The architect remodelled the lobby and garden of the centre’s 48-storey skyscraper
Foster & Partners has unveiled its completed restoration of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco.
It is the biggest renovation of William Pereira’s world-famous 48-storey tower since it opened in 1972. The building was San Francisco’s tallest until the opening of César Pelli’s Salesforce Tower in 2018.
Foster & Partners was appointed by real estate firm SHVO on the restoration of the tower and its wider complex, which occupies an entire city block in the city’s Financial District. The historic Transamerica Redwood Park at the site’s base has also been revitalised.
A study of the original blueprints showed a diagonal structure hidden above the ceiling in the tower’s lobby, which has been revealed in the redesign. A glass facade completes the restoration of the lobby’s full height.
Within the lobby, users can enjoy a cafe, florist and bookshop against a palette of oak, marble and terrazzo, selected to align with Pereira’s original scheme.
At the rear of the lobby, the tower’s annex has been restored with new skylights providing views of the park below.
The middle of the tower hosts a fitness centre comprising a gym, sauna and yoga studios as well as a sky lobby, while the tower is topped by an exclusive bar for office tenants.
Transamerica Redwood Park consists of nearly 50 mature redwood trees over 100 ft tall transplanted from the Santa Cruz Valley to the site in 1974. It houses cafes, shops and restaurants.
The complex’s reopening is marked by the launch of Pyramid Arts, a new series of public exhibitions celebrating innovation and creativity across the arts and sciences. The first installations, both curated by founder and executive chairman of Foster & Partners, Norman Foster, will open from September 2024 until January 2025.
The Pyramid’s famous spire will also be re-lit for the first time with over 1,300 feet of newly installed LED lights, as part of a comprehensive new lighting design of both the interior and exterior by the L’Observatoire International.
No comments yet