For the Bay Area’s largest and most historic synagogue, everything old is new again – thanks to a modernisation that seamlessly connects 21st-century design with a century-old landmark.
Completed in 1925 by Bakewell & Brown – the prolific San Francisco architecture firm responsible for a number of notable buildings including San Francisco City Hall, the City of Paris department store and the San Francisco Art Institute – Temple Emanu-El was constructed in the Byzantine Revival style as an homage to the Second Temple of Jerusalem, an ancient place of Jewish worship. And, although the beloved synagogue has remained the centre of life and worship for one of California’s oldest congregations, accessibility issues and necessary seismic upgrades had significantly impacted its ability to serve the Jewish community for nearly four decades.
Finally, after nearly five years of research and planning, and almost two-and-a-half years of construction, the 100-year-old structure is welcoming its community as intended, thanks to the vision of Mark Cavagnero Associates, one of San Francisco’s preeminent architecture firms.
'It is humbling to have been given the opportunity to re-envision the building and advance the institution's mission,' says founding principal Mark Cavagnero, who was tasked with making the necessary updates while honouring the synagogue’s heritage.
The result is a landmarked structure that, with the addition of 19,000 sq ft of programming and gathering spaces, thoughtfully blends historic and contemporary materials while fulfilling the long overdue accessibility and seismic requirements.
'For me, bringing back that sensibility and restoring the historic grandeur of the temple’s original concept was really important,' Cavagnero says, 'but we also needed to make the building more secure in these modern times.'
To that end, Cavagnero and his team inserted a two-storey glass and bronze structure that wraps around the courtyard’s interior perimeter and houses new community and education spaces. 'The congregation wanted to add quite a bit of space in that area,' explains Cavagnero. 'It’s what senior Rabbi Jonathan Singer called "sticky space", where people could socialise and have more of a communal experience.'
Elsewhere, within the existing structure, a gently curved bridge was constructed to connect the two sides of the lobby (putting you at eye-level with rich architectural details that otherwise went unnoticed), and a monumental – albeit previously inaccessible – tower was carved out to add a floor in place of a stairway leading to the courtyard.
Another key area of focus was the children’s preschool and play area that were relocated from the courtyard and basement levels up to the fourth-floor rooftop. 'Before, you could look in the windows off Lake Street directly into the classrooms, so they had to put screening over the historic bronze gates [to the courtyard],' the architect explains, noting how seriously the synagogue takes safety.
But perhaps the most meaningful and significant change was the re-establishment and restoration of the temple’s original grand entry on Lake Street, which had been closed since 1990 due to accessibility laws. 'They’d lost probably the most important part of the architecture – the actual relationship that took you from the street into the sanctuary,’ notes Cavagnero. 'The majesty, the history, and sense of tradition dating back to the Second Temple were lost.'
Now, without a staircase impeding entry for mobility-challenged congregants, a new glazed entry lobby at street level means everyone can enter through building’s tremendous arch as initially envisioned by Bakewell & Brown. 'That which is new is very new, and that which is old is very respected, restored and revered,' Cavagnero reflects.