SAN FRANCISCO HUMANGEAR HQ SAN FRANCISCO Human-centric design and scale is vital to this industrial design company’s ethos and product development process, making them a great match for BBA and the fundamental importance that human experience plays in our studio’s design approach. For their HQ we created a place where their values, production and office culture coexist as one—with a deliberately laid back, collaborative, welcoming and industrial vibe. Humangear’s historic brick and concrete building was originally built as an auto-body shop, and had gone through many iterations over the years. Our mission was to uphold its original character and authenticity of use while modernizing it for 21st century business, so we started by polishing the concrete slab, refurbishing wood trusses, sandblasting the walls. The workshop is front and center to highlight their design development practices; where they prototype, problem-solve and refine their products. Beyond that a large open office area occupies the heart of the interior, where custom-built ‘desking islands’, clad in reclaimed douglas fir, provide hubs for staff collaboration. The main ‘desking island’ enjoys a natural canopy—a nucleus of large planters that support an indoor tree and greenery…and hints at the building’s most unique asset, the rear courtyard. An oversized roll-up garage door in the back wall, framed by a vibrant blue staff lounge and kitchenette, leads to a connected open air space that we transformed into a truly magical modern oasis. The light-filled, private park-like setting features varied areas of landscaping and casual work spaces, including a custom banquette and firepit. Back to Projects page Client Humangear BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Seth Boor Size 6,700 SF Contractor Barker O'Donoghue Collaborators Landscape: Sculpt Gardens Photography Cesar Rubio Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO ARGONAUT SAN FRANCISCO When the advertising agency Argonaut decided to move their offices from the Avalon Ballroom (Nob Hill/Van Ness) to 140 New Montgomery, they were trading 30,000 SF of expansive, high ceilinged multi-floored space for 12,000 SF on a single floor in the coveted historic, Miller and Pflueger designed, Pacific Telephone and Telegraph building at 140 New Montgomery. After walking into the building’s restored-to-glory lobby, you arrive at the Argonaut office–immediately greeted with a 35-foot “fireplace”. An incredible part of this floor is the relationship it has to the historic facade—the main entrance’s 3-story leaded glass window crests on the floor fostering a necessity to engage with the original 1920’s architecture. The building’s history inspired our commitment to the history of the architecture, informing the detailing of the brick fireplace surround, lime paint finishes, antique mirrors, board and batten details, even in plan through symmetry, axis, and hierarchy. Given the hybird nature of the office (designed during the COVID pandemic), Argonaut experimented with design ideas that would encourage people to spend more time in the office; the Chief Creative Officer’s prompt was “to create the best hotel lobby that people love to work in”. The office is a place to host and entertain it’s staff and clients alike, with large meeting rooms fit for hybrid meetings, a variety of working surfaces –from laptop tables and lounge chairs, to library tables, the kitchen island with power at every stool, banquettes along the windows, and a computer lab with all the ergonomic bells and whistles. Rivaling the comforts of home and a few focused and intentional amenities, their office is buzzing with life and rebuilding their in-office culture with daily grind and after-hours events and parties. Each time we visit, we are energized by the hum of productivity and shocked by their in-office presence in spite of their continued work-remote flexibility. Back to Projects page Client Argonaut BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Samantha Buckley Vishnu Balunsat Size 12,000 SF Contractor Principal Builders Inc. Collaborators Furniture: MG West Lighting: Pritchard Peck Plants: Add Life Photography Emily Hagopian Studio BBA Back to top

LARKSPUR EQUATOR LARKSPUR LARKSPUR This Equator location is simple in intent—we designed a café that characterizes the balance of laid back and active lifestyles in Larkspur’s community. Modeled after a functional bike shop, the interior features industrial fixtures, practical storage shelves and a pegboard wall to hold tools of the trade. The café sits amidst Magnolia Avenue’s recently upgraded plazas, and is a major draw that has contributed to the area’s resurgence of activity. Magnolia is a charming and historic retail environment—walkable to downtown and accessible to the myriad outdoor activities for which the North Bay is known, including Marin County’s expansive web of bike trails. A huge, custom-made wood map of Marin—10’ high by 20’ long—includes topography and bike paths to help customers orient themselves and discover new adventure routes. Back to Projects page Client Equator Coffees BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Sarah Fucinaro Size 625 SF Contractor ACI Collaborators MEP: MHC Engineers Structural: Barringer Design Topo Sign: R.B. Morris III Photography Nicholas V. Ruiz Back to top

