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News Release from: Gensler | Subject: Jewish Community Center
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 18 March 2004
Gensler designs Jewish Community Center
Jewish Community Center, designed by Gensler Architecture, Design and Planning Worldwide, opened in Presidio Heights.
A versatile, cutting-edge facility, designed by Gensler Architecture, Design and Planning Worldwide, opened February 2004 in Presidio Heights as the new home for the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco (JCCSF) The new $45 million, 190,000-square-foot facility, on the location of its former home, serves the entire San Francisco community with a unique array of programs and facilities, including a 40,000 square-foot health club, a 480-seat multi-use theater for the Center's progressive arts and cultural programs, as well as a restaurant, bookshop, teen center, and a roof top featuring recreational spaces
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 21 Mar 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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Gensler provided architecture, interior design, and graphic design services for the Center.
The Steinberg Group was the associate architect; Forell/Elsesser Engineers were structural and civil engineers; Guttman and Blaevoet Consulting Engineers provided mechanical engineering; Silverman and Light were the electrical engineers, and Swinerton Management and Consulting was the construction manager with Cahill Contractors.
"We worked with the JCCSF to create a place that welcomes people of all ages, all faiths, and all backgrounds, that fosters a community, while expressing a Jewish identity," said Gensler's Architectural Design Director, Kevin Hart.
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The Center includes classrooms, dining rooms, kosher and non-kosher kitchens, studios for visual arts, music, and dance, a day care center, administrative offices, and underground parking for 180 vehicles.
The three-story Koret Center for Health, Fitness and Sport features a five-lane lap pool, a teaching pool, cardiovascular equipment and free weights, and a physical therapy center.
Center membership reached 4,000 in its first month, surpassing the Center's goal of 1,400.
In an intensely collaborative design process, Gensler joined JCCSF staff as well as Jewish community leaders to develop a facility that addresses the educational, social, cultural, and recreational goals of the Community.
"We had a clear vision of what would take place in the building, and Gensler created the space based on our programs - it serves our needs exactly," said JCCSF Executive Director Nate Levine.
Designing the new structure-which is three times the size of the 1933 JCC and is situated within the narrow, hilly confines of a busy urban neighborhood-presented both a challenge and inspiration.
"The JCCSF site had a tremendous effect on the design and construction of the building," said Hart.
"We had to constantly keep the aesthetic and functional ambitions of the project in balance with the neighborhood context and the site." To work within the sloped site and complement the surrounding modestly-scaled buildings, the architects organized the facility to appear as a group of five individual buildings, visually distinct from each other and linked by stairways.
The curved roof of the gymnasium defines the fitness center.
Individual windows articulate the three-story classroom wing, with a central porch defining the entrance, and an elliptical end bay that contains the Beit Midrash library.
Around the corner on Presidio Avenue, taller windows and a vaulted roof distinguish the theatre.
The service wing at the highest point of the site is expressed as a two-story block.
Three primary materials unify the elements: Jerusalem stone, tawny brick, and zinc-coated metal panels used on the walls and roof.
These separate "buildings" unite around a 50-foot sky-lit atrium at the center of the community campus.
The atrium serves as a lobby for the theatre, an indoor terrace for the restaurant, a lounge for visitors, and an assembly space, all visible from overlooks and windows on the three upper floors.
This common space also organizes the internal circulation, as all paths and hallways pass through the atrium.
"The atrium is the heart of the center".
"It's sort of a town square - the one place where nothing is programmed, but where everything happens," said Hart.
The center's largest venue is Kanbar Hall, a 480-seat showcase for an ambitious arts and cultural program for San Francisco.
Designed for flexibility, theater seats can be retracted and the 5,000-square-foot space becomes a banquet hall.
In contrast to the bright and open feel of the rest of the facility, the hall features dark red fabric walls that create a luxurious atmosphere and aid acoustics.
Two smaller halls, Fisher Family Hall and the 90-seat Gallanter Hall, are more intimate venues designed for lectures, small film and video presentations, cabaret shows, and community and corporate gatherings.
The materials of the building make a palpable connection with the traditional Jewish homeland.
Imported Jerusalem stone was used on the elliptical corner of the structure, in two massive columns at the entrance to the Center, and on the floor of the atrium.
The stone holds geographical significance as well as symbolizes the 125-year-old JCCSF's stability, durability, and openness.
In the lobby, the reception desk is made of cypress and cedar, two woods symbolic to Judaism.
Two freestanding walls in the atrium express the philosophical core of the center and honor the donors who made it possible.
Hebrew sayings are incorporated into a two-story curved "language wall" that also serves as a light-and-sound lock between the atrium and the theatre.
A 75-foot-long glass donor wall has inscriptions, quotations, and the names of members of the community who contributed to the center.
It also connects the open space of the atrium to the entry lobby.
Because the JCCSF's programs cater to family members of all ages, and groups of children use the center every day, family-friendly design details were called for.
Separate bathrooms and dressing rooms for adults, children, and families are situated throughout the facility.
For easy maintenance, dark-colored carpet tiles in an oversized pattern were selected for heavy traffic areas.
The painted walls can be touched-up quickly, and easy-to-clean ceramic tile walls and concrete floors were chosen for the pool area.
Furniture in common areas was chosen for its durability as well as its comfort and aesthetic appeal.
Gensler_Architecture, Design and Planning Worldwide is a leading global design, planning and strategic consulting firm, with 1700 people and offices in 25 cities.
Gensler received recognition from the prestigious Business Week / Architectural Record (BW/AR) Awards for projects that demonstrate the power of architectural design to meet strategic business goals.
Gensler was ranked Number One on World Architecture's survey of international interior design firms, and other industry publications consistently rank Gensler as the world's leading architecture and interior design firm.
Fast Company Magazine calls Gensler "one of the world's most influential design firms".
Gensler's multi-textured expertise drives a focused exploration of how people experience the world around them; Gensler teams then use that knowledge to create design solutions that give clients a fresh, competitive edge.
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