Embarcadero Center was conceived in the 1960s as part of a larger plan for downtown urban renewal that integrates commercial and residential uses in San Francisco’s Financial District. The landmark Embarcadero Center is a city unto itself, spanning 8 city blocks and encompassing over 10 acres. Its 8 buildings, totaling 3,850,000 square feet, include 5 office towers, a 3-story shopping arcade with over 140 shops and restaurants, the historic Old Federal Reserve Bank Building, and 2 world-class luxury hotels, the Hyatt Regency San Francisco and the Park Hyatt Hotel.

The design team assisted the Center’s management team with an overall public space renovation master plan for the complex. Due to the scale of the project, as well as the diversity and mixed-use characteristics of each of the Center’s public areas, one of the challenges facing the designers was to maintain a cohesive whole to all public information and wayfinding issues throughout Embarcadero Center.

Over a 5-year period, a comprehensive graphic program for the entire facility was programmed, designed, documented, and implemented in a phased manner. Additionally, comprehensive retail tenant sign design guidelines were developed for all retail areas. The program expanded to include the design of a new logotype for the Center, a new symbol for its retail facilities, a shops & restaurants guide, a visitors guide, business stationery, office forms, marketing brochures, and interactive public information directories. The expanded program included all public information components for the Hyatt Regency San Francisco at Embarcadero Center, as well as the Park Hyatt Hotel.