Salesforce Tower
San Francisco
Pelli Clarke & Partners
The Salesforce tower is an integral part of the redevelopment of San Francisco’s financial district. It is tied directly to the new Transit Center and a four acre, rooftop park. The tower gently tapers upward to 1170 feet and is currently the tallest building in San Francisco. Unique features of the curtain wall include radiused insulated glass units, a lattice of vertical and horizontal sunshades, and louvered vents for fresh air intake at each level.
Illustrations for the design of the tower’s crown clad in perforated metal panel.
The light art created by artist Jim Campbell was designed for the tower’s crown. This glowing public art is now a regular experience for San Francisco. The light source is composed of LED integrated with perforated metal panels.
Building height 1170 feet
Fresh air intake through vents in the curtain wall at each level enhance indoor air quality.
Plan: Typical Office Level
Plan: Street Level
The lobby experience appears to merge with the exterior public sidewalk through the transparency created by full-height glass walls.
Illustrations of the lobby’s feature wall explore stone panels framed by metal accents. The varying depths of the metal accents express similar characteristics as the exterior vertical and horizontal sunshades.
My contributions to the design include regularizing the building geometry for efficient curtain wall construction and developing the design of the tower crown and lobby interiors while working closely with Cesar Pelli and Fred Clarke. My role extended through the design phases which included a period of documentation and coordination with Kendall Heaton, the architect of record. Design solutions were achieved through an iterative, collaborative process with the client group, Hines and Boston Properties.
