130 Bush St, San Francisco, CA 94104

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Building Details:

• Year Built: 1910

130 Bush St is located in San Francisco, CA.

Wedged into a 20-foot lot next to the Shell Building is one of Downtown's true gems. Designed by George Applegarth, another Beaux-Arts graduate, the Heineman Building (18) at 130 Bush was built as a belt, tie, and suspender factory in 1910 and is reminiscent of the pre-1906 downtown when light manufacturing shared space with office workers. The gracefully rounded windows are separated by hammered copper paneling and topped with a Gothic parapet. Prismatic glass was used to direct light into the workspace.

Although not the only twenty-foot-wide tall building in downtown San Francisco (see the Chamberlain Building at 442-444 Post--R174, and the Roullier Building at 49 Kearny--R90), the Heineman Building is probably the most successful. Seen by itself it is a richly detailed hybrid composition with Gothic ornamentation executed in cream glazed terra cotta. The verticality of the tall narrow structure is ably expressed in the thin Gothic ribs of the shaft culminating in a heavy top story crowned by finials. A penthouse in the same style is set back behind the plane of the street. Seen in its context, as a narrow projecting bay between two much larger and flatter facades, it manages to more than hold its own without being disruptive to the texture and scale of the street. Steel frame construction. Now called the Liberty Mutual Building.