116: Core & Shell Restoration | Tapscott Building

In this episode, Cherise is joined by Andrew Wolfram, AIA, Principal at TEF Design in San Francisco. They discuss the Tapscott Building in uptown Oakland, California.

The Tapscott Building, an elegant Beaux Arts structure in Uptown Oakland, has been brought back to life through a meticulous shell and core restoration. Once deteriorating and abandoned, this historic gem now serves as the cornerstone of an ambitious revitalization plan along a long-neglected stretch of Broadway.

Andrew Wolfram, AIA, Principal at TEF Design

Andrew is a Principal at TEF Design in San Francsico, and an advocate for building regeneration, urban architecture, and place-making and its power to advance responsible development.

In his 25 years of practice, he has promoted the value of historically significant sites and their role in providing cultural vitality to our cities and neighborhoods.

He led the transformation of some of the Bay Area’s most significant historic landmarks into vibrant and relevant new uses.

Project Name and Location: The Tapscott Building, Oakland, California

The shell and core rehabilitation of the storied Tapscott Building in Uptown Oakland restores a deteriorated and long-abandoned Beaux Arts gem for modern use and is the cornerstone of a revitalization program to transform a blighted stretch of Broadway.

Comprising the renovation of a four-story, 39,000 sf. steel and concrete structure, and the addition of a 5,000 sf. penthouse, this project revitalized the Tapscott Building’s original purpose for contemporary use.

It also restored the building’s 1923 character and the excitement of that era in Oakland’s commercial development by anchoring the rebirth of a blighted block as a new creative destination.

The project included a seismic upgrade, new utility and HVAC systems, and accessibility compliance.

Non-historic interior partitions and ceilings were removed to create an open canvas for incoming tenants.

Outside, graffiti was removed by hand and the building’s brick, sheet metal and terra cotta exterior, Beaux Arts parapet, spandrels and cornice, and historic advertising signage have been restored.

Missing terra cotta elements were replicated in GFRC (glass fiber reinforced concrete), using historic molds from detailed facade surveys and mock-ups, and incompatible non-historic added features replaced with compatible new elements.

Completed during the pandemic, in time for its centennial celebration, the project is important to the community for the following reasons:

• Restores a beloved historic gem – Abandoned for 30 years, the heavily deteriorated structure (noted by the City in its survey as “a very good example of a Beaux Arts derivative commercial building”) and its many uses over the years – ranging from retail, office, theater and even a morgue – embodies the urban history of the site. The restoration of its beauty and use has been an aspiration of the City and local preservation advocates for decades.


• Strengthens an Historic District – Oakland’s Uptown Shopping and Entertainment District, an area of “Primary Importance” in Oakland’s Local Register, by activating an important corner, just one block from the historic Fox and Paramount theaters – the epicenter of the District.

• Addresses blight – Suffering from significant deterioration, the building reinforced blight on a neglected stretch of Broadway. The project is critical to activating the block, with its ground floor retail and above grade office uses and restoring urban excitement to the east side of Broadway. This is particularly relevant given the revitalization of nearby landmarks including the Uptown Station across the street.

• Catalyzes major revitalization – The project is the cornerstone – literally and figuratively – of a revitalization effort encompassing an adjacent mixed-use development that will transform the long-neglected block into vibrant uses. Its location above the 19th Street BART station is essential to capturing the full potential of Oakland’s urban revitalization effort and post pandemic recovery.

Unique features of the project included:

• Rigorous Rehabilitation – The most challenging parts of the rehabilitation were reproducing missing historic features, such as the decorative sheet metal spandrels and ornamental terra cotta cornice details. Using historic photographs and relying on the vocabulary of extant elements, numerous mock-ups were made of each element to determine which would most closely match the original. The multi-colored brick was also challenging to replicate and required extensive mock-ups to re-create a compatible match.

• Delicate Engineering – The building's location directly adjacent and above the 19th Street BART Station warranted a sensitive seismic strengthening solution. Invisible to the eye, micro piles were added 60' deep at multiple locations to eliminate added pressure on the BART tunnel. A 12" thick, heavily reinforced concrete core (housing restrooms and shafts) that extend the height of the building, provides lateral strength and eliminates the need for bulky brace frames at the building perimeter.

• Sensitive New Construction – The addition of a modest metal panel clad penthouse was set back from the parapet to diminish its presence from street level, while affording a terrace that provides a contemporary rooftop amenity for building users featuring stunning views to the nearby historic Fox and Paramount theaters.

Project Team:

• Owner/Client: Rabin Worldwide


• Structural Engineer: Murphy Burr Curry (MBC)


• Civil Engineer: BKF


• Mechanical and Plumbing Engineer: Acco


• Contractor: Allston Construction


• Building Envelope Consulting: Walter P. Moore


• Electrical Engineer: Helix

Unique Products:

• Exterior replacement windows, Marvin Windows

Photo Credit: Mikiko Kikuyama