Golden Gate Park’s Middle Lake

Posted on Jan 3, 2024

Middle Lake is Rising!

Spring is here and Middle Lake is almost complete and the water level is rising.  Now home to aquatic plants, nesting birds and some 12,000 new plants including over 80 native species of trees and understory plants.  Soon San Franciscans will be able to stroll around the lake’s edge, over two bridges and along a new cascade within a flowering pacific dogwood grove.  

Come visit this summer to enjoy a stroll on the mile long loop trail, a contemplative vista from one of the numerous benches along the lake’s edge, or unroll your picnic blanket on a nearby lawn and listen to the chatter of the birds. 

Golden Gate Park’s Middle Lake – Breaks Ground

Posted on May 8, 2023

INTERSTICE is proud and excited to be part of the team that is undertaking the restoration of a critical piece of green infrastructure in Golden Gate Park; we are re-building Middle Lake.  This freshwater lake is one in a series of three lakes called the Chain of Lakes, which flow north from South Lake, to Middle Lake, and into North Lake at the western end of the park.  The original design & construction of these lakes dates back to 1898 and all required a clay liner to hold water over the ancient sand dunes that underlie the park.

Following a year plus long design process, construction of the project began in the early months of 2023 with the selective removal of certain trees and the protection of many other existing mature trees in preparation to rehabilitate the lake.  

INTERSTICE, as the landscape architect, is working with Civil Engineers AGS and Woodard & Curran, overseeing the new lake design installation to achieve improved accessibility and enjoyment for park visitors, and a diverse plant and aquatic ecology that will provide improved habitat for insects, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals that constitute the spectrum of the wildlife that inhabits and moves through Golden Gate Park. Bauman Construction is the General Contractor leading the construction effort working with the SF Recreation & Parks Department and SF Department of Public Works.

This significant undertaking includes replacing the clay liner lake bottom and increasing the water depth, clearing the pipes connecting Middle Lake to South and North Lakes, and rehabilitating the rock cascade that connects to the Fly Casting Pools.

The new design includes a perimeter loop trail that bridges the cascade, significant and diverse native and aquatic plantings surrounding the lake, furnished seating areas with  lookouts along the new pathway which encircles the lake and climbs the slope beside the cascade.  The future plantings include over a dozen native tree species, over50 species of native understory plants, including shrubs, groundcovers, grasses, rushes and aquatic and riparian species located at the lakes edge.

The establishment of the clay liner and lake edge are the first phase and significant part of the work.

Boulder mock-ups for the lake edge perimeter.

New furnishings being crafted from salvaged trees that were planned for removal or came down in this winter’s storms. 

We look forward to sharing more progress as the liner is completed and the lake starts to take shape this Spring.

Amy’s Drive-Thru Construction Well Underway

Posted on Feb 25, 2020


We recently drove up to Corte Madera to take a look at the progress of our Amy’s Drive-Thru restaurant project—and it is starting to take shape! It is now a fully enclosed building: walls, windows, doors, and roof have sprung up this past winter. Currently, electrical systems are being installed and the site is being prepped for paving, plantings, and parking. Amy’s will become the first drive-thru restaurant in the city of Corte Madera, fully supported by the community due to its sustainability as a vegetarian eatery conscious of its environmental impact. The green roof starts installation soon!

IA Team Volunteers in the Presidio

Posted on Aug 20, 2018

Presidio volunteering

Recently, INTERSTICE switched up their usual routine by getting outside and getting involved. They headed due north to work with Golden Gate Parks National Conservancy on a habitat restoration project in The Presidio. The project was located at Wherry Corridor, a narrow section of natural habitat threading between man-made structures. For the past 15+ years, the Golden Gate Parks National Conservancy has been nurturing this area back to a healthy landscape filled with native flora and fauna. INTERSTICE assisted with watering and weeding new growth and removing invasive plant species. Not their first volunteering project in the Presidio, INTERSTICE once again enjoyed the opportunity to improve their local habitat.

Selecting Big Trees!

