Franz Steiner, Architect AIA  

History:  My firm, VBN Architects, consisted of 40 to 60 people and was based in Oakland, CA where we provided architectural design and planning for a wide variety of clients. Our staff had many diverse backgrounds and thanks to them, we were successful beyond our expectations as they were some of the brightest and talented architects from USA and other countries including the Philippines, China, S. Korea, Switzerland, Romania, Spain and Russia. It was part of our focus to build stronger and more cohesive teams while meeting the critical goals set by our clients. My partnership has ended but I remain invested in all forms of design and planning.

Our clients came from a wide variety of interests including city and state governments, multifamily housing, education including kindergarten through Universities, transportation including light, heavy, high speed rail, aviation and historic preservation. With the able assistance of one of our staff, in 1997, we established an office in Beijing China which quickly became hugely successful with their first commission of a 65,000 Sq meter provincial capital. It was a great time for us.

Brief examples of our work:

The Historic Oakland City Hall: The building came very close to being destroyed by the Loma Prieta Earthquake. In 1914 it was the winner of a national design competition and its jury awarded the job to New York Architects not experienced in seismic design. We assisted the city in securing funding from OES and FEMA and went on to repair the extensive damage and remove the old non historic modifications in the interior. We used a base isolation system built in Australia to prevent future earthquake damage. This was one of the first such installations in the US. We also had to find craftsmen with the experience of historic detailing. The building became an example for earthquake retrofitting and a destination for preservationists and engineers from throughout the Pacific Rim.  It was honored by a number of design and preservation awards.

Kirsch Center for Environmental Science: De Anza College, Cupertino, CA, the faculty and students wanted a textbook for “green” buildings. It included a variety of lighting, heating and natural light systems to demonstrate the building's environmental impact in real time via computer graphics. Examples of every concept used for energy conservation were included in the building for the students to use and study. The Kirsch Center was designated as a LEED platinum certified college building and it was the first of what hopefully will become many more to come.

The Clayton City Hall: was originally a historic winery (1870) which the City was very proud of. Unfortunately, it had gravity rock walls that were failing. We drilled through the walls and inserted steel reinforcing with pressure grout. We then knit the walls together with a horizontal steel frame hidden in the second floor so we were able to keep the original structural fabric intact. The city formed its first historic district around the building and made it the center piece for further growth.

Old Oakland: was a 2 block commercial center of Oakland. Some buildings date back to 1865. In 1997 it had come under the control of the lenders who retained us to preserve and protect the entire two block area. It is now again, a vital commercial center with a remarkable collection of 26 early California historic buildings.

Soda Hall at Cal State University of East Bay: In Hayward CA had a short time line and a very tight budget. Since it was designed to accommodate computer science laboratories, the ceilings, walls and utilities were designed for easy modification as the technology constantly changes. The auditorium was designed with an exposed structure as a direct expression of the materials used in conventional construction. As a part of the project, we designed a new “faculty glade” in front of the building to become the center for that quadrant of the campus. This approach saved the budget and the University moved in on schedule.

BART Station in Richmond CA: The City and BART wanted a multi transit station to be a strong visual landmark for a poor neighborhood. With the station bounded between the heavy rail of the Capital Corridor tracks and the BART rail, we connected the two tracks visually with a 80’ high red tower. Two lobbies were connected by a tunnel under the rail tracks. The station is the brightest spot in the City and connects Richmond to the entire BART system and Capital corridor rail service.

BART Station in Milpitas CA: It contained auto, bus, SF airport rail and Cal Train heavy rail in a single complex. With a limited budget, we covered it with a light space frame and fabric roofs. It is the largest of the BART stations in the system.

California Bullet Train: We were tasked with the preliminary design of the stations, graphics and of the line. It is still in political limbo.

Haas School of Business: Located at UC Berkeley, was a collaboration with Professor Charles Moore of Moore Rupel, Yudel to design the 3 Building complex. The school put together a fund raising committee, a design committee and an engineering committee to determine its program, size and budget. the site had to be determined, the sttructural system defined and It took 5 years to do it all but it was a resounding success.

Wilson Home in Walnut Grove CA. Located on top of a levee with views overlooking two rivers and their island, the house had to be open to the views but screened from the resort across the river. It also had to be flood proof so it was elevated above the top of the levee with a 3’ sub floor plenum. The 30/60 degree floor plan gave them much more freedom and access to all parts of the house and their children were given their own space (known as the kid cage) with their own entrance. The house had heat pumps on the roof feeding the subfloor plenum and had cooling lines placed in the river.

AMC Kabuki Theater: San Francisco CA. It was part of a 9 block complex originally designed by the partners at VBN (Noby Nakamura and Mitch Van Borg) but now needing a major conversion to a multiscreen complex for AMC. I enclosed the forecourt with a large skylight and opened the three floors of corridors to the theaters and the new atrium. It continues to serve as the center for the Cherry Blossom festival in Japan Town.

Chevron Corporation Jet Facilities: The Chevron Corporation needed to move its facility to the Oakland Airport and we were tasked with the design and engineering of the facility. They flew us around the country to view other facilities they felt exemplified the best and most cutting edge designs. The hanger could house 5 C5 corporate jets with an employee lobby with the latest in communications.

Models: These were studies done for residential clients and served to focus the design by better understanding the potential of their sites.

All Architectural photography was done by Gary Ming