Secret Spaces Of San Francisco



















  1. Redwood Park: An urban park at the foot of San Francisco’s most striking skyscraper with redwoods, sculptures and a fountain.
  2. 505 Sansome Street: A greenhouse in the lobby of an office building, connecting to Redwood Park.
  3. Empire Park: An urban garden on the site of a demolished building.
  4. Embarcadero Center West: Three separate open spaces.
  5. 456 Montgomery Street: An urban garden cascading into the middle recess of a building.
  6. 343 Sansome Street: Two open spaces, one a sun terrace on the 15th floor (with an obelisk), the other a lunchtime mall.
  7. 650 California Street:Two “largely barren” plazas.
  8. 600 California Street: A ’snippet’ without amenities or seating, but with lots of art pieces.
  9. 555 California Street: A “grand, almost forbidding” plaza, with a sculpture, a garden and teak benches.
  10. 345 California Street: A “shady snippet” with granite benches and some planters.
  11. 200 California Street: A public sitting area in a pedestrian walkway, featuring a bronze sculpture called The Hawaiian.
  12. 150 California Street: A sun terrace with tables, chairs, plants an public art – but you have to get past a security guard.
  13. 50 California Street: A snippet enlivened by a small café.
  14. One California Street: Snippets around the building feature trees and benches, and is partly occupied by the indoor café’s tables and chairs.
  15. 101 California: An urban garden within a large plaza, dominated by three stepped pyramids.
  16. 100 Pine Street: An urban garden squeezed in between a few skyscrapers, a “gem” but without direct sunlight.
  17. 444 Market Street: A plaza leading to the entrance of the Market Street building.
  18. One Bush Street: A “beautifully designed and maintained” urban garden surrounding “the first postwar high-rise” in San Francisco.
  19. Citygroup Center: A greenhouse in a former bank building.
  20. Trinity Alley: A pedestrian walkway with a narrow plaza.
  21. Crocker Galleria: Two rooftop sun terraces, one on an historic bank building, the other “accessed from an obscure staircase in the northwest corner of the Galleria”.
  22. One Post Street: Snippets with stand-up tables and square concrete blocks at sitting height next to food services.
  23. 595 Market Street: Two triangular entryway plazas. One “could become a pleasant public sitting area”.
  24. 555/575 Market Street: A “beautifully landscaped” urban garden between two highrises.
  25. 525 Market Street: An urban garden with a double granite fountain.
  26. 425 Market Street: An urban garden surrounded by highrises that is “shady but nonetheless a jewel”.
  27. 14 Fremont Street: A wide sitting area in a pedestrian walkway, furnished with tables and chairs.
  28. 333 Market Street: A small plaza with planters.
  29. 45 Fremont Street: A narrow plaza with a hedge of Japanese maples and a row of metal benches.
  30. 50 Beale Street: A “rather large” urban park full of trees and bushes, and including a railroad car housing a Bechtel Corp. museum.
  31. 77 Beale Street: An entry plaza featuring a water wall, granite planters, Gingko trees and sitting ledges.
  32. 201 Mission Street: An urban garden in the setbacks on Beale Street.
  33. 123 Mission Street: An urban garden in three successive parts, with plenty of vegetation.
  34. One Market Street: A plaza oriented to the sunny side of the building.
  35. 135 Main Street: An enclosed front courtyard turned into an indoor park with a metal wall water feature.
  36. 160 Spear Street: An entrance walkway widening into an urban garden with water feature and aluminium sculpture.
  37. 180 Howard Street: A public sitting area in a walkway that is a continuation of (36).
  38. 201 Spear Street: A walkway widening into an urban garden, centered on the sculpture of a photographing man.
  39. 211 Main Street: A front entry plaza with sunny exposure and the potential to be a “very pleasant space”.
  40. 221 Main Street: “Four benches in a sea of paving”.
  41. 301 Howard Street: A small urban garden featuring a food truck in an Art Deco building, thus “destroy[ing] the charm of the little pavilion”.
  42. 199 Fremont Street: An urban garden that is the result of the collaboration of a sculptor, a poet and an architect.
  43. 100 First Street: A popular sun terrace with water spouting from a black granite wall.
  44. 25 Jessie Street: A “small but lovely” urban garden with a water wall but without seating.
  45. Golden Gate University: A bridge turned into a ’snippet’.
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