Park Tower, a newly planned office high rise in San Francisco, has many architectural flourishes, like a three-story lobby and expansive views of San Francisco Bay from 70% of its 43 floors.
But the amenities that set this 605-foot-tall building apart are its 50,000 sf of outdoor and open spaces that include 14 skydecks (one every three floors) and large terraces on its 12th and 28th floors. Facebook is leasing the entire building’s 756,000 sf of office space.
The skydecks were a design solution to San Francisco’s bulk density guidelines, which require that buildings be set back at certain heights. As it rises, Park Tower’s floor plates reduce from 27,500 sf to 17,000 sf to 12,000 sf.
Ben Kochalski, Principal and Director of JBC West with The John Buck Company, one of Park Tower’s owners and developers, notes that this “wedding cake” effect “presented the opportunity for multiple decks.” As it happened, the high rise’s architect, Goettsch Partners, was working on another building at the time that had only one deck, for which there was considerable demand. Park Tower’s developers concluded that adding more decks might stimulate tenant interest. “We embraced the idea,” recalls Kochalski.
Scott Seyer, AIA, LEED AP, Principal and Senior Project Designer with Goettsch Partners, says the only design restrictions in this building were its height and bulk. However, the terraces (which are 9,000 sf and 6,000 sf, respectively) and skydecks (which range from 700 to 1,000 sf) are not considered by the city to be part of the building’s bulk density. Including so many outdoor areas “was a way of doing something interesting to make the tower stand out, and provide desirable usage.
“We see this as a win-win for the developers, both from a rental and architectural standpoint,” says Seyer. (The skydeck and terrace spaces are factored into the rental agreement with the tenant.)
Kochalski sees Park Tower’s design as part of a larger trend toward “convergence of hospitality, office, and residential.” As amenities like these become standard, “the challenge is to fit out the space so it can change to meet different tenants’ needs. Flexibility is key.” He points to another of his firm’s projects that can add cold storage if a tech company leases the space.
Having so many skydecks and terraces at Park Tower, however, presented some issues. Kochalski said his firm consulted with wind experts to figure out how wind would hit the building horizontally and vertically at different heights. Part of the design focused on getting the appropriate glass height for the outdoor spaces, anchoring the exterior lighting, and establishing minimum weight standards for outdoor furniture and equipment.
Seyer adds that calculating the ROI for Park Tower’s amenities factored in the healthier environments they provide for occupants. “We’re seeing this demand for outdoor access on almost every project we’re working on today,” he says.
Kochalski concedes that there’s a point of diminishing return on amenities, and where that lies depends on how much additional capital is needed, what’s the yield on cost, and where current rents are. “But sometimes you need to push against all that to be competitive,” says Kochalski.
Click here to return to the "Mega Amenities" Game Changer story
Related Stories
| Jan 20, 2015
Avery Associates unveils plans for London's second-tallest tower
The 270-meter tower, dubbed the No. 1 Undershaft, will stand next to the city's "Cheesegrater" building.
| Jan 13, 2015
A new record: 97 buildings taller than 200 meters completed in 2014
Last year was a record-breaking year for high-rise construction, with 97 tall buildings completed worldwide, including 11 "supertalls," according to a new report from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat.
| Jan 9, 2015
Technology and media tenants, not financial companies, fill up One World Trade Center
The financial sector has almost no presence in the new tower, with creative and media companies, such as magazine publisher Conde Nast, dominating the vast majority of leased space.
| Dec 28, 2014
Robots, drones, and printed buildings: The promise of automated construction
Building Teams across the globe are employing advanced robotics to simplify what is inherently a complex, messy process—construction.
| Dec 27, 2014
'Core-first' construction technique cuts costs, saves time on NYC high-rise project
When Plaza Construction first introduced the concept of "core first" in managing the construction of a major office building, the procedure of pouring concrete prior to erecting a steel frame had never been done in New York City.
| Dec 22, 2014
Studio Gang to design Chicago’s third-tallest skyscraper
The first U.S. real-estate investment by The Wanda Group, owned by China’s richest man, will be an 88-story, 1,148-ft-tall mixed-use tower designed by Jeanne Gang.
| Dec 18, 2014
11 new highs for tall buildings: CTBUH recaps the year's top moments in skyscraper construction
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat cherrypicked the top moments from 2014, including a record concrete pour, a cautionary note about high-rise development, and two men's daring feat.
| Dec 17, 2014
11 predictions for high-rise construction in 2015
In its annual forecast, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat predicts that 2015 will be the "Year of the Woodscraper," and that New York’s troubled B2 modular high-rise project will get back on track.
| Dec 16, 2014
'Wedding dress' tower to be tallest in Africa
The $1 billion tower will have 114 stories, alluding to the 114 chapters of the Koran.
| Dec 16, 2014
Architect Eli Attia sues Google over tall building technology
Attia and tech company Max Sound Corp. have brought a lawsuit against Google because of Flux, a Google X-developed startup launched in 2014. Flux creates software to design environmentally-friendly buildings in a cost-effective way.
