GOING UP
The greatest structural difference was the addition of a third floor to house the YMCA administrative offices and create a location for a roof garden overlooking the public park. Adding the story on top was about densification, maximizing the footprint of the building by going up instead of out.
The newly installed 3-story stairwell reaching this new addition was built specifically to be a surface for a mural. Led by a local artist selected by the Teen Task Force, the teens held a session to develop the mural concept and helped paint the large piece, which is visible from the street through the glass façade.
The interior of the existing space was largely vacant, making it relatively easy for the design team to create flexible, functional spaces to meet the programming needs of the YMCA Teen Center—everything from dance classes to tutoring to poetry slams. The Teen Task Force recognized the structural steel and concrete as significant elements of the building, essential to maintaining the existing character of the building. Finishes were purposefully rough-edged to maintain the industrial feel of the building, achieved through polished concrete and plastering rather than excess use of finer finishes.
ASPIRATIONS MADE POSSIBLE
The entry features large-scale stainless- steel words selected by the Teen Task Force to inspire center patrons: VISION, GROWTH, VOICE, AMP. “AMP”, the nickname for the center, stands for “Aspirations Made Possible”, as true for the teens who enliven the space as it is for the building itself, aspirations of reuse made possible through innovative thinking and collaborative processes.
The first floor of the building features general-activity rooms, which open out to the parking lot via folding-glass walls. This flexibility enables large events to spill outside as needed and indoor-outdoor events to take place with ease, an incredible pandemic foresight by the design team.
The second floor was already a vast open space, spanning wall to wall. There was nothing to remove, so the design team took advantage by keeping it open and flexible, an ever-changing space for teen groups and programs now and into the future.
The bright-green wall at the entrance of the building, a striking contrast to the usual grayscale of civic buildings, was also chosen by the Teen Task Force. The color was approved at a rousing Design Review meeting where the teens, SAT prep books in hand, spoke passionately about what the color green means to them: hope and opportunity.
The $4.5 million, 13,500-square-foot YMCA-PG&E Teen Center is a stunning example of adaptive reuse and making sense of a non-functional building with an obsolete purpose. That so many enti- ties were able to come together to create something not only functional, but wonderful in this space is a testament to creative thinking and collaboration—an effort to include and inspire an age group that is often overlooked.
PHOTOS: David Wakely Photography unless otherwise noted
Retrofit Team
Architect and Interior Designer: Noll & Tam Architects
- Janet Tam, principal-in-charge
- Alyson Yarus, project manager
- Scott Salge, project manager
General Contractor: Pankow
Civil Engineer: KPFF
Structural Engineer: IDA Structural Engineers
Mechanical and Electrical Engineer: Timmons Design Engineers, (415) 957-8788
Landscape Architect: Dillingham Associates
Materials
Curtainwall and Skylights: Viracon
Glass: Kawneer
Low-slope Roofing: Johns Manville
Reception Countertops: Vetrazzo
Restroom Wall Tile: Vidrepur Glass Mosaic
Carpet: Interface
Lighting Controls: Wattstopper
Photovoltaics: Sun Light & Power
Plumbing Fixtures: American Standard and Toto
Building Management System: Schneider Electric
Cooling: Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US LLC