Article source: William Duff Architects

The Economic Advancement Center (EAC) is a job training and employment resource center, serving the community through a partnership between the City of South San Francisco, Job Train, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center and the County of San Mateo. For this project, William Duff Architects (WDA) transformed the former bank space, injecting energy and vitality into a shared workplace with open and private offices, meeting rooms and job training facilities. The team created an efficient design that could be delivered quickly, minimizing supply chain delays and allowing for maximum value from the City’s budget. The result is that the EAC feels more akin to an enticing start-up environment, rather than a government facility. The lobby’s green wall creates a welcoming vibe and functions as both a visual focal point and as a divider, housing the Center’s public resource library and the innovation classroom area behind it. EAC’s positive out-comes are two-fold: it tapped the transformative power of architecture and design to create a welcoming space for local job seekers and entrepreneurs, and from a practical standpoint, activated a long-vacant city property, creating a model for revitalizing cities.

Image Courtesy © Patrik Argast

• Architects: William Duff Architects
• Project: Economic Advancement Center
• Location: South San Francisco, California
• Photography: Patrik Argast
• General Contractor: O.K. Construction
• Construction Manager: Kitchell Corporation
• Practice Leader: David Plotkin
• Project Manager: Andres Johnson
• Designer: Mark Kebasso

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