Brannan Square is a mixed-use development in the SoMa district of San Francisco that responds to an extremely varied context comprised of Victorian-style housing, a major homeless shelter, industrial and warehouse spaces, as well as a large-scale raised highway infrastructure. The plans for the 4.5-acre site will yield three new commercial buildings with a new 40,000-square-foot public park at the heart of the development. Once completed, the project will provide one million square feet of class A office space; 100,000 square feet of production, repair, and distribution space; almost 20,000 feet of Privately Owned Public Open Space; retail space; 90 units of affordable housing; a 5,500-square-foot child care center; basement garages for 200 cars and 515 bikes; and landscaped terrace spaces.

The design creates a new typology for tech-driven development by integrating a substantial office population with a street-level precinct that supports diverse retail activity; the specialized needs of small scale prototyping, manufacturing, and processing; and a destination park that re-introduces the scale and character of specific Bay Area landscapes to a formerly nondescript parcel of land. With the site straddling projected flood high-water lines, the design responds with a set of passive mitigation strategies including green roofs, and on-site below grade stormwater storage.

Fifth and Brannan is led by Michael Maltzan Architecture in collaboration with Associate Architect Adamson Associates, Inc.