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Commercial Offices

SALESFORCE TRANSIT CENTER

San Francisco, United States

Project Datasheet

  • External appearance

    Neutral

  • Glazing application

    Floor

  • Construction type

    New

  • Date of completion

  • Green building

    None

  • Investor

    Transbay Joint Power Authority

  • Architect(s)

    Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects

  • General Contractor

    Webcor Builders

  • Contractor(s)

    Turner Construction

Product List

Main Product Substrate Detail
CONTRAFLAM PLANICLEAR CONTRAFLAM 120 and LITE-FLOOR

Description

Stunning floor/skylight feature the first of its kind in the US

 

Award-winning Pelli Clark Pelli Architects designed the Salesforce Transit Center with “soaring light-filled spaces” to give “San Francisco a grand entrance that befits its status as one of the world’s great cities.” Inside the airy and spacious Grand Hall, sunshine is filtered more than 30 meter below the center’s above-street-level park by the CONTRAFLAM 120 and LITE-FLOOR walkable fire-rated glass floor and skylight. More than 4,000 sheets of glass make up almost 300 panels, providing daylight for the Grand Hall. A second installation brings natural light down below street level.

 

“When ground broke on this project, this technology didn’t exist,” says Kevin Norcross, General Manager, Vetrotech Saint-Gobain North America. “It has very specific specifications that have never been incorporated into a single project, ever. The fire rating, combined with the loading requirements and seismic resistance make it an engineering feat. It’s a testament to the innovation of our team.”

Pelli Clarke Pelli specified the most demanding requirements for a fire-rated glass floor and skylight to date for this project, and the solution is the only exterior multi-panel system to meet some of the world’s most stringent specifications and pass all tests, including two-hour fire rating and seismic-resistance, live loading for foot traffic and waterproofing.

 

Teams from Vetrotech and Greenlite Glass Systems Inc. worked in close collaboration with Roger Wilde Ltd., RDH, Larson Engineering and Pelli Clarke Pelli to on a design-assist for the project. Experts came together and used the combined decades of experience to produce and rigorously test an innovative, multifunctional solution involving horizontal fire-rated glass, structural glass, and spacers with airgaps to avoid replacing glass due to dirt and condensation issues that would develop with foot traffic and the outdoor environment.

 

“Architectural design is, in some ways, about imagining the unimaginable and bringing it to life,” said Darin Cook, senior associate principal with Pelli Clarke Pelli. “It became clear to us early on that the floor/skylight wasn’t going to be an off-the-shelf solution that just anyone could bid, price and build. We’re very happy with what Vetrotech and Greenlight came up with—it helps push the limits of opportunity in our industry.”

Each panel of the floor was designed to fit a specific area, and fit in concert with the unique function of the building—including special seismic protections that allow certain areas to move independently of others in case of earthquakes.

Project location
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