One Oak

Groundworks Office designed Oak Plaza to revitalize and reconnect the public realm. Located at the base of a tower designed by architects Solomon Cordwell Buenz, it ties together San Francisco's bustling Market Street, the major corridor of Van Ness Avenue, and the intimately scaled Oak Street. In many ways, the location is the crossroads of the city, connecting residential, civic, and commercial districts. It's dense with public transit options and just steps from major cultural destinations like the Asian Art Museum, War Memorial Opera House, and Civic Center Plaza. To say it's a complicated site is an understatement. 

To define a new public plaza that unifies this intersection, we designed Oak Plaza to blur the boundaries between the plaza and the street, reaching across Oak with planters and pavers designed to improve pedestrian safety. The paving uses San Francisco’s historic granite cobble to create a subtle pattern that slows traffic while drawing attention to One Oak’s front entry. The planters complement the tower's curving design while forming a relationship with the historic Beaux-Arts-styled Masonic Temple. A grove of ginkgos provide a beautiful, shady place for pedestrians and commuters to rest between trains or buses and a lush palette of pollinator plants to keep the local ecosystem thriving.

Developed as part of the 2007 Market & Octavia Area Plan, Oak Plaza is one of many building blocks designed to create a more successful public realm that meets the needs of the community in this rapidly growing district.