Since 1988, the San Francisco chapter of the American Institute of Architects has been housed in a singularly appropriate location: Willis Polk’s Hallidie Building, a seven-story landmark in the city’s Financial District that dates back to 1918 and features one of the nation’s first curtain walls. But the office was tucked upstairs, removed from the daily life of the city below.

Now that has changed, and in an aspirational way. The chapter’s new home is a 10,000-square-foot ground-floor space in the same building, a transformation of a longtime clothing shop into a combination office, gallery, and event space that aims to connect with a much wider public than architects and design buffs.