Redevelopment of the circa 1896 Emporium department store building in San Francisco integrated a unique blend of historic and contemporary architecture that included restoring a landmark dome by Albert Pissis with an enduring fluoropolymer coating system from Tnemec. “The dome is much like the one at San Francisco City Hall, which was also painted with Tnemec,” according to Tnemec coating consultant Carl Bowers. “They wanted a coating system to cover the dome’s exterior zinc-clad metal frame. After extensive adhesion testing, they decided on a superior coating system that included Series 1078 Fluoronar Metallic.”
The dome was removed from the top of the building and set on I-beam jacks where it remained until the $400 million restoration was completed. Series 394 PerimePrime, a moisture-cured, MIO/zinc filled urethane primer, was field-applied to the dome at 2.5 to 3.5 mils DFT, followed by an intermediate coat of Series 1075 Endura-Shield II, an aliphatic acrylic polyurethane at 2.0 to 3.0 mils DFT, and the Fluoronar Metallic finish coat at 2.0 to 3.0 mils DFT. The dome was repositioned by crane to the top of the building once the renovation was completed.
A new glass skylight over the building’s Market Street corridor was shop-primed with Series 90-97 Tneme-Zinc, a zinc-rich aromatic urethane, at 2.5 to 3.5 mils DFT. PerimePrime was used as a field primer to touch up the welds at 2.5 to 3.5 mils DFT, followed by an intermediate coat of Endura-Shield II at 3.0 to 4.0 mils DFT and a finish coat of Fluoronar Metallic at 2.0 to 3.0 mils DFT. “Coating work on the skylight was done before the glass was installed because once that happened, it became inaccessible,” Bowers noted. “This system is perfect for landmark projects and areas where maintenance painting is prohibitive.” The anodized aluminum store fronts were primed with Series 135 Chembuild and finished with Series 29 Tufcryl.
In its early days, the Emporium became one of San Francisco’s most popular destinations. The building and its monumental dome survived the earthquake and ensuing fires that destroyed much of San Francisco in 1906, so the restoration project was special for everyone involved, Bowers recalled. “Everywhere you would hear tradesmen talking about how proud they were to be part of this exceptional project,” he added. “It was a beautiful building.”
The renovated building is once again a popular destination with its flagship Bloomingdale’s department store and other specialty retail and concourse level cafes.