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This four-story-over-basement structure consists of two interconnected structures surrounding a one-story in-fill courtyard.
The original U-shaped portion was completed in 1905, and extended with an addition to the east in 1933, closing off the open end of the courtyard.
Exterior walls are primarily granite ashlar, with terra cotta veneer at the 3rd and 4th floor levels of the 1933 addition. The exterior elevations are symmetrical and designed in a manner consistent with the American Renaissance style.
The Court of Appeals has two primary public elevations; the west elevation on Seventh Street and the south elevation on Mission. Both elevations, featuring walls of rusticated granite, are embellished with Italian Renaissance-inspired detail, including: rusticated stonework, pedimented window hoods, consoles, cartouches, a denticulate cornice and a roof-mounted balustrade.
June 15, 2007 US Court of Appeals
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals/Main Post Office is located on the northeast corner of Seventh and Mission Streets, in the South of Market neighborhood, about a quarter mile from the Civic Center.
Perhaps one of the most opulent public buildings in California, it has an elaborate granite exterior and interiors of marble, decorative plaster and hardwoods. Italian craftsmen were imported to do the work, and rare marbles in many colors were brought in from disparate countries.
This imposing 350,000 square foot edifice was designed in the 1890s by James Knox Taylor, chief architect for the U.S. Treasury Department, to house the federal courts and the main San Francisco post office. Taylor oversaw the construction of many Beaux Arts federal buildings around the country. The San Francisco courthouse, which opened in 1905, is his masterpiece. In its grandeur, extravagance and exuberance, the building expresses the wealth, optimism and pride of a nation proclaiming its new status as a great imperial power.
When it opened in 1905, Sunset magazine called it the Versailles of the West. While structures all around it collapsed and burned, the Court of Appeals/Post Office building survived the 1906 earthquake with relatively little damage. Postal workers battled the flames with water-soaked mail sacks to save the building from the fires that swept the city following the earthquake. It was one of the few structures left standing in the ruins of San Francisco. It served as a symbol of hope and a vital center of communication and commerce in the weeks after the disaster. The building became part of the city's colorful lore, along with the sensational trials of conspirators, bank robbers and bootleggers held in its courtrooms.
The Court of Appeals building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Disaster struck again on October 17, 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake shook San Francisco. This time the Court of Appeals building suffered major structural damage. It was "red-tagged" as unsafe and closed. Federal officials had two options: tear it down and build a new home for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, or repair, upgrade and restore this historic building to its original splendor.
In 1993, rehabilitation work began with seismic retrofitting.
With completion of the installation of 256 Friction Pendulum bearings in June 1994, it became the largest building in the world to have been retrofitted with seismic isolators.
Engineering analyses, verified by shake table tests, showed that the Friction Pendulum bearings reduced structure stresses by 80% protecting the historic masonry structure from earthquake damage. Technical proposals and bids were submitted by suppliers of Lead-Rubber bearings, High Damping Rubber bearings, and Friction Pendulum bearings. Friction Pendulum bearings were selected over rubber bearings because they had the highest technical rating and lowest cost.
According to the project’s architects and engineers, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, "the selection of Friction Pendulumbearings (over rubber bearings) resulted in total construction cost savings of $7.6 million", a 24% savings. Additionally, because of the low height of the bearings, the existing basement was preserved, saving over 80,000 square feet of usable space. In recognition of excellence in innovative engineering technology, the U.S. Court of Appeals seismic retrofit received the 1994 Award for Engineering, Technology and Innovation from the General Services Administration.
Contemporary craftsmen, working in the tradition of those turn-of-the-century Italian artisans, repaired and restored the interior finishes. After almost two and a half years and $91 million in seismic retrofit and restoration, the building reopened on the seventh anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake.
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Interior of the US Court of Appeals Building (33)
The interior displays grand colonnaded marble halls, vaulted ceilings, elaborate bronzework, intricate mosaics, and rich wood paneling. -
San Francisco City Guides Tour the US Court of Appeals (3)
On Friday, June 15, City Guides were invited to a private tour of the historic United States Court of Appeals Building at 7th and Mission Streets. Walking through its glimmering marble halls and ornate courtrooms, many of us were surprised by the opulence of materials-a rich variety of marbles and mahoganies, redwood, bronze, colored Venetian glass and porcelain tile-and the extraordinary craftsmanship that created these exquisitely detailed interiors. With its grand marble colonnades, cherubs and vaulted ceilings adorned with intricate mosaics and classical tracery, the building felt like a Florentine Renaissance palazzo. This unexpected architectural gem is truly one of the finest examples of the American Renaissance style-a distinctly American expression of French Beaux-Arts classicism-that dominated civic architecture at the turn of last century.