This Studio Gang building is exactly what Mission Bay needs

Rendering courtesy of Tishman Speyer and the San Francisco Giants

This in-progress residential high-rise is what Mission Bay, a neighborhood known for its many new, albeit listless structures, needs. Mission Rock Building F, as it’s called, looks like that slightly askew stack of books on your desk. It’s mammoth but warm—and fun. It is, in a word, lovely.

Dreamed up by architect Jeanne Gang, plus two principals at Studio Gang, as well as Quezada Architecture, the tower’s unique form also serves a purpose. The floor plates are carved back at the corners to create outdoor terraces, built to allow for maximum sunlight and minimal wind.

“Building F will be at the heart of Mission Rock, housing amenities for the entire neighborhood that overlook a new public plaza and vibrant streetscape,” Gang said in a written statement. “For the residences, we designed a tower inscribed with terraces, extending this indoor-outdoor living and offering views amidst elevated bio-diverse gardens.”

The building will rise 23 floors, come with 255 rental units, and offer retail and restaurant space. Its base will feature carved steps leading to a “mesa-like space” with planted terraces and raked seating.

Mission Rock Building F joins a much larger project in store for the budding microhood, an ambitious collaboration between the San Francisco Giants and Tishman Speyer to redevelop the 28-acre Seawall Lot 337 just south of Oracle Park. The new area, to be christened Mission Rock, will come with approximately 1,200 residential rental units in all, with 40 percent low- and moderate-income homes; eight acres of parks and open space, including a signature waterfront park; and roughly 200,000 square feet of neighborhood serving and manufacturing space.

According to Tishman Speyer, the development will create “thousands of construction and permanent jobs.”

This week, Tishman Speyer and the Giants submitted their design application to city’s planning department for phase one of the development, which, if approved, would begin construction next year.

Studio Gang is also responsible for another stunner: the gleaming Mira Tower in the East Cut, another twisty affair that gives off a spiral effect and separates it from its ramrod straight neighbors in the city’s skyline.