up. so even though we are placing the trees and a fairly regular fashion, we are going to get what i think is interesting weight and your regular results from that. that results will affect people on the ground, in the park, and within the building, because they will look out into these various conditions. on the right-hand side you can see the park behind trans america. one of the things that i wanted to point out is these trees have the possibility of being trimmed up, so that you can keep the plaza opened, at the same time you have the volume. next slide, please. here is the plaza. it is made up essentially of three parts. there is the building. the wonderful sculpture that will be on the corner, and then

there is this little woulods tht would remain. we have held them back to let the building have a presence on the street. you will see the tower coming down. it will not be lost in the trees. the sculpture will be able to use the woods as a doctor o bac. these trees growing in the air will be a nice contrast to that. the trees are planted in a series of soil, a technique we used on the 9/11 memorial, and it gives the trees and many more cubic feet of dirt to grow in, and many more cubic feet to distribute water through. redwood's really need water. they are a very fast rate if it gets water, but they are very sturdy.

this kind of technology, we hope that this one will also last 90-100 years, maybe more. the other thing i would point out is we are displaying their furniture in two ways. the first it's a series of benches, which i will describe in more detail, which are for use for people that are waiting, and also people that are out in the plaza having a good time. the second part is we have a series of tables and chairs that are spread out throughout the plaza, and you can imagine a coffee shop and that retail. the retail is on both sides. the only part that does not have retail is the park along mission street where the lobbies are. these retail things we think will be copy shops and small restaurants, and those will spill out so we will have an

informal and slightly more formal seating. you can see the funicular coming up behind the colones, starting low towards mission and rising up to the park. next slide, please. here is the system we hope to use. we have about 5 feet between the top of the garage and the surface of the plaza. what we are trying to do is use these on long slots of a church with a pervious cover on top so that the water can come off of this stone up part, and the water will come off of the stone and pour in and water the trees. that water will then be collected down below after it has gone through the trees. second to the center part, maybe you could point that out, which

will become tanks. that water can be held until july and august and used for irrigation. we would reduce not only the amount of portable water off the city system, but also not discharge as much waste water. we would use it at least one season, maybe if the water quality is good enough, several seasons before we let it go. the benches are a form of the bench that have been presented to you as part of the park. these try to take the vocabulary from the park, the trees and the pavement and the benches, down so they are seen as two different things, but placed together. one series of public open spaces. these are purposely made not too

long. if you sit on them, they are wide enough if you are sitting with a friend to sit on the bench. or sitting with a close friend. on the other hand, if you do not want someone sitting there, use it in the middle and there is not enough room for anyone to join you. if you are going to read a book or born to take a snooze, then that's bench will be yours for the time you are there. these are double benches each way. also, in such a way that they have a turning apart. here is an elevation that shows what we're trying to do. the trees are on the lower portion. you can see the funicular going up between. the you can see the trees on the top. it happens that the redwoods

with ferns and that sort of culmination of plants will be right at that eds. you enter in through this group of redwood trees. you will go up the funicular and come out into a much more regular form of the same thing. we think these trees would be planted 40 feet high. they can grow 200 feet high. we're definitely going to get 100 feet. eventually those groups of trees will blend. as you come into the plaza, you will be allowed to look all the way up and see the trees. up above in the park, and we're very interested in the relationship of the building and the plaza to the park. we try to make those things move smoothly together. this is just the middle section of the park where the plaza and

copy shop is and where one of the major entries is from inside the station. but between the building in the park, there is this kind of bridge, but it is a very wide bridge, more like a porch. in part, it is an extension of the plaza in the park, but also a place for table and chairs, and the area in board of that will be commercial or retail, which is related to park users. it would be available to park users, and you would have access across from the park and into the fifth floor of the building at that point. >>this is what we're trying to get everyone up to. next, please. this is what joins them together. the redwood go up and merge it

with the redwoods behind. what people are going to know is there is a car that goes up and points at the park. one of the main concerns is that access to the park. we have a lot of good access, particularly from inside the station, but we need access from the outside as well. i am not so concerned how many people go up. i am concerned that it keeps running so you're constantly -- when you're in the plaza, you're constantly aware this is going up and coming down. in the people are in and going up and coming down. here is the section where you can see the park on the far left. the funicular coming down. it is at the bottom. we think it will be wonderful to be in that funicular and go through those trees. it is just going to beat up terrific ride.

i think every kid will want to do it at least once. this is a wonderful way to enter the park and enjoy the entrance experience along with the park itself. here are some perspectives. you can see the sculpture that is really big. these trees are the lower level. one of the things that when you look at something in elevation, these things do not look so long. we put these in in the 9/11 memorial at 30 feet, but because you are down lower, 5 feet were your eyes are in looking up, they look much more formidable. this is the way they will look on opening day. you can see there are a series of channels that are formed for ways that are formed. two of them go to the major entries of the station.

