Until it closed down in 2011, the Dogpatch power station was the last still-operating infrastructural building in what had been one of the busiest industrial areas on the US West Coast, a neighborhood now undergoing a gentrification process: in the Edwardian-style dwellings of workers of the past now live artists and designers, and the waterfront warehouses of yore are given over to start-ups and big companies like Uber.

An ambitious masterplan seeks to revitalize the site of the decommissioned plant through a mix of apartments, offices, and workspaces. Beside two buildings to be raised ex novo by Foster+Partners, the firm of Jacques Herzog and Pierre Meuron – in collaboration with Adamson Associates – will be refurbishing Station A, a brick volume from the early 20th century that contained the turbine hall.

As in H&deM’s Tate in London (see Arquitectura Viva 71), the main area will harbor a huge entrance atrium, where walkways and lookout points will hover over platforms that once supported machinery; in this case the powerful original foundation will be used to raise a glazed block held up by a steel frame. It will house workspaces and be clad in adjustable louvers.

© Herzog & de Meuron

© Herzog & de Meuron

© Herzog & de Meuron