Built Project:
8th Street "Showplace Triangle"

Location:
8th Street, between 16th and Irwin Streets

Opening Date:
September 14, 2009

ReBar Group, Flora Grubb Nursery, Recology, Axis Café, and San Francisco Clean City Coalition. The cost of the materials for the plaza was generously covered by a donation from AT&T, which owns a distribution center across the street. Nibbi Brothers General Contactors also provided a donation to offset the cost of irrigation required for establishment.

Design Details:

ReBar Group, a San Francisco based design firm, generously offered their time and resources to help design and acquire materials for the plaza. Old granite curbs were used to form three green islands where people can relax, play, and enjoy some greenery. Large granite blocks that at one point were used as seating at another location in San Francisco, were repurposed at this location to provide flexible seating areas. Debris boxes, donated by Recology, were sanitized, painted, lined, and filled with trees and plants to provide a green relief to the plaza. Finally, unused terra-cotta sewer pipes were located around the periphery of the plaza to provide a physical edge and a dramatic statement. The pipes are filled with soil and planted with succulents and other low-water plants.

For a conceptual plan of the plaza, please click here.

For early renderings of the plaza during design development, click on the images below.

images courtesy of ReBar

Donations:

Major Donor: AT&T
Other Donors: Nibbi Brothers General Contractors

Monitoring & Evaluation:

The City is closely monitoring the success of the plaza at two months and six months after installation and will decide, based on this evaluation, whether to extend the run of the plaza installation.

Before & After:

TOP ROW ABOVE: The plaza location before Pavement to Parks. ABOVE LEFT & RIGHT: Debris boxes are re-purposed as large planters. RIGHT: Surplus granite blocks are integrated into theplanter beds to provide an architectural detail and flexible seating areas. BELOW: Surplus granite curbs are used to provide form for three grassy planter beds.

Media Coverage:

SAN FRANCISCO STREETSBLOG

• Demand for Trial Plazas Increases as Lower Potrero Design is Revealed (8/4/09)
• Finding Unused Pavement for Parks and Plazas in Lower Potrero (5/22/09)

THE ARCHITECT'S NEWSPAPER

• “Planting in the Streets” (5/15/09)

NEW YORK TIMES

• “Pavement to Parks” (9/22/09)

READY MADE

• "Pavement as Park…" (11/10/09)

SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN

• "Seizing Space" (11/17/09)

NEW URBANISM