Client: Adobe Inc

Overview

Adobe, headquartered 50 miles south in San Jose, established its San Francisco presence when it acquired Macromedia at the end of 2005. Macromedia occupied the historic Baker & Hamilton Building. Recently, Adobe leased additional space at 410 Townsend Street two blocks away to meet the needs of its growing workforce. Adobe occupies about 44,000 SF, comprising 2-1/2 floors of this 4 story building.

Goals

When you enter the building, you are greeted by a custom perforated screen wall, punctuated with the Adobe logo that defines the edge of the large Town Hall space, Hipster. This multi-functional room is designed to be the building’s hub. Creating a venue for all-hands meetings, art openings, guest speakers, hack-a-thons or just lunch. The new finishes throughout the space typically provide an impulsive pop of color and texture against the buildings classic SOMA exposed brick and heavy timber structure.
At the second and third floors, visitors are greeted by the folding charcoal entry that is weaving its way around the existing building structure. The upper floors take advantage of the buildings rather long and narrow floor plate by placing conference rooms that run along the building’s core that provide close proximity for the open office area. At the north end, the lounge provides a respite from the bustling work day by providing a great view of the San Francisco skyline. Collaboration is in Adobe’s DNA and each neighborhood features a ‘team relax’ space that takes advantage of the views. Environmental graphics and branding elements are strategically located throughout the floors, providing imagery that is unique to Adobe and the site.

Process

Architect: Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
Project team: Louis Ray, William Turner, Matt Gamache, Surili Ranpuria, Audrey Bauer, Lacey Engelke, Stephen Killion

Additional Information

The project has received LEED CI Silver certification.