NARI San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
2001 Remmies Award 1st place

Plath & Company renovated the Victorian-era Gas Light building, which once housed the San Francisco Gas Light Company, a predecessor to PG&E, for use as office space. Plath & Company, specialists at adaptive re-use of historic buildings, quotes the motto, øThe first step in preservation is to find an appropriate use for an old building and then you can save it.Ó

Plath installed steel columns from floor to ceiling in the Gas Light building with mechanical attachments connecting the brick walls to the columns all the way up. A bolts-plus system connects each floor of the building to the walls for seismic reinforcing. Plath added a second floor to the 24-foot high turbine room in the back of the building for new offices. The Renovation added new lighting and mechanical and electrical systems.

The original front offices were ornately decorated where Plath cleaned and restored the plaster walls and crown moldings. The doors and wainscoting were stripped down to their original surfaces and refinished to show the original glow of the wood grain. There was a concern with preserving the original wood windows, some of which had to be remade. This gave Plath carpenters the opportunity to showcase their skills at faithful recreation.

The exterior of the red brick building is protected as a San Francisco Landmark, and PlathÎs expertise in historic preservation helped sustain this charming and distinctive building for future generations