When the east end of this retail building collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the owners needed to “plug” a new end onto the building. They wanted something with a bit of flair and cachet. Whimsically urban, the building form, its windows, and its exposed ironwork take their cues from Vienna Secession Architecture of the late 1800s. The curved facade of the new building transitions from the upper parapet of the old building down to a reasonable pedestrian scale along the alley.
