Post Street Medical Center
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We were part of the design-build team for this medical office renovation. The complex contains two buildings – one built in the 1960s and the other built in the 1980s. The existing c. 1960 building, facing Post Street, was leaking and needed structural retrofitting. The majority of the construction budget was needed for a new roof, new windows, wall cladding, and dry-rot repair.
That left very little of our budget to spruce up the building. Consequently, we had to value-engineer proposed items out of the budget, like a “green-wall”, new furnishings and art. If budget ever permits, we can add these later. Our priority was to focus on the lobby, elevators, and hallways, and improve the exteriors entries. Like many of our projects, we get creative when we need to improve a lot with a limited budget.
The main lobby of the Post building was once a covered exterior portico that connected Post Street and the parking lot at the rear of the building. Over the years, it had been enclosed, but the exterior wall materials had been left in place. The lobby walls had been faced with a combination of beige stucco, granite, concrete block and aluminum storefront. The ceilings were covered with acoustic tile, and the floors were carpeted. Because the offices remained open during construction, we applied all our upgrades from the lobby side.
We covered the storefront with translucent laminated glass. We added wood paneling to the office entries and the elevators, added tile to the floors and gypsum board to the ceilings. With a limited budget, we splurged on large circular light fixtures. These new lights improved illumination dramatically and also added visual interest to the long lobby.
The Geary building lobby has a stepped, tray ceiling (for before images click here) that looked dated and was completely different stylistically from the Post Building. We replaced the stepped ceiling with a flat one, and reused our palette of tile, wood, and circular lighting to update the space.
On the exterior entry, the granite slabs were cracked and falling off. We replaced them with large format tiles. Additionally, we added new signage.
We were subsequently re-hired to redesign one of the offices within the complex. There, we were able to open an interior wall and bring natural light into the reception area, waiting room, and exam rooms.
Medical Office Renovation – Collaborators: