conference rooms, installing integrated touch pad, wireless control systems.

Original Approach

“We brought DPR in early on, because we wanted a strong partner to help build the space, especially with all of the atypical design features and fine detailing,” said Suzuki. “As part of the selection process, we interviewed a number of general contractors. The DPR team was selected for their current knowledge of the building, their approach to problem solving and their commitment to schedule.”

The Dodge & Cox headquarters, which wrapped up in March, is DPR’s ninth project in the 555 California Street building over the last four years. In fact, during this job, DPR was also a tenant.

“To better serve the owner and architect and give the required onsite support of the field team, project managers and MEP coordinators for this complex project, we rented a small space on the 28th floor,” said Greg de Jong, project manager for DPR. “Our construction office also provided an extra area for storing tools and materials. During the thick of construction, we had upwards of 100 people working on the two floors, which created a very tight site.”

DPR scheduled double shifts, working at night, to ensure that construction noise did not disrupt building tenants during business hours. Onsite MEP coordinators also collaborated with the owner’s maintenance engineers, subcontractors and building management engineers to start-up and commission all of the mechanical, electrical and life safety systems.

The biggest challenge, however, was the process of finalizing all of the architectural finishes, obtaining approval and then procuring the materials. A number of the finishes, from paints to wallpaper to wood colorings, were being designed during the selection and purchasing process. The team also worked closely together to finely detail every angle of the project, with daily onsite meetings between the architect and lead superintendent.

“The completely original design and critical attention to detail were satisfying challenges, and the team went to great lengths to take care of the owner’s needs while maintaining the integrity of Gensler’s vision,” said Bill Schalich of DPR.

Suzuki added, “DPR did a great job; the client is ecstatic.”