Posted on Feb 9, 2016

With our Park Valencia project about to start construction, the hunt for the perfect, mature trees began last week. Searching high and low, from Farmington to Los Angeles, the selected trees will be a signature part of IA’s design for centrally located park. In the heart of Santana Row in San Jose, Park Valencia will serve as a public open space for the busy shopping district. The rejuvenated park is a playful, highly programmed and richly colored space for visitors and patrons of the many businesses – providing new seating areas, kiosks, a play area, a performance stage, vendor amenities, and unique sculptures. Learn more about the project by visiting the project page.

29203 07 copy

At Valley Crest Tree in Los Angeles, picking trees

IMG_7168

Existing Park Valencia

IA Staff Volunteer at GLIDE in Tenderloin

Posted on Jan 25, 2016

INTERSTICE_Glide Volunteering

INTERSTICE took a break from the office to volunteer at GLIDE – a nonprofit located in the Tenderloin whose mission is to create a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization. For one afternoon, IA traded CAD files and trace paper for serving spoons and aprons. The experience was humbling, rewarding, and eye-opening experience for all of us. If you are looking to support a great organization with incredible, hard-working people who work every day to make their neighborhood better, please check out the volunteering opportunities at GLIDE.

INTERSTICE prides itself on being inextricably linked to the neighborhood we occupy. Our office is being situated just a few blocks from GLIDE made it all the more important to us. Currently we are working with the wonderful literacy organization 826 Valencia on their new Tenderloin Center [ http://www.intersticearchitects.com/?project=826-valencia-tenderloin-center ], as well as the Lower Polk Neighborhood Organization on the Alleyways Master Plan. These are projects that aim to positively activate the neighborhood through placemaking, creating welcoming spaces for residents and visitors alike.

IA Balloon Design at AIA San Francisco NEXT Gala

Posted on Nov 20, 2015

This year at the 2015 AIA SF Next Conference, INTERSTICE teamed up with the AIA to transform the SF County Fair Building for the NEXT Conference gala and AIA SF Annual Meeting.  In collaboration with Studio VARA, IA deployed various sized balloons ranging from 24 inches to eight foot diameter weather balloons; and an array of lighting elements from theatre lighting, and projectors to strings of mini-LEDs; to bring the Hall of Flowers at Golden Gate Park up to party speed, with vivid color and gargantuan spheres for a festive evening of eating, drinking, and  general shenanigans.  Extensive balloon testing was conducted at the INTERSTICE office prior to the event, where the intermittent popping of  balloons managed to keep all on their toes.

IA Office Balloon Testing

Balloon AIA SF Party 2

 

Balloon AIA SF Party

Party Balloons

 

 

Bay Area Impact Challenge #Vote826

Posted on Oct 8, 2015
Google_BAIC_826Valencia_Poster 4

 

INTERSTICE is extremely proud to be working with the incredible team at 826 Valencia on a new tutoring center in the Tenderloin at 180 Golden Gate Avenue.  826 Valencia is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting under-resourced students with their creative and expository writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. 
826 2
                                                                                Rendering of the new 826 Valencia Center in the Tenderloin      
826 Valencia have the opportunity to win $500,000 through the Google Impact Challenge, but they need your vote.Voting begins today and lasts through October 19. 826 Valencia were one of 10 nonprofits in the Bay Area chosen, and now they are competing to raise funds to support the opening of their second center in the Tenderloin neighborhood. This is their biggest endeavor yet, and they still need the resources to make it all happen.

Today we’re asking for you to invest in this exciting project by voting and helping us spread the word to  as many voters as possible in this short time frame. Voting is global, so please engage your networks in every corner of the world!

FIRST:
Vote: https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/bayarea2015/charity/826valencia. You can also visit and share vote826.wordpress.com for the latest news about the campaign.

