Tapscott Building Rehabilitation | TEF Design

Located at the corner of 19th Street and Broadway, the revitalization of the beautiful Beaux Arts Tapscott Building was part of a larger urban plan – including an adjacent pedestrian plaza, basement parking, and residential highrise – to redevelop a long-neglected stretch of Broadway. Named after prominent East Bay Developer Ernest N. Tapscott, the four-story, L-shaped steel and concrete structure was originally built in the early 1920s as an office and retail building, subsequently serving diverse uses during its lifetime, including a theater and even a morgue.

Abandoned since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, the building’s core and shell rehabilitation encompassed a seismic upgrade, new utility and HVAC systems, and building system upgrades to meet current codes. In addition to 5,000-square-feet of Broadway-facing retail on Level 1 and 34,000-square-feet of office space on Levels 2,3,4, the project features a new 5,000-square-foot dark metal panel clad penthouse office space with an L- shaped 2,300-square-foot roof deck with views of the nearby Fox and Paramount theaters on Level 5. The penthouse addition required careful evaluation of building loads, given its location directly above the 19th Street Bart station in a seismically active zone. Micro-piles were added to a depth of 60' below grade.

Existing interior partitions and ceilings were removed in their entirety to create an open canvas for incoming tenants with natural light flooding the floor plate from both south and west. Other building features include the installation of new wood clad aluminum operable windows in existing openings, new restrooms in the core of all levels, an elevator lobby with a suspended wood ceiling, separately metered floors, secure bicycle parking with adjacent shower stalls.

On the exterior, the Beaux Art building’s brick and terra cotta exterior, parapet, spandrels and cornice have been restored, using archived photos and historic resources, in conversations with preservation experts. Graffiti was carefully removed from building surfaces throughout, after years of neglect. In addition, brick joints were re-pointed and missing terra cotta elements replicated in GFRC, using historic molds from detailed facade surveys and mock ups. Non congruous building elements added over the years with no historical significance, such as the first floor storefronts were replaced in their entirety. After nearly two years of construction, the rehabilitation was completed in time for the building to celebrate its centennial.

TEF Design team
Andrew Wolfram, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, LFA – Principal In charge
Viral Vithalani, RA – Project Manager/Architect
Robbie Wilcock – Project Designer

Contractor: Alston Construction
Civil Engineer: BKF Engineers
Structural Engineer: Murphy Burr Curry
Mechanical/Plumbing/Fire Protection Engineer: Acco
Electrical/Telecom Engineer: Helix
Building Envelope: Walter P Moore

Photography: Mikiko Kikuyama