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MERCY HIGH SCHOOL MULTI-PURPOSE ATHLETIC FACILITY
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
Mercy High School is a 50-year old private Catholic girls school, located in the western portion of San Francisco about one mile from the Ocean. The school’s requirements for a building addition were threefold: a gymnasium with a full-size basketball court, regulation volleyball courts, four practice basketball courts and bleaches for 600-700 spectators, along with locker rooms, a weight room, offices, storage room and a classroom; a space large enough and appropriate for the celebration of Mass, and a building that was energy efficient and environmentally sensitive, along with blending into the established campus and neighborhood.
The design solution was achieved by using rose colored concrete masonry units with split-faced burgundy accent bands as the primary building material, which is similar in color and texture to the existing buildings. Concrete masonry was also selected for its ability to achieve tall slender walls in this seismic zone four, which is only three miles from the San Andreas Fault. CMU afforded the designer the ability to create curving surfaces in both the horizontal and vertical planes. This led to the strong cylindrical Lobby shape, which reflects the concave shape and semi-circular pediment supported by columns at the classroom building entry and the curved roof plane of the Auditorium.
The 100-foot wide by 34-foot high, north facing glass wall is the keystone to creating an energy efficient structure, as well as being a significant design element. There are no other windows in the gym proper, so the “wall of light” contrasts very strongly with the masonry walls and allows for natural, glare-free indirect light that illuminates the whole interior completely during the day.
The sensitivity to the neighborhood begins with the curving roof, which starts low at the south side of the property, closest to the homes and rises to a maximum height of 40 feet toward the north, where the neighboring homes are further away, to form a light scoop. All mechanical equipment is located on the two lower roofs and is enclosed by screening so the high roof is a large uninterrupted sloping plane, which helps to minimize the impact of the neighborhood.
ARCHITECT:
Robert Budke Associates
415
Oakvale Road
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Robert
Budke, AIA
Principal
STRUCTURAL
ENGINEER:
R. P. Gallagher Associates
GENERAL
CONTRACTOR:
Herrero Brothers, Inc.
MASON:
Gentry Masonry Construction
OWNER:
Sisters of Mercy, Burlingame, CA
