Foster + Partners breaks ground on major transit-oriented project in downtown San Francisco

Foster + Partners has just broken ground on Oceanwide Center—a major transit-oriented development that will dramatically transform the heart of downtown San Francisco into a more walkable and interconnected place to live, work, and play.

Designed in collaboration with Heller Manus, the mixed-use urban project is located in the city’s Transbay Area near Market Street and the financial district. The development will feature environmentally friendly design that includes adaptive reuse and LEED-seeking structures and systems.Despite its modern design, the Oceanwide Center will be skillfully woven into the existing urban fabric through the addition of 26,000 square feet of new public space to tie the building into the public realm. The urban project will also include two mixed-use towers: a 625-foot, 54-story residential and hotel tower, along with a 910-foot, 61-story residential and office tower along First Street. All together Oceanwide Center will provide 2.4 million square feet of new hotel, office, and residential space. Two historic buildings on First Street will be restored and revitalized.

The First Street Tower can be seen as a visual beacon for the project with its eye-catching crystalline form that articulate the facades on the skyline. The interior features an open layout with offset cores. The structure is 30% lighter than traditional buildings with a central core of similar size, yet is designed for seismic stability. Its innovative MEP and vertical transportation systems are designed to meet LEED Platinum certification. The second mixed-use tower, which contains a new Waldorf Astoria hotel and is designed to LEED Gold standards, is located along Mission Street and will be clad in stone with unique ‘glass vitrine’ windows.

“I have always had a great fascination for San Francisco – a city with a youthful spirit has allowed it to constantly reinvent itself, yet retain a unique sense of urbanity,” said Lord Foster. “The Oceanwide Center encapsulates that essence – it is a pioneering example that combines spaces to live and work with a vibrant public realm in the heart of the city. The project now marks a major milestone with its groundbreaking, as the evolution of a sustainable model of high density, mixed-use development that I have always promoted.” The Oceanside Center is expected to be complete by 2021.