San Francisco, CA

Embarcadero Center

Architectural

Wall panels

Workplace

Tenant Improvement

Interior

Gensler's San Francisco office had a vision for the lobbies of all four of the Embarcadero Center. As a massive tenant improvement undertaking, they envisioned disguising the brutal façade of the exterior structures, but keeping them visible, as a means of respecting its history.

For more on this project, check out our full case study.

253 total ribbons + 38 distinct geometries

From concept to installation

We milled molds for all 20 unique profiles on our 5-axis CNC machine in a rigid foam material. After this process, the forms are taken off the mill, prepped, then set for casting. Using animation technology, we were able to virtually run the CNC mill to test and determine how the machine was going to perform for each geometry. This process gave us insight into how the milling would go, which allowed us to pivot and edit before mistakes were made on the shop floor.

DIGITAL FABRICATION

We milled molds for all 20 unique profiles on our 5-axis CNC machine in a rigid foam material. After this process, the forms are taken off the mill, prepped, then set for casting.

Using animation technology, we were able to virtually run the CNC mill to test and determine how the machine was going to perform for each geometry. This process gave us insight into how the milling would go, which allowed us to pivot and edit before mistakes were made on the shop floor.