Buildings can be more than a place to house a business or other activities; they can become fertile environments conducive to a variety of unanticipated consequences. “Linden,” as it affectionately called, has become a hub of creative activities far beyond its original expectation. Over the past decade, it has been a base for Sagan Piechota Architecture, Build, the Linden Tree Salon, Macy Architecture, Kelly Macy Design, a full design/production studio for ceramic arts, a furniture design and fabrication studio, home to the original Blue Bottle Retail presence, Linden Alley, a public-private partnership with the City of San Francisco to transform a dead alley into a ”living” alley, and more.
The variety of activities arising out of 315 Linden are diverse and significant. The Build partners are managing large, complex, “city-changing” scale projects that will leave a long-term legacy. Blue Bottle Coffee has grown into an international success story. Sagan Piechota Architecture is now designing large-scale wineries, homes and hospitality projects of extraordinary aesthetic excellence. Macy Office of Design is flourishing. Build: Public is a stand-alone independent nonprofit managing public-private partnerships in the Bay Area. The Fatted Calf, on the Fell Street side of the building, is a boutique butcher shop and purveyor of fine food products has become a go-to source for the increasingly residential neighborhood.
In short, 315 Linden has become a creative hub of activity for urban design, arts and crafts, architecture, planning, neighborhood-serving retail and who knows what else over the years to come.
