A municipal office building is a tricky design problem. It needs to have a civic presence—a sense of dignity—but without being imposing. It should offer work environments that help city employees do their jobs and feel valued, but it can’t seem extravagant, lest taxpayers say too much money was spent. And it should enrich its surroundings, rather than just benefit those who work within.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and completed in late 2021, 49 South Van Ness (49SVN), an office building for the City of San Francisco, checks all the boxes. The 16-story, 564,000-square-foot structure, in a rapidly densifying neighborhood just south of the Civic Center, with its government buildings and cultural institutions, consolidates the previously scattered departments for planning, building inspection, and public works under one roof. It fulfills a longtime city goal of establishing a one-stop permitting center, where the public can obtain the necessary paperwork for construction and special events and business licenses. And it encloses these functions within a crisply detailed glass curtain wall. Together with an adjacent SOM-designed 40-story residential tower, 49SVN defines an informal pedestrian-scaled public space that integrates it into the urban fabric. It is not a place apart but is “consciously part of the city,” says Craig Hartman, SOM’s design partner on the project and now a consulting partner.