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DOWNTOWN, SAN FRANCISCO SIGHTGLASS SFMOMA DOWNTOWN, SAN FRANCISCO Our longstanding relationship with Sightglass Coffee continues at SFMOMA, with a café that intervenes where the gestural, formal Snøhetta expansion meets the pure, symmetrical, geometric volumes of the Botta interior. It was an immense pleasure to design at the intersection of this larger aesthetic conversation. We took the opportunity to create an original, site-specific solution for this Sightglass, deviating from the local architectural brand we developed for their first two locations. By playfully twisting the café’s main façade—using curvaceous custom concrete panels around a strict symmetry—the design fills our given niche while mingling with the surrounding museum interior. The curved façade also fulfills a demand for highly efficient service areas, in response to the café’s small footprint and high-volume location. A palette of concrete, natural maple, blackened steel and soft museum white reflects the refined modernity of the transformed museum, and features custom designed and fabricated elements including the bar and light fixtures. Back to Projects page Client Sightglass Coffee BBA Team Seth Boor Bonnie Bridges Anand Sheth Size 390 SF Contractor Architect of Record: EHDD Associate Architect: Snøhetta Collaborators Fabricator: Concreteworks Millwork: Acosta & Sons Inc Photography F. Jason Campbell Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO PLAYSTUDIOS SAN FRANCISCO PlayStudios made the decision to move from the Peninsula to downtown, reducing their square footage but doubling-down on a location that put them alongside premier VC firms, and being in an urban center that partners wanted to visit. After the lease was signed, Studio BBA was brought in to refresh the space into something nearly unrecognizable. Walking into this space, fronting fabulous South Park in San Francisco, it would have been perfect as-is if you were seeking an industrial steam-punk office. That vibe did not align with the brand and identity standards of online gaming company PlayStudios—where they emerged as a light and bright brand in hospitality forward Las Vegas. The program and use of each space was inspired by an activity based workplace—the hybrid office allows heads-down focus work to happen at home, and brings the office to an activated social role in their workplace culture. This shift was to help create a magnet rather than mandate to return to office. To make the most of the leased area, Studio BBA helped to convert the very low storage loft into a cozy gaming lounge with low to the floor individual seats arced around the console system, and a nearby round table for board games. We were told a sweet story after the project completed, that a group of the staff get together on Saturdays to use the game table. Pride of place has attracted not just their staff, but friends, family and extended networks. Emphasizing play, Tinkering Monkey and the PlayStudios team brought our vision to life, creating an interactive art installation that makes you pause to play with an analog View-Master toy to view PlayStudios’ original art created by their illustrators. The art installation is just one layer of the detail attended to the accessories. Furniture selections with complimenting pillows, to planters and their plants, lamps, rugs, and a toiletry program to add a level of care to the restroom. Juxtaposing the minimal and bright design of the space, Studio BBA designed a plant program to extend the park on their doorstep in through the folding glass door façade, layering life into the office. Back to Projects page Client PlayStudios BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Samantha Buckley Vishnu Balunsat Size 2,695 SF Contractor GCI Collaborators Furniture: RDI Signage: Tinkering Monkey Plants: Flora Grubb Gardens Photography Jasper Sanidad Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO BOLT HQ SAN FRANCISCO For this adaptive reuse project we transformed a banal, South-of-Market industrial site into the headquarters for an ambitious mechanical engineering Venture Capitalist company. Four client-centric objectives guided the architecture: creating space that embodies BOLT’s entrepreneurial engineering/making culture, adding functionality and purpose to all parts of the property, integrating BOLT-made steel elements, and producing a delightful, fun workplace. The property contains two connected, warehouse buildings with a shared courtyard, and the client’s need for a machine shop quickly claimed the smaller building. Existing conditions in the large building—open floor plan, high vaulted ceilings and a mezzanine—posed creative challenges and opportunities for subdividing the volume into the spaces required: offices, open