In a progressive area of downtown San Francisco lies a site currently used by the SF Municipal Transit Authority as a repair and maintenance shop. This site, located in the Mission District was given to us with the opportunity of contributing to the already thriving area by infusing a light-local manufacturing hub. Given the grassroots and environmentally conscious mindset towards business already intact in this area, the manufacturing facility I decided to create involved the use of recycled heavy timber through various outlets. The use of recycled goods was to be apparent through each step of the recycling and zero-waste agenda and is even apparent on the new addition to the already existing, early twentieth century brick structure on site.

The large timbers brought to the site are appropriated based off of local demand for various products. Small furniture, laminated products and sheet material would be the first step in the process in creating a zero-waste product. From here, the scraps that could not be used in creating the aforementioned products would be appropriated towards smaller household objects and finally to specialty paper products. Despite the shared materials throughout the recycling process, there are four distinct subsidiaries located within this small company and the division of those was to be reflected in the additional architecture.

An eclectic combination of various wood species creates a unique cladding system for the additional volume, similar in nature to the patchwork of bricks located on the existing structure. The volume itself is divided up into the four different companies all housed under the SF Mill + Paper Co. name. The formwork for these four different protrusions is based off of a grasshopper script, utilizing attractor points to various vantage points located to and from the site, as well as towards major landmarks in San Francisco. The divided volume is then pulled up from it’s hold on the site, allowing a secondary set of vantage points to and from the specific tasks being undertaken within each different company, creating a dynamic of views from differing distances from the building.