Project Overview
San Francisco boasts centuries of history, dramatic landscapes, and a rich cultural heritage, making it one of California’s most iconic and influential cities. Just east of the city center lies Mission Bay—a 303-acre district that once served as an industrial hub. For decades, warehouses and rail yards dominated the area, but a major redevelopment initiative launched in the late 1990s sparked a dramatic shift. By 2021, Mission Bay’s population had surged 92% over the span of the previous decade. To address the ever-shifting needs of the area, developers introduced Mission Rock—a waterfront neighborhood designed to transform a former parking lot into a lively mixed-use destination. At its heart, the plan called for four distinctive buildings to anchor the community. Mission Rock G, which serves as the global headquarters for financial company Visa, encompasses 13 stories and accommodates up to 1500 employees. Architect Henning Larsen, along with engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti and precast concrete producer Clark Pacific, worked closely together to establish a landmark that balances a human-scale urban presence with dramatic waterfront views—all with precast concrete.
A Transformative Waterfront Development
Daniel Baumann, partner and design director at Henning Larsen, explains that from the outset, the project’s design cohort envisioned a Mission Rock neighborhood that felt rooted and enduring.
“We wanted buildings with mineral qualities, texture, and solidity, reflecting the character of historic San Francisco warehouses and piers—precast concrete offered precisely that,” he says. “Its versatility allowed us to achieve the depth and tactility that gives Mission Rock Building G presence while also ensuring a cohesive identity across the neighborhood. At the same time, precast provided the flexibility for each design team to express their own architectural voice within a unified material framework.”
From inception, an architectural precast concrete building envelope was selected for Mission Rock Building G to deliver a façade inspired by the striped basalt columns of Devils Postpile National Monument at Yosemite National Park. The fluted panels were designed to bring a biophilic texture and verticality to the façade along with textured forms, depth, and dynamic light and shadow effects. More than 670 precast concrete panels—including double-finished rooftop slabs, punched window units, corner elements, door panels, coping, and flashings—were manufactured for the effort with consistent precision and minimal waste. The architectural precast concrete supported a wide variety of project goals, including the reduction of on-site disturbance, accelerated erection and enhanced quality control.
“Precast concrete significantly improved construction efficiency and performance,” Baumann says. “The unitized wall panels were fabricated off-site, fully glazed, and tested for thermal, structural, and weather performance before arriving on-site. This minimized on-site risks, reduced labor intensity, and accelerated the construction timeline. The system also enhanced resilience by delivering a robust envelope well-suited to the seismic, wind, and salt-air conditions of San Francisco’s waterfront.”
One of the primary challenges for the project was balancing a bold, ambitious design with the practical constraints of a building located in a dense urban environment directly adjacent to both Oracle Park and the San Francisco Bay. The design team sought to create a structure that felt human-scaled at street level while still delivering the functionality of a 13-story commercial tower. Architectural precast concrete helped resolve this by enabling a sculptural façade composed of deeply fluted panels that break down the building’s mass and create a rich rhythm of light and shadow throughout the day. The complexity of the façade geometry—particularly at the corners and the upper terraces—also posed significant coordination challenges. Precast concrete panels were designed to span multiple bays and included unique corner “V forms” and rooftop slab units finished on both sides to serve both structural and architectural needs.
Mission Rock Building G contributes to the larger vision of the neighborhood by helping frame active streets, creating terraces with views toward the bay, and shaping a civic scale that feels both contemporary and connected to the city’s heritage.
“This building is part of a transformative waterfront development that brings housing, jobs, and public space to San Francisco,” says Doug Bevier, director of development for Clark Pacific. “The striking façade adds to the architectural character of the area, while the efficient construction—made possible with precast concrete—helped accelerate the delivery of vital community infrastructure.”
Mason Nichols is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based writer and editor who has covered the precast concrete industry since 2013.
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