Project Name:

BETCHART BUILDING RESTORATION

Program:

Exterior rehabilitation of historic commercial building

Description:

Originally built as a vaudeville theater, the Betchart Building’s subsequent conversion into office/retail space was undertaken with a heavy and historically insensitive hand.

The ground floor of the brick building had unfortunately been stuccoed over some years earlier, and the subsequent damage to the underlying brick was irreparable. In place of the texturally flat stucco at the pilasters, Studio S Squared Architecture, Inc. proposed a new slate base with dimensional cast stone pieces. A new uniform signage and lighting program ties the various storefronts together, and new standing seam copper awnings at the 2nd floor offices replace the old security screens while providing much-needed shade for these west-facing spaces.

Project Location:

Fremont, California

Client Name:

City of Fremont Office of Housing and Redevelopment

Completion Date:

2006

Construction Cost:

$250,000

Project Team:

Architect: Studio S Squared Architecture, Inc.; Eugene H. Sakai, AIA, President