An expansion project for the Heritage on the Marina Retirement Community inches along with a new meeting scheduled for April 17th. The property owner, SF Ladies’ Protection and Relief Society will present findings to the joint planning and preservations committees regarding a historical preservation Certificate of Appropriateness, CEQA findings, and Conditional Use Permit.
At the meeting, the Historic Preservation Commission will review whether the new plans are appropriate with consideration to the preservation and complementation of several historic buildings on site, including the original building designed by Julia Morgan in 1925, the Perry Building built in 1957, and the skilled nursing facilities built in 1963. Meanwhile, the Planning Commission will review the CEQA findings of the last year and the application for a Conditional Use Permit to build additional housing in a zone not specifically designated for it.
Historic Site Information, image via Page and Turnbull
Heritage on the Marina, image courtesy the property owner
If approved, the project, which has been in the works since 2022, would take a major step forward. Since the expansion would require partial demolition of the 1957-built Perry Building and the 1963-built Health Care Center, construction is highly dependent on the Preservation Commission’s approval.
HKS Architects‘ site renderings depict a well-integrated new building, complementary to the existing historic site. The new building plans to expand the total facility floor space by 58,380 square feet and 23 new care suites. The increased size would allow the community to take on new residents, and help revitalize the liveliness and maintenance of the existing property. Vehicular parking would increase to 36 cars, with 18 new bicycle spaces, potentially to be used by staff, residents, or guests.
Heritage on the Marina updated facade elevations, illustration by HKS Architects
Heritage on the Marina facade elevations, illustration by HKS Architects
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Why such a big hulky mis-colored response to an addition.
Any architect hired to create a design to attach to the existing building should have a sensitivity to contextual design and deference to the exquisite Julia Morgan building.
WTF is this mess!? Could we at least TRY to build something which compliments what is already there, because this does the exact opposite.
I think it’s ok if the building looks different than the original julia morgan building. It will just look like a beautiful building with a different neighbor. That is still ok.
I just wish it was taller.
A quick response by an architect who has done both healthcare and historic preservation—The scale of the project is in response to the need for the number of people in need of care. Sure it would be nicer to have it 3 stories max, but in today’s economic climate, larger scale makes it economically viable. The south elevation massing is nicely divided into 6 segments, with massing reveals between each, and each segment in width about the scale of the apartments along south the street–nicely done. However, the two elements at the east and west ends are the taller, and the four segments in the middle have reduced heights by what appears to be balconies at the fourth floor. I would have done the opposite. Keep the middle four segments taller at 4 stories, and reduce the height of the east and west ends to three stories. That would make the project respect the Julia Morgan building when viewed from the corner, and respect the lower residences to the east. Also, the renderings can not be judged for materials which will be very important –the colors shown are not representative of any material, I think. I would use brick on the façade in a significant way to relate to the historic Morgan building.
I appreciate the responses above. But if we need a detailed explanation as to why a building works visually, then it doesn’t work. I sincerely hope that the architects put some thought into making this project fit and respect the Julia Morgan building. We all have to live with it for a long time.