Shipping Container Village at The Yard

The Giants are opening a new party pop-up today, across McCovey Cove from AT&T Park. It’s called The Yard. I asked my friend, the designer and manufacturer of the destination’s shipping container buildings, why he wasn’t mentioned in John King’s article in the SF Chronicle. In his South African accent, Jerry commented, “White collars versus blue.”

I met Jerry Jameson three years ago when I started working in the building he shares with my employer. He was an architect with a dream of becoming a manufacturer. Jerry doesn’t necessarily take the path of least resistance.

While working on a project for a Silicon Valley firm, I had the pleasure of working directly with Jerry and his business partner, Martha Trela, CEO of their company, UrbanBloc. Jerry designed two shipping container buildings for the outdoor space, a cafe and a restroom. The client decided not to go forward with the project but I was able to get a better idea about what goes into making a building from a shipping container: how to anchor it, make it universally accessible, connect it to the sanitary sewer, and a thousand other issues I wouldn’t normally have considered.

UrbanBloc opened a manufacturing plant here, in the East Bay, and I didn’t see Jerry for a couple of months while he and his team built the modular units for The Yard. I’d have loved seeing the trucks carrying the buildings across the Bay Bridge. The schedule was so tight, they built a sleeping room in the plant where they could grab 3-4 hours of sleep while working around the clock. They lived like this for nine weeks. Jerry said it was the hardest thing he’s ever done.

It’s a remarkable thing. There’s no good reason for UrbanBloc to slide under San Francisco’s design radar but now there’s another good reason to go to a Giants game.

Photo Sources:
http://www.urbanbloc.net
http://insidescoopsf.sfgate.com/blog/2015/03/18/what-to-eat-and-drink-at-the-yard-at-mission-rock-opening-this-week
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/place/article/Urban-chic-shipping-pods-catch-on-in-Giants-6140692.php

I’d love to hear what you think.