Originally built in 1893 with an expansion in 1902, the San Francisco Animal Care and Control Building is an adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of the original Market Street Railway Company Powerhouse. The building retains its original brick façade, boasts historic brick masonry walls, and large industrial wood windows. It now serves as an animal shelter and adoption facility with administrative and veterinary functions.

The restoration project consisted of repairing the Burke Warehouse and the 1419 Bryant Street Building that survived the great San Francisco earthquake and subsequent city-wide fires of 1906. Both structures showed significant signs of damage and deterioration due to aging, water intrusion, and lack of maintenance. The owner sought to preserve its historical integrity with the help of PULLMAN’s repair and maintenance services.

The team surveyed the historic masonry facades and wood windows on the exterior of the buildings and roofs (monitor windows) to determine the extent of deterioration and to develop repair plans. Crews performed brick mortar repointing, brick replacement, brick infills, and brick patching to match the structure’s existing color and texture. Steel lintels were installed at new openings and the masonry was cleaned. The unreinforced brick facades were restored to be in line with Showplace Square Historic District’s brick warehouses and factories, built around the same time. In addition, the team restored the existing historic wood windows on the exterior facades and on the roofs of the buildings. Severely deteriorated wood components were replaced in-kind to match existing profiles. Crews also installed Solar E glass and glazing on all windows, as well as cleaned and coated all windows.

Located at a highly trafficked intersection with limited space for storage and access, the jobsite posed logistical complexities. The project team coordinated and communicated all scheduling of work, equipment, and material delivery to maintain safety across the project. With this project occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, the team faced challenges surrounding labor requirements, supply chain disruptions, and rising material costs. With a proactive approach that executed corporate safety protocol, PULLMAN was able to deliver the project without health or safety issues and in a timely manner.

Through a careful assessment of restoration needs for different components of each building, and meticulous execution of all steps of wood window restoration and masonry restoration, the project had a successful outcome. The San Francisco Animal Care and Control now has a sanitary and humane space that meets current animal health and welfare standards.