people will be walking in there. the next one is given over to the funicular. the one on the far right is given over to the commercial area, the retail area spilling out. each has their own zone within the overall parks. this is what it will look like. the last one was like being across the street. this is what it will be like. i feel that this square in the sense that it is remarkable and have these trees. it is also going to have a majestic equality. standing next to the tower, you need something in the park you can remember. it should not look like union square and the other major space is in town. it should be its own thing.

most importantly, we think it should be part of the park. thank you. president fong: thank you. my nam>> my name is fred clark. we are the designers of the transit center and the tower. i echo the comments about how fortunate we are to be at the place we are in the project today. i have some visuals as well. we have just crossed mission street, gone through the grove of redwoods into the front door of the transit center, and in the transit center itself you are greeted by a very beautiful light-filled environment. you are very aware of your surroundings and transparent, open room. you see the park above in the grove of redwoods to the left of this, and on the floor is an

extraordinary art piece. at the outside, if you pass through the transit center lobby, you will see the glass exterior wall of the transit center and have a sense of the park above. it will have a two levels of extraordinary food-based detail of very lively public realm. the point i am making here is that this entire complex is comprised of several parts. clearly mission square and the tower are very important. this is at the heart of the complex and the revitalization of most all of the streets around the transit center. it is really conceive as one integrated design, multi-part design with the intention of creating an extraordinary urban attraction and sense of light in the heart of san francisco. >>if you look from adjacent

buildings down into the city part, you see how lovely it will be and inviting and accessible it will be. if you are in the park itself, it is a lively, multiple environment designed with the ability to learn about landscape and ecology, read a book, play with your children and play in the pound, a sculpture that is activated by the movement of buses. it is a lively, animated light- filled and garment. the transit center tower itself connects directly to the park. there is a very generous bridge, canopy, weather- protected canopy and the retail level out to the park itself. you can see the bus bombing in the foreground. if you back off of it and look from adjacent buildings back towards the tower, you can see the park in the foreground. the tower is very beautiful

object intended to be timeless, simple in form, but i should say we are continuing to refine it. we're working with the planning staff to look at other ideas that might make it more interesting, particularly at the top. we will be pleased to show you those as they develop. as has already been mentioned, the tower is 1,070 feet. still very tall. no getting around that. it is proportioned so that it can be very carefully protected. we're quite satisfied itself retains all of the central ingredient of the previous 1,200 foot tower. next. this is the street plan that he showed you a few minutes ago. this is significant refinement and improvement in the plans. we have three designed the structure of the tower to pull the columns in as they reach the

ground in board, which allow a 20 foot sidewalk dimension on mission street, allowing for a very generous bus drop-off on mission street. this is a rather complex thing to do. it involves sloping the columns as the rise through the tower. it is very achievable and a common technique, but a way for the tower to settle itself into mission square to create an environment and very comfortably acknowledge the bus traffic on mission street. next. this is the floor just above us. this is the typical first floor. as you can see, quite well developed. the core of the structural engineering is quite far along. these are refinements from the days of competition. this is a very safe building. at has a third exit that conforms to the new building codes in san francisco that was not present five years ago.

the elevator systems, the mechanical systems are all being refined to the seismic requirements that one finds in this hightower. it is a very tough -- this stems down to a 17,000 square foot plant some of the tower has gone from a 26,000 square foot plant to a 17,000 as it goes from the bottom to the top. next. >>as the exterior, we're studyig a system of very beautiful white-painted solar sunscreens that you see creates a very rich texture in the skin. they are deeper towards the middle and more shallow in the corner. these sunscreens' also help mitigate wind. it is a very good way to control the amount of wind of that might ultimately reach the pedestrian

level. next. from inside, because we have held the columns away from the corners, you will have extraordinarily views of the city. it will be quite a remarkable place to be. i will show you various views from distances around the city. i think proving it is still a very beautiful proportion building. spending in the iconic qualities and like this will be the most remarkable standard point to the city skyline. next. here is a view as you come into town from the bridge. next. of view across. this is to show it is the center point focus of the city's skyline. next. finally, city park at night. thank you very much.

