SITELAB urban studio and Field Operations have revealed a design proposal to reimagine San Francisco’s iconic Powell Street. The street used to be one of the busiest pedestrian corridors in its district and a popular tourist attraction, with cable cars running up and down the street and connecting Union Square and Hallidie Plaza. Across the most popular three-block stretch, the storefronts have become mostly vacant. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the reasons was the Covid pandemic, which led to a further decrease in tourism and in commercial activities. Now a new project led by designers SITELAB urban studio and Field Operations aims to revive the now underutilized transit corridor and to catalyze a renewed interest in the area.
Powell Street is one of the most photographed places in San Francisco due to the history of its cable cars. The new design proposal centered around the heritage of the cable cars, while also aiming to create a more coherent spatial experience through both small and large-scale interventions. The intervention is aligned with the city’s strategy to utilize infrastructure improvements to help create more vibrant public spaces for its citizens, as it’s also underlined by Mayor London Breed’s $360 million bond proposal. The redesign of the three-block stretch of Powell Street was publicly released by the Union Square Alliance and the city of San Francisco.
The project developed by SITELAB urban studio and Field Operations follows a set of key aspects. It aimed to improve both the street and sidewalk by introducing elements such as vegetation and seating, thus creating a comfortable corridor that can accommodate restaurants and outdoor dining areas as additional spaces from where to enjoy the urban scene, complete with the passing of cable cars. The design also includes improvements in the lighting of the urban space, with a starburst chandelier placed at one of the key intersections to create an intuitive gathering space. Lanterns along the street will provide soft ambient lighting, while the programmable LED lights easily accommodate the lighting needs of the various public events scheduled for the area.
Diverse public programming has been taken into consideration to spur economic activity and create new reasons for the residents, commuters, and visitors to spend time in the neighborhood. The redesign of the space is created to be able to accommodate temporary additions such as food and beverage carts, performance sets or stalls for markets and festivals. The initiative underlines the interconnection between urban design and the revitalization of underutilized areas, as the contribution of urban designers can create interest and provide increased opportunities for the space to continue to develop and attract a vibrant local community.
On a similar note, SITELAB urban studio is also collaborating with Google to create a mixed-use corporate campus in San Jose, a location envisioned as an extension of Downtown San Jose open to the local community, a different direction compared to other tech campuses in Silicon Valley. Similarly, Field Operations is collaborating with BIG to create a mixed-use development and a resilient park for the Northern Brooklyn waterfront.
