| abstract | - 165 Tenth Street is a San Francisco City Landmark. In 1890 working class residents of San Francisco did not have indoor plumbing. Built in 1890 by the James Lick estate as a free public bath house, it housed a men’s bath with forty bathtubs in changing rooms in the large north wing, and a women’s bath with twenty tubs in changing rooms in the smaller south wing. The James Lick Baths were originally lavish in conception and finish. Water was pumped from the facility’s own wells, heated in boilers in the sunken boiler room, and hot and cold water was pumped into 10,000 gallon tanks in the tower. Bathers could open the taps at each tub in the bathing halls for a customized mix of hot and cold water. After extensive damage in the 1906 earthquake and fire the building was repaired and continued as a bath until 1919. From 1919 until 1973 it was The People’s Laundry, an industrial laundry, followed by a variety of offices, workshops, and stores. The two main bath spaces were divided and circulation in the building became convoluted. A wall at the base of the tower was demolished, leaving one side unsupported. In 2008 Gelfand Partners Architects acquired the building and renovated the ground floor to be its office. The design cleared the clutter of new partitions and mezzanines, restoring the original logic of the building. The modernization reopened boarded up ventilation louvers in the skylight curbs and introduced a new fresh air supply. Structural improvements strengthened the original light steel trusses and created a new horizontal diaphragm, allowing the generous skylight openings to remain. The missing tower support was replaced. The improvements reinforce the basic sustainability of a daylit space that uses stack ventilation to move fresh air through the space. A new mezzanine stands apart from the adjacent wall, and new slotted FSC plywood ceiling panels float between the original roof trusses, revealing the original decking. The slotted plywood is also used in railings and wall panels throughout the space. The firm installed a living wall in the main studio space and undertook sidewalk greening on the alley behind the building. The energy model beats California Title 24 by 53%. Structural improvements make important changes in the building performance. Preserving the building has preserved its story, its lessons in sustainable design, and reawakened the noble and radiant rooms that were designed as a gift to all who used the building.
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