work areas, casual and private meeting spaces, manufacturing incubator/prototype labs and staff amenities that comprised the program requirements, as well as a large multi-purpose space for hosting events and presentations. By inserting a ‘pod’ of meeting and phone rooms into the middle of the large structure we designated space for the labs and event space. Finished birch plywood cladding on the pod’s exterior provides a warm juxtaposition to the existing concrete infrastructure. As a passionate and capable fabricator, BOLT took on a variety of details throughout and after project completion including the custom steel signs, the shipping container courtyard café, and the sculptural feature wall. The final product is a place that inspires creativity and invention, and an architecture that celebrates a utilitarian sense of place. Back to Projects page Client Bolt BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Dave Ornvold Size 10,160 SF + 2,000 SF Courtyard Contractor CCI Collaborators Structural: Santos & Urrutia Structural Engineers, Inc. Photography Iris Brito Stevens Back to top

UTAH THUMBTACK UTAH UTAH We continue to help Thumbtack grow with the design of their Customer Support team center—a longstanding relationship that began in 2012 with full services for their bustling SF HQ. For the Utah center, they selected space in a new, streamlined building and challenged us to come up with a rigorously efficient yet playful approach that would evolve their brand, culture and style in a site-specific an distinct way. Draper is at the edge of Salt Lake’s flat, orthogonal valley in the foothills of the impressive Wasatch mountains, which soar suddenly and majestically up from the basin. This dramatic landscape provided a muse for our design of their inspiring workplace, which we creatively interpreted in the office plan via an undulating core. Surrounding this core, the open office area offers a clear logic between social and introverted functions, and curates sightlines to the beautiful setting. The interiors feature an energetic color scheme and residential-inspired furnishings. Back to Projects page Client Thumbtack BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Sarah Fucinaro Anand Sheth Size 45,000 SF Contractor Layton Construction Collaborators Architect of Record: Method Studio Photography Nicholas Swan Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO ARGONAUT SAN FRANCISCO When the advertising agency Argonaut decided to move their offices from the Avalon Ballroom (Nob Hill/Van Ness) to 140 New Montgomery, they were trading 30,000 SF of expansive, high ceilinged multi-floored space for 12,000 SF on a single floor in the coveted historic, Miller and Pflueger designed, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building at 140 New Montgomery. After walking into the building’s restored-to-glory lobby, you arrive at the Argonaut office–immediately greeted with a 35-foot “fireplace”. An incredible part of this floor is the relationship it has to the historic facade—the main entrance’s 3-story leaded glass window crests on the floor fostering a necessity to engage with the original 1920’s architecture. The building’s history inspired our commitment to the history of the architecture, informing the detailing of the brick fireplace surround, lime paint finishes, antique mirrors, board and batten details, even in plan through symmetry, axis, and hierarchy. Given the hybird nature of the office (designed during the COVID pandemic), Argonaut experimented with design ideas that would encourage people to spend more time in the office; the Chief Creative Officer’s prompt was “to create the best hotel lobby that people love to work in”. The office is a place to host and entertain it’s staff and clients alike, with large meeting rooms fit for hybrid meetings, a variety of working surfaces –from laptop tables and lounge chairs, to library tables, the kitchen island with power at every stool, banquettes along the windows, and a computer lab with all the ergonomic bells and whistles. Rivaling the comforts of home and a few focused and intentional amenities, their office is buzzing with life and rebuilding their in-office culture with daily grind and after-hours events and parties. Each time we visit, we are energized by the hum of productivity and shocked by their in-office presence in spite of their continued work-remote flexibility. Back to Projects page Client Argonaut BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Samantha Buckley Vishnu Balunsat Size 12,000 SF Contractor Principal Builders Inc. Collaborators Furniture: MG West Lighting: Pritchard Peck Plants: Add Life Photography Emily Hagopian Studio BBA Back to top

