French American Int’l High School

Art Pavilion

San Francisco, California

This adaptive re-use project transformed an existing automotive repair shop into a state-of-the-art Arts Pavilion for high school students of the French American International High School in San Francisco.

The three-story building was repurposed for the teaching of the arts, with “Music Arts”, “Fine Arts” and “Dramatic Arts” respectively placed on separate floors.

The historic facades of the original structure were carefully restored. The interior vehicular ramps and portions of the concrete slabs were removed to create open atriums and light wells. The project’s evident commitment to sustainability resulted in it being awarded LEED Silver certification. The design included the retrofit of the existing shell and the re-purpose of existing materials. New, recycled and rapidly renewable materials were specified and the building was equipped with a highly efficient HVAC system.

Directly under Josh Cohn, Principal Architect at CA Architects in San Francisco, Mauricio worked on this project from the initial programming and conceptual design through construction documentation and construction administration.

Photo credit: CA Architects