The Gas Light Building, a historic San Francisco landmark on Buchanan Street near the Marina District, has recently undergone a complete restoration, according to Steve Plath, president of Plath & Company General Contractors. The structure originally housed the San Francisco Gas Light Company, a precursor to PG&E. The Gas Light building is now owned by the Tusker Corporation, a management company that will maintain a corporate office in the building.

At one time, expansive 40’ high ceilings in the rear of the Gas Light building accommodated natural gas pumping equipment. During the restoration of the building, Plath created a second floor in the back of the Queen Anne-style structure for new office space, as well as renovated existing administrative offices. It was designated official City landmark #58 in 1974 and is believed to have been designed by Clinton Day in 1893.

The fast-track project to restore and modernize the 107-year-old building in eight months included meticulously stripping and refinishing redwood wainscoting, balustrade and trim, and reinforcing the masonry exterior walls. Plath also updated the electrical, heat and water systems.

Tom Hall, Plath project manager said, "All work on the exterior is reviewed by the landmark preservation advisory board. It was a challenge to keep the historic brick facade of the building intact during the structural bolting. Another challenge was the restoration of 33 windows that are over 100 years old."

Architect Sady Hayashida of Hayashida Architects in Emeryville, and Preservation Architect Patrick McGrew, principal of McGrew/Architects of San Francisco, worked with Hall and Plath’s job foreman Matt Ward to transform the structure into a historically accurate, yet modern office building. "Jarring changes are absent — you’d never really know we were there," McGrew said. "The exterior didn’t change at all, but inside the changes and new details are complementary to the existing building."

The job to restore and modernize the 107-year-old building was no small task. Steel columns needed to be attached to the brick walls to structurally reinforce the building. Workers drilled thousands of holes in the brick’s interior face to within one inch of the exterior brick face. The steel columns rise from the ground to the roof, and have steel brackets that connect the brick walls to each column. Each floor in the 14-room structure also connects to the walls by a "bolts-plus" system. "Although the building is set in the midst of new development, it stands out with its eye-catching elegance," said architect McGrew. "The brick that forms the tower is very elaborate and consists of beautifully designed, sophisticated elements that you don’t see even on other buildings from that period."

Plath craftsman stripped and refinished most of the original redwood trim including the six-panel doors in the Gas Light Company’s original administrative offices. During test stripping, the wainscot panels were found to be "curly redwood." This wood is only found in the lower sections of old growth redwood where the tremendous weight of the thousand-year-old trees compress the grain, creating a wavy pattern.

Plath removed rotting wood from the windows and treated the decayed boards with epoxy, a synthetic resin that penetrates and hardens the wood. This work was done following preservation guidelines to save as much of the original wood as possible. During the repair, each pane of glass was removed and later replaced in the same location.

In order to function as a modern office, Plath installed ADA compliant kitchens and bathrooms and a new 800 amp electrical system. This will accommodate the buildings’ new power requirements, which include an elevator and electric heat pumps located at the exterior. These heat pumps supply both heat and air conditioning.

An antiques store inhabited the 14-room structure in the 1960s, followed by a realty office. Tusker Corporation bought the Gas Light Building in 1999.