LOS ANGELES TURTLE ROCK HOUSE LOS ANGELES We share a love for the poetry of architecture and its relationship to natural landscapes with the enthusiastic family of four for whom we designed this ground-up, peace-infused southern California residence. Every room in the house enjoys natural light and ventilation, many of which utilize skylights to mitigate the need for artificial light during the day. An expansive great room acts as a central point of connection and interaction for the family, and provides common access to the personal spaces: an acoustically-isolated music room, a home office with framed vista of the park, a studio space, and the bedrooms and bathrooms. The house is oriented to appreciate the site’s bucolic urban and rural views as well as the bordering park, with the massing and form of its main volume embracing the adjacent greenspace. A lush, native front garden contrasts the smooth, modern façade in texture and color, engaging street life while maintaining privacy. Around the back of the house, ample space for outdoor living is connected to the interior through full height walls of glass doors and windows, framed by the warmth of consistent wood and stucco planes. Back to Projects page Client Confidential BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Size 3,000 SF Contractor Mike Mckay Construction Collaborators Structural: Wickstrom Structural Engineering Geotechnical: Mission Geoscience, Inc Soils: Bagahi Engineering Inc. Civil: Incledon Consulting Group Photography Bruce Damonte Studio BBA Back to top

UTAH CUB UTAH The clients purchased this beautiful and secluded parcel of land in the red rock country of Southern Utah 14 years ago when they fell in love with the area. After acquiring one of only a few water permits in 2008, the clients turned to Studio BBA to design a C.U.B., a "Camp Utah Base," that maximizes the natural experience while providing a simple and comfortable place to call home-away-from-home. The design task was to create a base camp from which to venture out - returning at night to a place that provides the same feeling of expansiveness as the red rock valley. Through our process, we discovered new ways to create a luxurious home without the distracting and artificial elements that appear all too often in homes surrounded by nature. Studio BBA achieved simple luxury through subtle design moves and strategic plans for passive cooling and natural light. The new home provides ample room for the clients and a few guests to enjoy the calming interiors, connecting the valley through wind, view, and sounds. The multiple decks allow for outdoor living in every season. Conceptually, the two wings, one public and one private, are connected by what we call the "knuckle" - a shed-shaped entry space that connects the gable geometries of the two wings. We preserved the natural pinion pine and juniper in the landscape and integrated various sustainable design elements (PV array to provide 90% of power, site orientation to maximize passive cooling and natural light, and efficient framing with TJI's) to ensure this home is effectively and consciously situated in its natural environment. Back to Projects page Client Confidential BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Size 1,650 SF Contractor Paul Brown & Sons Construction Collaborators Structural: Shen Engineering Cabinets: Nathan Morrell Cabinets Photography Studio BBA Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO THE PLANT CAFÉ ORGANIC - MONTGOMERY SAN FRANCISCO Focused on serving local, organic, seasonal creations to a high-traffic, hungry FiDi crowd, this large café is the result of combining two adjacent restaurant spaces. The build-out required a focus on creating an efficient customer experience and well-organized staff work areas, to support their busy breakfast and lunch hours of operation. Studio BBA interjected our value for materiality into the airy white shell, adding texture, mood and human scale. To bring warmth we clad the existing 18’ ceiling in douglas fir wood, and designed a maple window counter and custom maple and steel casework. Subtle decorative elements include dimensional Heath tiles and Kreme wallpaper, designed and made in California, and a concrete floor appliqué. Custom planter boxes and wire trellis at the windows will support climbing vines to green the space. Devising the menu display became our team’s favorite detail on the project. We created a custom steel framework operated by electric winch. The apparatus sends the menu high up for visibility when posted, and easily facilitates bringing the whole assembly down for menu changes. Back to Projects page Client The Plant Café Organic BBA Team Seth Boor Bonnie Bridges Megan McGuinn Size 3,300 SF Contractor Northern Sun Associates, Inc. Collaborators MEP: MHC Engineers Food Service Consultant: Robert Yick Company Photography Nicholas V. Ruiz Back to top