Berkeley, California

Completion Date:
June 1, 2009

Owner:
Yasuda Family, Berkeley Bowl Produce, Inc.

 

Program: A two-story, 144,217-square-foot retail grocery store, with a café, a community room, offices, staff facilities, underground parking, a warehouse, and a full commercial kitchen serving this store and Berkeley Bowl's Oregon Street location.

Design concept and solution: For their second location, the owners of this popular local supermarket picked the site of a former asphalt plant and abandoned lot. To reconcile the idea of a family grocery with West Berkeley's warehouses and industrial infrastructure, the architects sought to design a store that would feel inviting without losing its connection to its surroundings. At one corner of the lot, the logic of the old street grid is preserved: the line of sight from 9th Street (which dead-ends into the store) continues through the site to the next cross street, and the path of the former street becomes a breezeway connecting the store to a small offshoot housing  a café and community room. Outdoor tables extend the café into the breezeway, creating a natural meeting place where customers can linger. With the site's industrial history in mind, the architects clad the building in corrugated steel and glass, punctuated by large expanses of steel-framed windows inset with wood to add warmth.

Architect:
Kava Massih Architects
2830 9th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
Ph: 510.644.1920
Fax: 510.644.1967

People

Owner
Yasuda Family, Berkeley Bowl Produce, Inc.

Architect
Kava Massih Architects
2830 9th Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
Ph: 510.644.1920
Fax: 510.644.1967

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:
Kava Massih, Principal (registered architect)
J. Jarrell Conner, Project Manager (registered architect)
Phillip Moss (registered architect)
Thierry Roule
Brian Stryzek
Brent Adams
Andrew Shiflet

Interior designer: Architect

Engineer(s)
Structural engineer: Rutherford & Chekene
 
Mechanical: Hussman (design/Build)

Electrical: Bowen Electric (design/build)

Plumbing: Castro Valley plumbing (design/build)

Refrigeration: Hussman and CRS (design/build)

Consultant(s)
Landscape: John Nishizawa (hired by owner)

Store Equipment: Supermarket Source – John Viera

Solar System: Sunlight and Power

General contractor: Oliver & Company

Photographer(s)
Ethan Kaplan
415.431.1123
ethan@kaplanphoto.com

Renderer(s)
George Tolosa

CAD system, project management, or other software used:
AutoCAD

 

Products

Exterior cladding
Metal/glass curtainwall: Metal

Concrete: poured—in-place

Wood: western red cedar (clear heart)

Windows
Steel: custom built (National Metal Fabricators)

Doors
Entrances: Assa Abloy/Besam

Hardware
Locksets: Ingersoll Rand

Hinges: Ingersoll Rand

Closers: Ingersoll Rand

Exit devices: Ingersoll Rand

Interior finishes
Acoustical ceilings: Armstrong

Suspension grid: Armstrong

Paints and stains: ICI

Plastic laminate: Wilsonart

Furnishings
Office furniture: by owner

Reception furniture: by owner

Fixed seating: by owner

Chairs: by owner

Tables: by owner