Emerald Shapery Center

The Emerald Shapery Center is recognized as one of the finest projects of its type in the country as is evidenced by the fact that it has been featured on the cover of 41 publications in addition to being recognized in the Sunday edition of the New York Times and USA Today.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Emerald Shapery Center is located on Broadway, covering the block between State St. on the east and Columbia Street on the west, The Trolley runs along 'C' Street to the north. This prime location is central to the financial district, Horton Plaza, Seaport Village, Marina residential district, The Santa Fe Depot and the 'B' Street Pier. There is a panoramic view of San Diego bay and the Pacific Ocean beyond to the west and south.

A 'mixed use' concept, has been implemented to include a 27 story hotel tower to the south and a 30 story office tower to the north. The two towers are connected at the base by an atrium exceeding 100 feet in height. This space also contains commercial space, as well as restaurants, two ballrooms and a conference center.

Architecturally, Emerald Shapery Center employs two clusters of hexagonal forms which provide interesting facade modulation and a unique roof configuration. The distinctive entries on State and Columbia are covered with a porte cochere and open onto the light-filled, landscaped atrium.

DESIGN CONCEPT

Recognizing that the universe is a fully integrated energy system, Emerald Shapery Center represents a design concept which strives to respect important resources and repond to human parameters as well. The wise use of resources means savings in the project that can be passed on to the tenants both in form of lower operating costs and finer amenities without the associated higher costs.

The forms used in designing the Center have their basis in nature. The study of crystals has recently attracted much interest from scientists and mathematicians. Most crystals found consist of a series or cluster of hexagons. The hexagon itself is constructed from the triangle, one of natures elemental building blocks. Buckminster Fuller determined that the shape of the hexagon is unsurpassed for it's structural integrity on a linear plane.

As it is employed in this building, the haxagon allows shorter hallways and provides much more visually stimulating spaces than the conventional long corridor found in rectangular structures. Both office space and hotel room benefit from a hexagonal orientation which can encourage interesting interior volumes and maximize daylighting.

When compared with a traditional office space of equal square footage each floor of the Center's office tower (a cluster of five hexagons) contains 858 more square feet of exterior office space, allows 2,098 square feet more daylighted area and uses a significantly smaller core area. In addition to having considerable practical implications, the hexagonal shapes provide distinctive exterior forms which identify Emerald Shapery Center as a 21st Century structure.

BUILDING PROGRAM

Tower 1; Office

The thirty floor office tower contains approximately 375,000 gross square feet, including the 17,000 square foot first floor commercial lease space. The second floor is designated for the 24.000 square feet of ballroom space with the third floor used for the conference center. Floors four through fifteen each contain 18,810 square feet.

Beginning on the sixteenth floor, the five hexagonal modules gradually reduce in number with the highest floors consisting of two-level executive suites offering center atriums and outside decks.