BAHA Temazcal Room

Where Community Gathers

  • client

    Bay Area Headquarters Authority

  • location

    San Francisco, CA

  • size

    4,275 SF

TEF transformed an unfinished concrete shell adjacent to the main lobby of the Bay Area Metro Center into a welcoming, light-filled public venue. Organized for flexibility and designed for durability, this amenity space serves the building’s government agencies, tenants, and visitors with a full range of gathering, programming, and event uses.

A Light-Filled Civic Venue

Collaborative lounge space with seating and large windows overlooking the city.
Open space with communal table, lounge seating, and soft lighting.
Outdoor urban plaza with broad paved walkways, mature trees, and strings of globe lights overhead. Curved orange-and-wood benches provide seating throughout the space, while pedestrians and a person walking two small dogs move through the landscaped courtyard between modern buildings.
The project capitalizes on soaring ceiling heights and expansive windows to create a light-filled venue that connects occupants to the urban fabric just outside, including views a landscaped pedestrian mall with custom seating by TEF.
Bright, modern collaboration space framed by a wide white opening. Two blue lounge chairs with matching ottomans sit in the foreground, while a long communal table with black chairs extends across the center. A few people work in the background beneath large illuminated ceiling panels, with a blue geometric tile wall behind them.
Flexible presentation room arranged in lecture-style seating. Rows of wood-backed chairs face a large central projection screen displaying a “Plan Bay Area 2050” presentation, with matching content shown on two side screens. Large luminous ceiling panels and exposed white mechanical systems brighten the open interior.
I remember standing in the dim, cold-shell space that TEF would transform into the Temazcal Room, contemplating its future use. What I love most is that, back then, I could never have imagined in a million years what it has evolved into today: a bright and functional community center.
Gary Szeto
Former Project Manager, Bay Area Headquarters Authority

Designed for an Array of Uses

The project capitalizes on soaring ceiling heights and expansive north- and west-facing windows to create a light-filled venue that connects occupants to the urban fabric just outside, including sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline and an adjacent landscaped pedestrian mall furnished with custom seating by TEF. Designed to support the building’s public agencies, tenants, and visitors, the space accommodates a wide range of activities, from casual gatherings and meetings to conferences, performances, and community events.

Diagram titled “Furniture Zones” showing a floor plan with color-coded areas indicating furniture that is easily relocated, moderately difficult to relocate, or difficult and fixed.
Two floor plan diagrams compare lounge and boardroom furniture layouts, including a boardroom option with 36 seats around a large central table.
Two floor plan diagrams show lecture and all-hands furniture layouts, with seating counts of 74 seats for lecture and 200 seats for all-hands.

Image 1 full description:
This graphic is a furniture relocation and flexibility diagram for the same floor plan. A legend on the left is titled “Furniture Zones” and identifies three categories using shades of blue: “Easily Relocated,” “Moderate Level Relocation,” and “Difficult / Fixed.” The floor plan on the right uses these colors to show how different furniture areas vary in mobility.

Light blue shaded zones indicate furniture that can be easily moved, including several open seating and table areas through the center and lower portions of the plan. Medium blue zones indicate furniture that requires a moderate level of relocation, including lounge-style seating groupings along the left side of the plan. Darker blue zones at the top of the graphic indicate difficult or fixed elements, shown as grouped furniture or built-in/fixed components outside the main room area. The underlying plan shows existing walls, doors, columns, tables, lounge seating, work tables, chairs, and perimeter support spaces, with the color overlays clarifying which furniture areas are most flexible and which are more fixed or difficult to move.

Image 2 full description:
This graphic shows two side-by-side floor plan diagrams comparing furniture layouts for the same large interior space. The left plan is labeled “LOUNGE” in orange text and shows a flexible lounge arrangement with multiple seating zones, including sofas, lounge chairs, small round tables, café-style tables, and a long communal table near the center-right. The plan also shows existing walls, doors, columns, circulation paths, and built-in or fixed elements along the perimeter. Above the plan are small furniture symbols representing loose furniture types.

The right plan is labeled “BOARDROOM” in orange text and uses the same base floor plan, but overlays a large rounded rectangular boardroom table in the central area. The table zone is shaded in lavender and labeled “36 SEATS @ TABLE.” Chairs are shown around the perimeter of the table, indicating a formal meeting configuration. Lounge seating remains lightly shown in the background around the left and lower areas, while the boardroom layout dominates the central portion of the room. Existing walls, doors, columns, and adjacent service or support spaces are also shown.

Image 3 full description:
This graphic presents two side-by-side floor plan diagrams showing event-style furniture configurations for the same space. The left plan is labeled “LECTURE” in orange text and includes a peach-colored shaded area indicating the lecture seating zone. Rows of chairs are arranged in a fan-like configuration facing toward the right side of the room, where presentation or speaker elements appear to be located. The layout is labeled “74 SEATS.” Existing lounge furniture, perimeter seating, doors, walls, columns, and fixed building elements remain visible in lighter linework outside the main lecture zone.

The right plan is labeled “ALL-HANDS” in orange text and shows a much larger green shaded seating zone occupying most of the main open floor area. Rows of chairs are arranged in multiple blocks with aisles between them, indicating a high-capacity gathering or presentation setup. The plan is labeled “200 SEATS.” The same base floor plan is used, including visible walls, doors, columns, circulation areas, and support spaces. Some fixed or existing elements remain outside the main seating zone, while the all-hands configuration maximizes the central open area for audience seating.

Multi-Zone Spatial Planning

The space is organized as a series of interconnected “rooms” that allow multiple activities to occur simultaneously within the larger volume. Strategic furniture selection and adaptable layouts provide flexibility while maintaining clear and efficient circulation throughout, supporting uses ranging from informal small-group meetings to larger public assemblies, while preserving openness and visual connectivity.

Commercial kitchen with stainless steel appliances, refrigerators, prep tables, and staff preparing food in a back-of-house workspace.
Event bar area with a stainless steel counter, blue geometric tile wall, wine bottles, and people gathering in a flexible workplace hospitality space.

Integrated Event Infrastructure

The design incorporates built-in infrastructure that allows the venue to function as a fully equipped event and assembly space. A food service café bar and back-of-house catering kitchen support receptions and public programming, while extensive audio-visual systems enable conferences, presentations, and performances.

Flexible event space viewed through large open folding glass doors, with a wood-lined entry frame, polished concrete floor, illuminated acoustic ceiling panels, lounge seating in the foreground, and people gathering near café tables and presentation screens in the background.

Resolving Complex Existing Conditions

The project addressed a range of challenging existing conditions, including uneven floor slabs, poor acoustics, and base-building infrastructure constraints, while meeting the highest standards for life safety and accessibility. As an assembly and commercial space within a state-owned building, the design team shepherded the project through rigorous review and approvals by the Division of the State Architect and the State Fire Marshal.

Lounge and café area with high-back chairs, small tables, and a long wood communal table. A person reads in one of the chairs, with a blue geometric tile wall and kitchenette counter in the background.

Team

Collaborators

  • Architect and Interiors
    TEF
  • Structural
    Holmes
  • Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing
    MHC
  • Acoustic, Technology, Security
    Salter
  • Lighting Design
    Silverman & Light
  • Foodservice Design
    Webb Foodservice Design
  • Furniture
    KMB Hogue
  • Contractor
    Swinerton
  • Photographer
    Mikiko Kikuyama