[BTinSF]

KMD Architects' Design for Innovative 1100 Broadway Highrise and Adjacent Historic Building Ok'd by Oakland Planners


Note: The building on the Left, also by KMD, is the SF PUC building to be built on Golden Gate Ave. 1100 Broadway is on the right.

New 20-story office tower by KMD Architects Aims for Top East Bay LEED Rating.(PRNewsFoto/KMD Architects)

OAKLAND, Calif., April 24 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oakland Planning
Commission has voted 6-0 to approve designs for the new 20-story 1100
Broadway building, which is targeted to be the highest LEED rated high-rise
office building in the East Bay and will preserve an adjacent national
historic landmark, the Key System Headquarters. Developed by SKS
Investments and designed by KMD Architects, 1100 Broadway is seen as a
dramatic departure from typical Oakland high-rises both in its stirring
appearance and its innovative sustainability features.

Said Planning Commission Vice Chair Michael Colbruno, "I've staffed
land-use committees for years, the first time about 20 years ago, and this
is one of the best projects I've ever seen." Added Chairman Douglas Boxer,
"This sends the best kind of signal to other builders, that THIS is the
quality of building we want to see more of in Oakland."

The 320,000 square-foot office building incorporates advanced
energy-saving and employee-productivity features, and will be among the
first new high-rises in the Oakland office market in the past five years.
1100 Broadway offers modern, angular lines that complement its downtown
setting and the adjacent Key System facade which is being restored
befitting its designation on the National Register of Historic Places. The
first eight floors, which integrate the new building and the former Key
System building space, will provide large full-floors of 20,000 square
feet.

"Our goal was to create a modern structure which evokes a soaring,
uplifting feeling while complementing the historic Key System building,"
said David Hobstetter, Principal of KMD, which is leveraging its
sustainable-design experience from recent work including Seoul City Hall,
South Korea, the innovative San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
headquarters and others. "Behind an extensive glass skin which provides
sweeping views, 1100 Broadway has tucked away significant energy-efficient,
green attributes such as rain-catching systems to recycle rainwater and solar
panels to generate electricity." SKS and KMD are hopeful that the
project will attain LEED-Gold certification which is the second highest
sustainability rating of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
program of the U.S. Green Building Council.

In response to tenants' increasing interest in offices that enhance
worker productivity, 1100 Broadway also brings more daylight into the
building's interior workspaces.

"Research studies from Europe to California have shown daylight
improves worker productivity and performance while reducing absenteeism and sick-leave," said Hobstetter.

The Key System building once housed the headquarters for the Bay Area's
vast streetcar network which also had its nexus in downtown Oakland. The
1912 structure reflects the classic design style and use of masonry and
terra cotta that is found in many Oakland structures built during the surge
of construction after the San Francisco 1906 earthquake.

About KMD

Since 1963, San Francisco-based KMD (Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz) has been a
leader in green building and sustainable design, with completed projects in
over 30 US states, and 15 countries around the world. The company's web
site is at http://www.kmdarchitects.com.

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4799652&EDATE=