How to Carve Out a Townhouse in a Four-Story Midcentury Modernist Apartment Building

Recently, we reconfigured several units in a four-story midcentury gem of an apartment building atop San Francisco’s Telegraph Hill, an exercise that was not unlike solving a 3D puzzle. We kept the panoramic views of the Bay and city skyline while rightsizing some of the units and carving out a two-story townhouse for the owners. The project shows the adaptability of the original building’s strong modernist bones and the opportunities for adding curves to counterpoint the orthogonal nature of the modernist box.

The Bay School of San Francisco Master Facilities Plan & Strategic Improvements

San Francisco, CA
Kuth Ranieri is currently leading The Bay School Campus Facilities Master Plan, a 20-year plan for an independent high school founded in 2004. In just 15 years, The Bay School (Bay) has built a robust reputation for its academic program, but its facilities have proven to be a constraint. It occupies two historically significant buildings in The Presidio, operated by The Presidio Trust – Building 35 (62,779 SF) and Building 3 (3,574 SF) – both of which present the challenges of an inflexible column grid, proportions not conducive to teaching and learning, infrastructure approaching the end of its useful life and outdated furnishings and finishes that don’t fully support student activities.

SFO International Terminal Building Refresh Project

SFO International Terminal Refresh Project, in joint venture with SOM and TSAO Design Group, is a renovation of the International Terminal Security Checkpoint and Boarding Areas. Along with collaboration on all scopes, Kuth Ranieri led the renovation of the Boarding Area A Restroom facilities, which included reconfiguring existing facilities for new women’s and men’s restrooms, as well as the addition of an all gender restroom, nursery, and companion care. Kuth Ranieri was responsible for all design services from programming and stakeholder engagement through documentation and construction administration.

In Joint Venture with SOM and TSAO Design Group

UCSF Pediatric Operatories

San Francisco, CA
This pediatric dental clinic for the UCSF School of Dentistry transforms an outdated 1970s clinic into a vibrant space that is both state-of-the-art and child-friendly. The School of Dentistry is located in the School of Dentistry Building on UCSF’s Parnassus Campus. Pediatrics occupies a cluster of rooms on the first floor which have been undergoing incremental modernizations.

Hillside Courtyard House

Marin County, California
The Hillside Courtyard House is a remodel of a midcentury home on a steeply sloping site in Marin County. As one descends the property they pass through multiple thresholds of privacy. Each step leading further toward calmness and seclusion.

Balancing the Traditional and the Contemporary on a Berkeley Hillside

Recently, the AIA East Bay gave one of our firm’s houses a 2017 Merit Award, so we thought we would tell the story behind the design, which involved a tricky remodel on a difficult site.