GROVE ST, SAN FRANCISCO LITTLE GEM ON GROVE GROVE ST, SAN FRANCISCO The concept for this 75-seat restaurant is casual, tranquil, honest, natural. Raising the bar for quick service food, Little Gem makes responsibly sourced and lovingly prepared cuisine accessible to the casual patron—while inherently omitting gluten, dairy and sugar. After a personal epiphany with the profound benefits of these dietary choices, partner Eric Lilavois, former COO with Thomas Keller Group, recruited former Keller chef Dave Cruz and Wall Street veteran John DeFazio to join him. Little Gem occupies the ground floor corner space in the newly constructed 400 Grove Street building, designed by Fougeron Architecture. To amplify the client’s concept, we chose materials that introduce a sense of natural warmth within the shell of concrete floors, walls, and ceiling. A green, hand-textured plaster wall offers a targeted burst of visual excitement. Maintaining a sense of transparency in food preparation was also critical to expressing the concept, dictating full visibility into the kitchen. Interior planters are placed in areas where the ample daylight streams through the courtyard and street window facades. Exterior, south-facing seating takes advantage of the Hayes Valley sunshine. Back to Projects page Client Little Gem BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Sarah Fucinaro Size 2,000 SF Contractor Architect of Record: Tecta Collaborators Millwork: Creative Cabinets & Design, Inc Photography Nicholas V. Ruiz Back to top

UTAH THUMBTACK UTAH UTAH We continue to help Thumbtack grow with the design of their Customer Support team center—a longstanding relationship that began in 2012 with full services for their bustling SF HQ. For the Utah center, they selected space in a new, streamlined building and challenged us to come up with a rigorously efficient yet playful approach that would evolve their brand, culture and style in a site-specific an distinct way. Draper is at the edge of Salt Lake’s flat, orthogonal valley in the foothills of the impressive Wasatch mountains, which soar suddenly and majestically up from the basin. This dramatic landscape provided a muse for our design of their inspiring workplace, which we creatively interpreted in the office plan via an undulating core. Surrounding this core, the open office area offers a clear logic between social and introverted functions, and curates sightlines to the beautiful setting. The interiors feature an energetic color scheme and residential-inspired furnishings. Back to Projects page Client Thumbtack BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Sarah Fucinaro Anand Sheth Size 45,000 SF Contractor Layton Construction Collaborators Architect of Record: Method Studio Photography Nicholas Swan Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO WAXMAN'S SAN FRANCISCO In conjunction with the renovation of Ghirardelli Square’s historic Mustard Building we were tasked with designing this 400-seat restaurant space, to be outfitted for the urban gourmet. The program featured an indoor-outdoor connection and open kitchen, with an overall purposeful, informal feel. In the studio, we tasked ourselves with reconnecting Ghirardelli to modern-day San Francisco in an authentic, relevant way. We all love the building’s original, rough beauty and favored elevating its aesthetic with respectful, subtle interventions. Two new glass storefront ‘porches’ were added on the north face—to extend the restaurant’s footprint and bring the vibrant, sophisticated bar scene into view, showcasing the original rustic brick as a backdrop. These porches open onto an adjacent plaza via a series of tall doors, under an existing deck, and were made to resemble similar vestibules added in a 1960’s renovation of Ghirardelli’s campus in keeping with historical preservation guidelines. The simple, elegant floor plan humanizes the enormity of the space by creating two dining rooms around a central kitchen, and tucking the back-of-house functions in an accessible but discreet area. The limited mix of neutral and local materials includes white oak floors stained to match the old factory floor, Heath tile, and beautiful walnut and cypress woods. Custom, utilitarian hardware was created to reference the landmark building’s history, setting and back-story. Back to Projects page Client Waxman's Restaurant BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Anand Sheth Size 8,600 SF Contractor Terra Nova Industries Collaborators Landscape Architect: HOK Fabricator: Kyle Minor Design Photography Mariko Reed Back to top

