Heller Manus Architects
Award-Winning Firm Creates Success Through Balance, Context and Diversification
By Tonya Poole
In Bay Area commercial and high-density residential building circles, few names are as instantly recognizable, or as widely respected, as Jeffrey Heller, FAIA and Clark Manus, FAIA - partners at Heller Manus Architects in downtown San Francisco. Heller and Manus have made a strong name for themselves over the past 20 years as they've helped, through a diverse portfolio of projects, to shape the always-evolving face of the city. Projects to the team's credit have included the St. Francis Wellness Center, EmeryStation Plaza, San Francisco City Hall, Hotel Vitale, The Metropolitan, The Terraces and an array of other high-profile buildings around the bay.
Builder/Architect magazine had the opportunity to talk with Jeffrey Heller last month about his work, his team and his success in one of the country's top urban architectural markets.
1080 East Daming Road in Shanghai is a business-use building consisting of a 120-meter-high office tower on a 21-meter-high podium. The site is located two blocks from the Huangpu River in the old Jewish Quarter and has dramatic views of the Pudong and Bund districts. The building contains approximately 27,000 square meters of above-ground space and approximately 8,000 square meters of below-ground space. The large lobby and extensive landscaped areas create an inviting environment. Openness, flexibility and unimpeded circulation throughout these spaces are key concepts of the design. It is the objective of the owner and the design team to create a functional, advanced landmark building with energy efficiency and environmental protection features while maintaining a level of fire protection and security consistent with the national standards of the People's Republic of China. The building will incorporate good site selection, energy and water conserving measures, good indoor environment, and recycling and renewable material features. (Rendering by Heller Manus Architects)
B/A: Tell me about your background. How was Heller Manus Architects born?
JH: I was educated on the East Coast; I went to MIT and got my bachelor's and master's there, then went to work with some large, well-known firms like SOM and Gensler, and I earned partner at a firm called KMD. Then about 22 years ago, I decided it was time to start my own firm. I wanted to have my own name on the door, wanted to guide my own destiny.
Clark Manus came on board with me when I started the firm in 1984. The idea was to work on major projects, but to do it in an environment where the firm's size is relatively moderate, not large, so that we kept a high level of personal service to our clients. We've been successful at that and the scope of our work, much of which is in the Bay Area, but we also work nationally and are starting to work internationally as well.
About 12 years ago, Clark became a full partner. Today we've also got a team of senior directors and a staff of professionals - we're an architect-only firm of about 30-plus people.
The building at 55 Second Street is located in an historic conservation district which transitions from high-rises on Market Street to low buildings to the south. The building is designed to respond to several challenging site conditions with the goal of creating a high-rise office tower that is both visually prominent and contextual. The detail at the top of the building, including the large torchieres, emphasizes the skyline aspect of the tower. (Photo by Heller Manus Architects)
300 Spear is a project of high-density housing, the modernization of a lagging neighborhood. The occupants in the towers will have views of the bay, the Bay Bridge, Treasure Island and the Downtown Financial District. The project consists of 80-foot-high building podium sections that relate to the dominant building heights of the surrounding area. Above this podium base there are two residential towers, one capping out at 350 feet and the other at 400 feet. (Rendering by Heller Manus Architects)
B/A: What's your passion? What style of work do you enjoy most?
JH: We stay fairly diversified, doing commercial, office, hotel, retail, master-planned, civic and residential spaces. We do new buildings, we do renovations, we sometimes do adaptive reuse where we blend the old and the new together. But a big part of our philosophy is to design contemporary buildings that are appropriate in context, that fit the environment and the physical and visual fabric of where they're built. That means everything we do is different, style is always changing with the project. I'd say that our favorites are complex, mixed-use projects and projects that are politically contentious, like one we're doing now for the Shorenstein Company. The building had to go through the planning commission, the historical landmark advisory board, the parks and recreation department for park and sunlight issues, and the board of supervisors for other things. It was challenging, but personally, I enjoy that challenge and complexity because it affects the direction the design will ultimately take. Very few people can survive that and still get everything done in a reasonable time frame.