president fong: at this point we will take public comment. if there is any public comment on this portion. >> rubin santiango. i feel that the plan that pelly park kelly has done is fantastic and beautiful. the only problem i have with it is the tower. for one thing, they have not shown an illustration of what a 1,200 foot tower would look like compared to the 1,070 foot tower. even though they are saying it looks beautiful and evenly

proportion to or is up to standards, to me, it looks squatty and shortened. i know buildings. i go all over the united states. this tower that was originally proposed that 1,200 feet would go splendor, tall, majestically up higher, which would make it slender, and it would look very impressive, where as this illustration to me looks like we're being shortchanged. their original concept was great. so i do not know why they brought it down, but i would like to see the planning department get together, and maybe do alterations or even go up higher, because they are saying this is the tallest

building in mississippi. l.a. is planning something taller than what we have right now. at 1,200 feet we would beat l.a. by the time 2017 comes along. i just want to pass that along. there is time to do alterations to it to see if we can do something better. thank you. >> sue hester. further on your agenda today, you have renderings in their of what that building will add to this guideline. i looked at the last rendering, and there is basically two holes. south of market and the existing

one at the bridge. the planning department has approved the second, and four other projects that basically go in a straight line down fremont street. visually a straight line. if you do not give developers accurate rendering of what you have already approved, and they give you rendering like that one that does not show up the sideline build in with the project you have as the next item of your calendar, you are not doing ourselves -- you are not really telling yourself what it will look like in the context, and you are not telling the public. planning department, you have that information. you have that information on the next item. please make your rendering

honest. thank you. >> i am jim patrick with patrick and company in san francisco. we are existing property owner on the west end. we actually share the same property line. i have interest in this project for a long time. i would like to call your attention to access. we have a roadway now. that will not deliver the volume of the people, but at the west end there is no access. there is a plan to put the escalator into the park that is not funded. i think we need to have policies in place that will encourage bridging to neighboring properties, both build properties, and yet to be built properties. the only policy i am aware of is a trade-off for when you build

the building. there is no policies for cost or encouragement to get existing buildings joined in, so you have a total system throughout the parameter that is very important that we think about that and the policies be in the plan. thank you. president fong: additional public comment? seeing none, we are moving to commissioner comments and questions. commissioner morore: think you form attending this meeting. -- thank you for attending this meeting. this makes it a little more difficult to really separate what we're working on today and what ultimately is a discussion of the building. however, i do believe there was a lot of uncertainty, as was

expressed to you a few weeks ago. i would like to talk to mr. walker and a couple of other issues. mr. walker advised -- could i ask you to come to the microphone? i am very interested in your thoughts about the plaza and very interested in your explanation about the redwood trees. a few questions i would like to ask, is the issue of san francisco and that particular sarthe region part of the city is actually quite gray in quite dark. redwood trees do have a tendency of creating a somewhat more shaded environment than what we normally like on heavily- frequented public plazas. how do you seek to resolve that issue? i am sure you can answer them all in one. trees bring dim light.

they are not such a positive way. that is just the nature of the trees. in addition to the fact, tree limbs dropped needles, and that creates a maintenance problem, which is not just restricted to the drop line of the trees, but the needle shipped around. i see that behind transamerica acquired for inchoate way -- behind transamerica quite frequently, and i think that is something we should be concerned about. lastly, you did not speak about the capacity of the funicular. i think about the peak access in hong kong. it is restricted to about 8-12 people, and i am not sure if it is a similar thing. this might be standing on the lead. what happens at ground center

control to continuously ride up and down and blocks that aspect for others? the big question obviously deals with who will actually own and operate not only been -- not only the vernacular, but the roof top part. quite a few questions if you could address them. >> let me start at the end and go back. we're just at the beginning of studding the vernacular, so i do not know specifically how many people and so forth. i am aware of this problem up and down, and we will work that out. in the ski resort stay open up one side and the other side, and that is how they do it. i am also hoping because we will go to the part because of has its own fascinations as well,

but i do not have specific answers on those. as to the ownership of the transit authority will own the park. how bad is maintained will be a program they will develop, and i assume that mission square will be looked after by the developer of the building. correct me if i am wrong. generally we have found of the maintenance in institutionalized spaces exceeds the maintenance in most city spaces, simply because of funds and the uses their put to. in some cases, at least in this day and age, it is the best thing these areas are looked over by people who have a real interest in them in a specific sense. i wish that were not the truth in the world. i think that is right now the way the world works.

as to the darkness, one of the reasons we have placed the trees apart was to make sure light caught in between them, no matter which way it was coming. i think the one at trans america, and the reason i showed that slide, is that is billed and like a tight growth. you have trees all the way around with a fountain, and that is intended to be dark. that is the nature of that kind of organization. we are treating them more like columns where light would come between them, and that is the reason for spacing them out this way. the famous column spacing as the building. i think that the other answer to the light question is that you need to keep them pruned up. that is true of any park. i know, and i am very aware of

san francisco and the need for as much light as possible. on the other hand, i would like to see more trees always. if i can get a few more in, typically i would take that opportunity. i did everything that -- commissioner moore: you did and i think it would be interesting to do a shadow and height study in terms of how the heights over years will change shadow patterns and what it really looks like at the beginning, because i do not think anyone is comfortable for it to be dark, particularly when that is a more or less 24 hour use environment. this is not as much of a gathering space for large groups of people to provide seating and connect the top and bottom, but n