THANKS FOR DOING THAT! NOW YOU CAN DO THIS:
Share your reason for supporting us on Twitter, Facebook, and/or Instagram with the hashtag #vote826. You can also spread the word to friends, family & colleagues via email, other social networks, word-of-mouth, texts, carrier pigeons, any and everything to get more votes for 826 Valencia. Here’s a post you can copy, paste, and customize:

I #vote826 because (insert reasons why you think writing skills and our Tenderloin expansion are important here) g.co/bayareachallenge

WHY YOUR VOTE MATTERS
After 13 years of successful programs in the Mission, the doors of our second writing and tutoring center at 180 Golden Gate Avenue are set to open in January 2016. We intend to serve 2,000 students, grow our volunteer force by the hundreds, and provide a safe and magical space for under-resourced kids in the Tenderloin and throughout San Francisco. The Google Impact Challenge grant will help us to:

  • engage students in essential writing programming that builds skills and creative self-expression
  • positively leverage the resources of the larger community to improve young people’s lives
  • outfit our center with technology that supports learning and amplifies students’ voices
  • work collaboratively with neighborhood partners to transform a crime-ridden corner into a haven for creativity and wonder.

Sounds good, right? Any questions? Feel free to ask.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
We couldn’t do it without you. Consider this your chance to advocate for the student voices we have yet to hear in the Tenderloin!Quick links:
vote826valencia.wordpress.com
g.co/bayareachallenge
https://impactchallenge.withgoogle.com/bayarea2015/charity/826valencia

 

PARK(ing) Day 2015 at INTERSTICE

Posted on Sep 29, 2015

On Friday, September 18th, the parking spot outside of the INTERSTICE office on Sutter Street in San Francisco was dominated by the presence of inflatable dancing tube men, or “Air Dancers” in celebration of Parking Day.

These Air Dancers were quite simply, the most hilarious, exuberant objects conceivable and brought joy, laughter, and awe to those who encountered them.  INTERSTICE laid out a large area of turf and bright yellow chairs between the Air Dancers for passersby to share in some laughs and respite along the busy street.

IA has established a tradition of participating in the PARK(ing) Day festivities, 2015 being our 9th year celebrating the event.  Sharing in PARK(ing) Day’s call to action for more urban public spaces, this year’s installation demonstrates the joy that can come from such environments.  Check out our previous post for a history of IA’s Park(ing) Day celebrations.

IMG_3613

IMG_3401 copy

 

IMG_4179

IMG_3548

IMG_4130

IMG_4169

INTERSTICE Begins work on the Lower Polk Alleyways District Initiative

Posted on Aug 20, 2015

In coordination with Lower Polk Neighbors, LPN, and the newly established Lower Polk Community Benefit District, CBD, INTERSTICE Architects has begun working with the community on an Improvement Initiative to create and define  a new Polk Alleyways District in the heart of the Lower Polk neighborhood.  There are six uniquely situated Alleys in the Lower Polk Neighborhood that extend outward from the Polk Street commercial spine.   These two block long intimate alleyways form a finer urban grain to the central core of this rapidly changing neighborhood – extending from Olive at the South to Austin Alley at the North, and bounded on the West by Van Ness Avenue and East by Larkin Street.

15.08-12 Context Map- FULL

INTERSTICE  recognizes the dramatic need to understand and re-envision these five alleys as open space opportunities, instead of underutilized “back-alleys”often viewed as problems, and is collaborating with the LPN and CBD to identify opportunities for community engagement, physical changes, and future funding opportunities.  In recognition of these public streets cumulatively as a significant open space resource, IA proposes studying them as a whole and as integral parts of a neighborhood core.  In this way each can be uniquely and individually integrated into a larger, planned amenity for the whole neighborhood,  which is desperately in need of improved green spaces and quality shared public space.

IA has completed the initial phase of existing resource documentation and introduced the existing conditions studies at the LPN meeting on August 12, enjoying initial feedback from the community.  All who attended this meeting, as well as any persons in the Lower Polk neighborhood, are encouraged to join the upcoming workshop in October to share ideas and aspirations for the alleys.

Please link to the LPN newsletter and visit the site to keep up with announcements and community outreach workshops in the months ahead, as a comprehensive Master Plan evolves treating the Polk Alleys as a treasured asset and destination in this vibrant San Francisco neighborhood.

LOWER POLK NEIGHBORHOOD 

Hemlock Alley Board 24x36_Page_2

 

 

 

15.08-07 IA Lower Polk Alleys - Existing Conditions Drawings 24x36_Page_1

 

 

 

sections