Geneva Car Barn & Powerhouse | 2016-2020

San Francisco, California, USA

Architects: Aidlin Darling Design
Client: San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department
Photographers: Matthew Millman Photography

Built in 1901, the Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse is a national historic landmark, one of the last physical reminders of San Francisco’s first electric railway.

The building is comprised of two distinct parts: the two-story brick ‘Car Barn’ structure; and a one-story brick and concrete industrial ‘Powerhouse’ named for its role in generating electricity for the trains.

The SF Recreation and Park Department raised funds to adaptively reuse the building as a community arts education center to provide training for underprivileged youth. The recently completed first phase renovated the Powerhouse into a 300-person event and performance space.

The design highlights the layers of history while deftly inserting new program elements into the historic shell. All brick and plaster surfaces were carefully repaired to respect the patchwork that pays homage to the building’s age. In adapting the Powerhouse to be an event space, new elements such as the steel entry frame and interior plywood enclosures were designed as both distinctly modern and deferential to the existing historical structure.

Structurally glazed floors enclose existing openings where turbine engines once generated the power for the streetcars. These concrete pits have been transformed into display vitrines for artifacts, preserving the building’s historical value while eliminating the use of new, additional materials.

The adaptive reuse of this historic building is inherently sustainable: the process resulted in a significantly lower embodied carbon output compared to a new construction by conserving resources, reducing the amount of new building materials used, and eliminating the significant amount of waste that would be produced by demolishing the original structure.

Other sustainable practices were incorporated into the design and construction process to create a more efficient building. Skylights and windows throughout the space eliminate the need for artificial light during daylight hours.

The Green Room skylight filters borrowed lighting into the space, further reducing the need for artificial light. Additionally, the radiant floor system provides efficient heating and cooling without noise or vibration. When possible, materials that perform multiple functions simultaneously were chosen to reduce the reliance on new material. Examples include the structural slab that doubles as the finished floor and the structural metal deck that incorporates sound insulation to provide acoustic attenuation.

Throughout the Powerhouse, the interplay of new and old enlivens each other's reading, resulting in a revived historic building that will serve the community once more while honoring its past.