ELS Architecture and Urban Design

Celebrating our ELS colleagues

ELS is among San Francisco Business Times Top 50 Largest Bay Area Architecture Firms! https://www.bizjournals.com//largest-bay-area-architecture

ELS stands in solidarity with the Asian, Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We condemn hate and racism in all forms and support our AAPI colleagues, community and beyond. The Asian and AAPI community continues to be targeted with hate and violence, with a total to-date of 3,800 reported (and many more unreported) anti-Asian racist incidents, many against women, in the past year due to xenophobic rhetoric during the Covid-19 pandemic. To help fight for justice and ...equity, ELS is donating to the Asian Pacific Fund’s Solidarity Fund. The Solidarity Fund will provide grants to organizations working to address persistent anti-Asian racism, including supporting the physical and mental health of survivors, ensuring the safety of seniors, and advocating for racial justice across racial lines. ELS is committed to social equity, diversity and inclusion. Together, let’s #StopAsianHate and #StopAAPIHate.

Associate Principal and Design Director Christopher Jung, Associate Danwei Wang, BIM Manager Tracy Chan and Architectural Designer Cherri Jeong share ELS’s favorite V-Ray 5 for Revit features

As we’re wrapping up construction on the City of Berkeley’s Mental Health Services (MHS) Center renovation, we have another reason to celebrate; the project has won a 2021 APWA Northern California Chapter award in the Historical Renovation/Preservation category! The building has historic significance as home to Rainbow Sign, Berkeley’s Black Cultural Arts center from 1971 to 1977. Founded by longtime concert promoter Mary Ann Pollar and led by a group of locally prominent Bl...ack women, Rainbow Sign was a cultural hub where artists and activists converged to learn, share, and organize. Cultural figures like Maya Angelou, Nina Simone, James Baldwin, Berkeley’s first Black mayor Warren Widener, and the Black Panthers made regular visits. Vice President Kamala Harris has cited Rainbow Sign as a key venue in her political awakening. In 2018, ELS began carefully preserving and transforming the dormant building into the new home of Berkeley’s MHS, a project with two complementary objectives: achieving profound sustainability and ensuring better mental health outcomes. This Zero Net Energy (ZNE) project is a demonstration site for a study led by Berkeley Lab and California Energy Commission, that will develop statewide standards for the ZNE renovation of existing small commercial buildings.

In honor of International Women's Day, we’d like to feature the Redwood City Woman's Club. Eligible for the National Register, the 1911 Clubhouse was home to the only local women’s group of the period that was not an auxiliary of a men’s lodge and that owned its own building. Focused from the beginning on creating social, educational and community service opportunities for women of Redwood City, the Clubhouse continues to be an important community resource today. Led by ELS principal-in-charge Diana Hayton, we worked with the Club and acoustic consultant Salter to improve the social hall’s acoustics, carefully integrating new work with the historic context so you may not even notice it. New period LED light fixtures complement the architecture and provide the range of light levels necessary for event use.

ELS is pleased to announce that Ántonia Bowman, Chris Lutjen, and Danwei Wang have advanced to the firm’s associate level. These promotions are made in recognition of their individual contributions to the success of the firm and in anticipation of further professional growth. Congratulations, Ántonia, Chris, and Danwei, and welcome to the leadership team! https://elsarch.com/news_item/associate-promotions-2021/