One Bush Plaza

• Bronze Fountain — David Tolerton
  Bronze; In west side of sunken POPOS, along Sansome Street frontage; artwork is always accessible.
  Installed 1959.

1. 1959

   The Crown Zellerbach Building of 1959, designed by Edward Charles Bassett of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill with Hertzka & Knowles: a twenty-storey steel frame in an aluminium-framed green glass curtain wall, the first glass curtain-wall high-rise in the city and the first downtown building set in a landscaped plaza, which SOM also laid out.

   Modern Architecture and Landscape Design Context Statement, adopted 2011
2. 1959

   The Crown Zellerbach Building held about 259,500 gross square feet of office space, and a 1973 architectural guide credited it with ushering in the office building boom of the 1960s.

   444 Market Street Project DEIR, SF Dept. of City Planning, 1975
3. 1959

   The city's first post-war office tower set in a plaza rather than built to the lot line, begun, it is said, because James D. Zellerbach wished to thank the city that had done so well by his family; the plaza was designed with Lawrence Halprin & Associates, and David Tolerton's fountain was added in 1967.

   SF Planning, landmark designation
4. 1987

   Designated City Landmark No. 183, twenty-eight years after it was finished, as a Skidmore, Owings & Merrill design in the "Miesian" strand of the International Style.

   Modern Architecture and Landscape Design Context Statement, adopted 2011
5. Mar 1988

   Permit 8803311 $$$ $1,000,000

   Base building alterations.

6. Apr 1988

   Permit 8804402 $$$ $2,190,000

   Tenant alterations, no increase in overall floor space.

7. 1991

   Crown Zellerbach Building was recorded as an unreinforced-masonry building of merit in the city's seismic-safety survey, which dated it to 1959.

   San Francisco Department of City Planning, Environmental Impact Report for an Ordinance to Require Seismic Retrofit of Unreinforced Masonry Buildings, Case No. 1990.832E, July 1991.
8. Oct 2008

   Permit 200810103906 $$$ $1,000,000

   Reconfiguration of floor to accomodate new conference rooms, new offices, new floating workstations & new finishes.

9. Dec 2012

   Permit 201212286961 $$$ $850,273

   T.i on the 8th floor to build new non-structural partitions in existing vacant space, mechanical, electrical & plumbing included.

10. May 2013

    Permit 201305177212 $$$ $1,400,000

    Tenant improvement on 7th floor to construct new non-load bearing partitions, doors, millwork and finishes and new mep equipment.

11. Jun 2013

    Permit 201306129324 $$$ $1,143,513

    Suite 1100: full floor interior construction of new non-load bearing partitions, glazing doors & millwork. mep deferred. life safety & fire sprinkler under separate permit.

12. Aug 2013

    Permit 201308013346 $$$ $1,374,300

    9th floor-full floor t.i-build new non structural partitions, doors, millwork with m.e.p to relocate & install equipment & fixtures. sprinklers, life safety & a structural stair will be submitted under seperate permit.

13. Aug 2013

    Permit 201308013349 $$$ $1,374,300

    10th floor-full floor t.i-build new non structural partitions, doors, millwork with m.e.p to relocate & install equipment & fixtures. sprinklers, life safety, card readers & a structural stair will be submitted under seperate permit.

14. Feb 2014

    Permit 201402279442 $$$ $1,935,000

    17/f & 18/f t.i. include new non load bearing partitions, ceilings and finishes and associated mechanical and electrical. ls and sprinklers under seperate perit.

15. May 2014

    Permit 201405236646 $$$ $1,115,000

    14th floor: t.i. to construct new partition doors, millwork and finishes. mep sprinklers and life safety on seperate permit.

16. Jan 2015

    Permit 201501266672 $$$ $817,500

    Suite 1300 t.i. to a 7500 sq ft suite on the 13th floor to include new interior partitions millwork and finishes. mep included.

17. Feb 2015

    Permit 201502208884 $$$ $1,450,000

    12th floor: full floor interior construction of new, non-load bearing partitions, glazing, doors, millwork, lighting and associated electrical and mechanical. life safety under separate permit.

18. Sep 2016

    Permit 201609228519 $$$ $867,000

    15th fl: minor demolition of partitions, doors, millwork, light/ceiling & finishes. construction of a new offices break room & conference room. new finishes, partitions, doors, ceiling, light fixtures, & millwork. floor is currently unoccupied. mep, sprnk, & l/s upgrade to be under seperate permits.

19. Jan 2019

    Permit 201901241193 $$$ $2,500,000

    5th fl ti includes demolition of non bearing interior paritiions, plumbing fixtures, mechanical equipment (ducts, electrical wor, improvements include new non bearing interior partitions, doors, glass partitons, finishes, lighting, mechanical work. fire alarm deferred. structural deferred. maher n/a.

20. Dec 2019

    Permit 201912139467 $$$ $1,200,000

    4th fl: partial ti consisting of new non-load bearing partitions, glazing, doors, millwork, lighting, electrical, a/v, telecom, plumbing, and mechanical. no structural. mep, fire life safety deferred.

21. Feb 2022

    Permit 202202047388 $$$ $1,400,000

    13/f suite 1300: new construction of partitions, power and lighting, mep and finishes. sprinkler, emergency lighting, fire alarm all deferred.

22. Jun 2022

    Issued Permit 202206236914 $$$ $1,500,000

    Subbasement: replace existing chiller and pumps with new.

23. Aug 2022

    Permit 202208150544 $$$ $2,400,000

    9/f ti improvement. new partitions, ceiling, lighting, finishes and mep. upgrade to existing core restrooms for accessible compliance. new employee pantry and operable partition with associated structural support.

24. Aug 2022

    Permit 202208150546 $$$ $2,200,000

    10/f ti improvement. new partitions, ceiling, lighting, finishes and mep. upgrade to existing core restrooms for accessible compliance. new employee pantry.

25. Mar 2023

    Permit 202303214057 $$$ $1,100,000

    18th/f office t.i. demolition existing partition & ceiling. new partitions and finishes, mep included.

26. Jul 2024

    Permit 202407317686 $$$ $3,073,800

    17th fl- interior ti includes new non structural parititions, ceilings, finishes & mep.

27. Mar 2025

    Issued Permit 202503132182 $$$ $850,000

    19/fl- install (3) cooling towers interior.

28. May 2025

    Permit 202503051636 $$$ $3,258,010

    15/f level 15: interior tenant improvement. minor non-structural demolition. new non-structural partitions, lighting, finishes, including restrooms. mep deferred.

29. Aug 2025

    Permit 202508082627 $$$ $195,000

    Defered mep for approved permit application 2025-0305-1636 15th fl.

DBI holds 579 permits for this parcel, most of them tenant improvements on individual floors. The timeline shows the 24 largest by stated cost, plus the earliest on file; the DBI query in the sources below returns all 579. 1 of them are nominal $1 street-space or sidewalk permits. 1 cancelled permit is not shown.

Built for the Crown Zellerbach Corporation, this was the first glass curtain-wall tower in San Francisco and the first major building downtown in the thirty years after the Depression. Crown Zellerbach was taken over by Sir James Goldsmith in 1985; the building became San Francisco Landmark No. 183 in 1987.

Edward Charles Bassett designed the sunken triangular plaza with olive and mayten trees over a ground pattern of river rock and slate, screened from the pavement twelve feet above by an angular granite wall. David Tolerton (1907–2000) made the bronze fountain on the travertine deck; it is one of two he made in the Bay Area.