UTAH CUB UTAH The clients purchased this beautiful and secluded parcel of land in the red rock country of Southern Utah 14 years ago when they fell in love with the area. After acquiring one of only a few water permits in 2008, the clients turned to Studio BBA to design a C.U.B., a "Camp Utah Base," that maximizes the natural experience while providing a simple and comfortable place to call home-away-from-home. The design task was to create a base camp from which to venture out - returning at night to a place that provides the same feeling of expansiveness as the red rock valley. Through our process, we discovered new ways to create a luxurious home without the distracting and artificial elements that appear all too often in homes surrounded by nature. Studio BBA achieved simple luxury through subtle design moves and strategic plans for passive cooling and natural light. The new home provides ample room for the clients and a few guests to enjoy the calming interiors, connecting the valley through wind, view, and sounds. The multiple decks allow for outdoor living in every season. Conceptually, the two wings, one public and one private, are connected by what we call the "knuckle" - a shed-shaped entry space that connects the gable geometries of the two wings. We preserved the natural pinion pine and juniper in the landscape and integrated various sustainable design elements (PV array to provide 90% of power, site orientation to maximize passive cooling and natural light, and efficient framing with TJI's) to ensure this home is effectively and consciously situated in its natural environment. Back to Projects page Client Confidential BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Size 1,650 SF Contractor Paul Brown & Sons Construction Collaborators Structural: Shen Engineering Cabinets: Nathan Morrell Cabinets Photography Studio BBA Back to top

MILL VALLEY EQUATOR MILL VALLEY MILL VALLEY Studio BBA’s concept for this historic town square café draws on the area’s rustic and natural energy and connects to the vibrant street life, while reflecting the refined character of Equator Coffees and Teas. Expanding on elements we used at the Equator Prooflab location, our Mill Valley café design deepens the company’s brick-and-mortar brand palette with the warmth of salvaged redwood, balanced by concrete, plaster, tile and copper, and accented by ‘Equator red’. We capitalized on existing high ceilings in the storefront to feature a 27-point light array, half of which suspends down to reveal the fixtures’ slip-cast concrete texture. To further integrate Mill Valley’s history, Studio BBA designed a table of redwood and salvaged railroad rails for the outdoor seating area. Back to Projects page Client Equator Coffees BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Sarah Fucinaro Size 950 SF Contractor Dan Dafoe Collaborators MEP: MHC Engineers Photography Nicholas V. Ruiz Back to top

OAKLAND DREAMING BIG WITH GROUND OAKLAND We often have clients find us through the myriad of hospitality projects that we have done over the years . . . where people connect the dots of their favorite Bay Area places (and their ability to foster deeper human connections) back to us. It is endearing and humbling and sometimes surprising, as is the case with these speculative projects for Binta Ayofemi and her non-profit, Ground. Over the course of two years, we worked with this artist to create the master plan, the collages and the architectural backbone for her ambitious artistic vision. You can see the results of one such project at Commons in Oakland. The others live on as dreams for a fairer future in which the flow of global capital emerges from the ground where ideas are born. Back to Projects page Client Binta Ayofemi, Ground BBA Team Bonnie Bridges Anand Sheth Vishnu Balunsat Size Varies Contractor Unbuilt Collaborators Binta Ayofemi Photography None Back to top

SAN FRANCISCO FOUR BARREL PORTOLA SAN FRANCISCO This Portola district café is Fourbarrel ’s best kept secret, opening onto a new city pocket park that was developed by popular demand of the neighborhood (of which our very own Bonnie Bridges is a member), in conjunction with a San Francisco initiative. The park and café activate a forgotten nook where dead-end street meets elevated highway, enlivening and expanding the community streetscape. Much of our inspiration for this rough-cut gem came from its context and how to best leverage its many particularities, as is often the case in our work. In homage to the Portola’s history as a commercial rose-growing area, a glass awning and planted trellis greet your approach. A former garage, we worked with the existing concrete shell to leverage its simple structural order, with patrons entering through the large overhead garage door to find a series of custom café carts inside the building. The main feature of the space is the wood treatment on the ceiling. The whole team collaborated on what to do with loads of old cupped redwood planks, finally arriving on the approach of laying out the end grain pieces in concentric circles to resemble a cross-section of the growth rings of a tree. A custom sliding glass and steel wall does double duty by hiding the massive electrical panel behind and providing retail shelving in front. Back to Projects page Client Four Barrel Coffee BBA Team Seth Boor Bonnie Bridges Size 725 SF Contractor Roman Hunt Collaborators Photography Studio BBA Back to top