Located at 10th and Market Street near Civic Center, this project will anchor the new Mid Market district with a dramatic 35-story tower. There will be over 720 residential units within 700,000 square feet of building consisting of the 35-story main tower, a 12-story section along Market Street, forcing the market street mid-rise building line, a nine-story section along 10th street and a 19-story section with rooftop pool along Jessie Street to the rear. 16,000 square feet of ground floor retail is provided along Market and 10th streets, creating a lively urban streetscape.(Rendering by Heller Manus Architects)
B/A: What about your relationships with builders? What kind of builders do you enjoy working with most? How do you work together?
JH: Because of the scale of our projects, we work with larger contractors like Webcor, Swinerton, Dinwitty, Bovis, Pankow, Plant and others like them. Working with the contractor, for us, is an active partnership that has to start on day one, especially because of cost escalation issues and trying to build something solid that makes an architectural statement, but that can still recover its costs. We work together from the beginning with the builder to make sure buildings are designed intelligently so that they're efficient and realistic. With big buildings, you can get in trouble pretty fast if it's inefficient.
The new four-story, 98,000-square-foot Hayward City Hall integrates a variety of municipal functions at one convenient, centralized location. Adjoining the Hayward BART Station and lying within the downtown area, City Hall is the focal point of the downtown master plan. The Civic Center Plan also includes residential, commercial and retail components. The two-story rotunda lobby and galleria space underscore the building's civic importance, while a grand stairway leads visitors to the second floor, where the council chamber is located. The new City Hall employs a state-of-the-art base isolation system for seismic protection. (Photo by Heller Manus Architects)
EmeryStation is an active working example of smart-growth and transit-oriented development. The master plan for this project includes a multimodal transit center, offices, retail and housing uses. A network of usable public open spaces and a pedestrian bridge that links east and west in Emeryville ties the overall plan together. The pedestrian bridge is a vital link across the Bay Area's most intense railroad corridor. The building design incorporates important approaches to user livability. First, almost all the parking is concealed at the base of each building. Second, there are atriums that serve as winter gardens adjacent to the outdoor spaces. Third, the buildings have operable windows and functioning balconies to create energy-conscious, user-friendly work environments. Fourth, the overall design harmonizes with the existing brick warehouse character of Emeryville. A contemporary accent of exposed structural frames visually announces the response to the seismic challenges of the region. (Photo by Heller Manus Architects)
B/A: What kind of team environment do you have at Heller Manus?
JH: Our office is like a big family; it's easy to see ourselves that way because there are only 30 of us. There's a lot of good, open interchange between team members because we all know each other well.
B/A: What's the most exciting thing happening for you right now?
JH: We're working in Shanghai right now - it's a city of almost 20 million people. Just for some contrast, the entire Bay Area, if you count all the way out to Concord, is about 7.5 million. It's a remarkable place that's been designated by the Chinese government to be the commercial gateway to the world. They're building a new port, doubling the size of the airport, and in the space of about 14 years they've built twice as many high-rises as Manhattan ever has. It's an amazing, thriving, magical kind of place and it's very exciting to see and be in. The energy is contagious, and winning the design competition for this LEED silver high-rise office building that's going to be in the middle of all the action was a big deal for us.
The 199-room, eight-story Hotel Vitale is a $53 million project of Joie de Vivre Hospitality. The hotel is across the street from the Ferry Building, the century-old transit hub that was reborn in 2003 as a fine food emporium. The glass-enclosed Lido Lounge will offer views of the bay, Bay Bridge and the Financial District. In this sheltered colonnade, the retail space will house a restaurant and the Market Street Railway historic streetcar store. (Photo by Heller Manus Architects)
B/A: Just one last question before we go. What would you say you're most proud of with your firm?
JH: My partner and I are pretty strongly committed to public service, so I'm currently President of the California Architect's Board - appointed by the governor. My partner is on the national board of the AIA. We've both been president of the local chapter, and we've both been on the state board. But I think what I'm most proud of is that, at this point, our firm is still on a steady ascent in terms of reputation and the kinds of projects we're getting. Every day something new and more interesting comes in, we're being recognized for the quality of what we do, our professionalism, and we're becoming more widely known nationally and internationally, and that's been what we've wanted since we began.
Heller Manus Architects is located at 221 Main Street, Suite 940 in San Francisco. Contact them at (415) 247-1100 or hellermanus.com
September 2006 Builder Architect Edition Issue
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