Lands End Lookout in San Francisco

In honor of the 75th anniversary of San Francisco’s most famous bridge, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy challenged Jensen Architects and Project Frog to build a new Bridge Pavilion, replacing a formerly tourist-trodden store adjacent to the tollbooths. The branding firm Macchiatto‘s principal, Jeremy Regenbogen, countered with an education and commerce experience to supplant the possibility of sightseer kitsch. The Parks Conservancy went on to commission Regenbogen – along with architecture firm EHDD, general contractor Plant Construction Company, and display fabricator Cinnabar, for a 1,700-square-foot Lands End “Lookout” boutique about four miles southwest of the pavilion, along the coastline.

“The intent was to equally combine interpretive graphics and interactive experiences with retail product,” says Regenbogen. “The visual aesthetic is intended to mimic the ‘decomposed’ planar forms of the architecture, reminiscent of the Sutro Baths ruins which sit below the site.” The shop’s retail sales support the mission of the community-supported nonprofit conservancy and the natural and cultural programs they implement, but the space has achieved another commendable mission: LEED Gold certification. The overhead ceiling elements, cardboard laser-etched with graphics, articulate architectural space, provide interpretive content, and help hide motion-sensor LED track lighting. The cash wrap and large “frames” in front of glass walls at each end of the space, as well as the entry portal, are clad in reclaimed redwood. The other fixtures are all plastic laminate over formaldehyde-free fiberboard with exposed blackened-steel structural frames.