Damage from the Loma Prieta Earthquake of 1989 forced The Archdiocese of San Francisco to seek temporary housing for St. Mary’s Chinese School.  Mock/Wallace assisted in the search for a new site for the school. 

The historic Our Lady of Guadalupe Church above the Broadway tunnel was vacant and available and we determined it would be suitable.  Given a new purpose as a temporary location for the School, the sanctuary and community room was converted into nine classrooms, offices, library and new toilets.  The historic interiors including the altar and chapels were preserved for a future restoration.   Work included seismic upgrade, historic preservation, and appearances before the SF Planning Commission and State Landmarks Board. 

 

Formerly the site of Lowell High School, the buildings are now part of the John Adams Campus of City College of San Francisco.  The existing gym was largely unused and the basement which had showers and workshops was vacant.  After a seismic upgrade, the gymnasium was renovated and with a new elevator, the basement level was usable and new classrooms were possible.  The elevator also extended to the gym mezzanine seating area.

A new accessible entry ramp and canopy was installed at the main entrance.  New and existing toilets were made accessible.

As part of a seismic upgrade to the gymnasium, large shear panels needed to be installed on two sides of the building.  In the two photos above, the left photos shows the original appearance of the building.  The photo on the right above and the center photo below show the new shear panels.  The concrete shear panels were covered with decorative ceramic tiles.

Retained for a simple modernization of the building, our seismic assessment of the building determined the building would pose a serious threat in an earthquake.  Our study allowed CCSF to obtain funding for the seismic retrofit of the building.  A temporary canopy to protect the entry from falling bricks in the event of an earthquake was installed as an interim measure while the building waited for a major seismic reinforcement.

 

Mock/Wallace assisted the San Francisco Unified School District in determining how existing school could be remodeled to create new science laboratories.  Obtaining approvals through the Department of the State Architect, science labs for Five Middle Schools were created.