Historic Building in San Francisco Gets a Makeover for Organic

To incorporate the modern interior requirements of a dot-com culture into a historic skin, DPR crews, headed by Superintendent Tony Koblenz, met and conquered many challenges in the buildout of the second and third floors of San Francisco’s historic Baker Hamilton Building for Organic, Inc. The two 70,000-sq.-ft. floors were turned over to the customer on Oct. 27 and Dec. 8 respectively.

The team’s first test was to preserve the historic interior of the 95-year-old building, the second was to coordinate DPR’s schedule with that of the seismic upgrade contractor and finally to make sure the customer’s redundant systems were in place and ready several weeks before move-in.

“Organic had to keep the Web pages of clients like Daimler Chrysler and Nike up and running while it moved,” said Project Manager Hans Milberger, noting the 7,000-sq.-ft. server room had to be operational four weeks before Organic’s move-in. “We had to have everything ready for an instantaneous cutover with one-fourth of the build-out schedule still remaining.”

To complete the renovations on time, DPR’s electrical contractor, Decker Electric, used 55 electricians working simultaneously. Amid the beehive of activity caused by the throng of workers, DPR applied the extra effort needed to train the larger team, providing the project with remarkable crewpower and securing the seamless systems transition that Organic needed for a successful move.

Tackling the hurdles posed by the schedule and historic nature of the building, DPR worked in tandem with the seismic retrofit contractor and included extra planning and scheduling meetings to smooth the process. The team also ensured that the historic wood finishes and the Gensler-designed interior were protected from possible damage during the heavier seismic work.

Both floors of Organic’s headquarters are built in three bays, each separated by three-ft. thick sheer walls strengthened by brick and gunite. The two outside bays contain workspaces for 500 employees per floor. The center bays feature a leaf-shape design similar to Organic’s logo, highlighted by a full-height spruce lath wall by Quality Craftsman, a skylight, and bamboo floors. These bays serve as hubs of the lounge and conference areas.

The completed renovation of the top two floors of the structure won DPR another raving fan. Organic was so pleased with the project that they will be recommending DPR to the sub-tenants for the buildout of the ground floor.

Three-Pronged Strategy

The success of DPR’s safety program is driven by three key principals: supportive leadership, personal commitment, and free and open lines of communication.

Supportive leadership translates into time, dollars and resources spent to create a culture that puts a safe job-site at a premium. To ensure open lines of communication and to demonstrate their commitment, senior managers and engineers from DPR and its subcontractors make a point to personally meet craft people in the field and discuss any safety concerns they may have - and then follow up on any issues.

Establishing a safe working environment is top priority. During preconstruction, the team develops a “roadmap” for maintaining a safe jobsite. “The team gets together with the subcontractors to look for potential hazards, determine where our greatest exposures are, and decide how to deal with those hazards,” Spencley says.