A short selection of slides follow, detailing a recent day-long visit to San Francisco, on-route to Mills-Peninsula Hospital—located in Burlingame, a suburb outside of the city—which I was covering for Architectural Record. 

I think we’ve all left pieces of our hearts in San Francisco, a place of moving beauty with an abundance of public amenities. On this visit, I was impressed by the continuing urban development along the waterfront, extending from Fort Mason’s to Fort Point. For over 200 years this waterfront area was part of the Presidio. Decommissioned in 1994, it became part of Golden Gate National Recreation area. An urban waterfront park for picknickers, sunbathing, bicycling and walking, its panoramic views of the bay in both directions attract thousands of people every day. Most of the buildings in this area are designated historic sites by National Historic Landmarks program and are gradually being restored for public use; any new buildings built here must be designed to LEED standards. 

Final destination, the Mills-Peninsula Hospital, in Burlingame, just outside San Francisco, which illustrates a modern example of  today's  human-centered design, a major trend in hospital design,  and an innovative structural system, which protects both the building and its inhabitants from earthquakes.