PETERSEN STUDIO

The Infinity’s residential towers and mid-rise buildings enclose a half-acre public courtyard constructed over several levels of underground parking and a swimming pool/fitness room.  A graphic waterwall and sculptural terraces define the edges of the courtyard, while lush planting islands float within courtyard plaza.  The dramatic vertically-oriented landscape engages the buildings at multiple levels and creates a striking visual landscape for surrounding residential units. 

Jacob Petersen was Project Manager and Principal-in-Charge of the Hargreaves Associates landscape design team, coordinating extensively with the City of San Francisco, design architect Arquitectonica, and architect of record Heller Manus. 

Photo: Jacob Petersen   

A two-story waterwall animates the sunnier edge of the courtyard while drawing daylight and the visual activity of cascading water into the edge of the fitness room below.  Sculptural seating terraces frame the opposite edge of the courtyard.  Large trapezoidal skylights integrated into the terraces bathe the swimming pool below in natural daylight.  Mounded planting islands with cantilevered steel benches float within the courtyard paving, creating a series of intimate garden seating spaces.

Photo: Jacob Petersen       

A two-story waterwall animates the sunnier edge of the courtyard while drawing daylight and the visual activity of cascading water into the edge of the fitness room below.  Sculptural seating terraces frame the opposite edge of the courtyard.  Large trapezoidal skylights integrated into the terraces bathe the swimming pool below in natural daylight.  Mounded planting islands with cantilevered steel benches float within the courtyard paving, creating a series of intimate garden seating spaces.

Photo: Jacob Petersen       

A two-story waterwall animates the sunnier edge of the courtyard while drawing daylight and the visual activity of cascading water into the edge of the fitness room below.  Sculptural seating terraces frame the opposite edge of the courtyard.  Large trapezoidal skylights integrated into the terraces bathe the swimming pool below in natural daylight.  Mounded planting islands with cantilevered steel benches float within the courtyard paving, creating a series of intimate garden seating spaces.

Photo: Jacob Petersen

Sculptural seating terraces frame the opposite edge of the courtyard.  Large trapezoidal skylights integrated into the terraces bathe the swimming pool below in natural daylight.  Mounded planting islands with cantilevered steel benches float within the courtyard paving, creating a series of intimate garden seating spaces.

Photo: Jacob Petersen        

Sculptural seating terraces frame the opposite edge of the courtyard.  Large trapezoidal skylights integrated into the terraces bathe the swimming pool below in natural daylight.  Mounded planting islands with cantilevered steel benches float within the courtyard paving, creating a series of intimate garden seating spaces.

Photo: Jacob Petersen 

Sculptural seating terraces frame the opposite edge of the courtyard.  Large trapezoidal skylights integrated into the terraces bathe the swimming pool below in natural daylight.  Mounded planting islands with cantilevered steel benches float within the courtyard paving, creating a series of intimate garden seating spaces.

The courtyard connects to Main Street at grade, and to Spear Street with grand stairs and planted terraces, accounting for the significant topographic change across the site.  A bamboo-planted corridor along the south property line creates a secondary public passage through the development.           

The half-block project included three distinct streetscape designs, each reflecting a different typology within the city’s street hierarchy.  The Spear Street “green street” integrates café spillout, seating niches, gardens, and small-scale recreation within the enclosure of a double row of trees, and is shown as a precedent in San Francisco's Better Streets manual.

Photo: Jacob Petersen

The courtyard connects to Main Street at grade, and to Spear Street with grand stairs and planted terraces, accounting for the significant topographic change across the site.  A bamboo-planted corridor along the south property line creates a secondary public passage through the development.           

The half-block project included three distinct streetscape designs, each reflecting a different typology within the city’s street hierarchy.  The Spear Street “green street” integrates café spillout, seating niches, gardens, and small-scale recreation within the enclosure of a double row of trees, and is shown as a precedent in San Francisco's Better Streets manual.

Photo: Jacob Petersen

The half-block project included three distinct streetscape designs, each reflecting a different typology within the city’s street hierarchy.  The Spear Street “green street” integrates café spillout, seating niches, gardens, and small-scale recreation within the enclosure of a double row of trees, and is shown as a precedent in San Francisco's Better Streets manual.

Photo: Jacob Petersen

A thin screen of bamboo activates the blank wall of the adjoining development and enlivens a narrow secondary passage through the development.          

Photo: Jacob Petersen