Oakland Federal Building
Designed as KMD Architects, 1992
John Ellis Project Designer with David Hobstetter, Ed McFarlan, Sam Assefa, Mel Schenck, Shahrokh Sayadi, Liz Chaney, Anastasios Stathopoulos, Mark O’Dell, Michael Wang, Andrew Rabeneck and many others.
Located on two blocks straddling 13th Street, the twin towers are an important landmark for Downtown Oakland. The two towers are linked by a five-story glazed atrium whose floor is embellished with a map of the Bay Area. The front plaza is flanked by two wings, one containing a Federal Courthouse, the other a civic auditorium. The towers are capped by pyramidal roofs whose shape recalls the Unfinished Pyramid and God’s All-seeing eye on the back of the Dollar Bill.
The 1,000,000 sq ft building received a Presidential Award and an AIA National Honor Award in 1996.
The twin towers contain 1 million sq ft of office space. A bridge known as the Audit Walk links the 13th Floor occupied by the IRS.
The Federal Building's twin towers are an important Oakland landmark.
The two towers straddle 13th Street and are a short walk from the Downtown Oakland BART station.
One of three conceptual options to accommodate 1 million sq. ft. of office space.. A low-rise design up to 10 stories organized around an internal atrium.
A second option was to propose a Single Tower which would have exceeded the height of Oakland's City Hall.
A third was for Twin Towers on either side of a rotunda, and also with two wings to contain the Federal Courthouse and Auditorium. This was selected as the Preferred Option.
Clay Street at 14th Street.
City Hall and the Federal Building, State Office Building. (photo by Michael Layefsky 2011)
The Rotunda links the two towers and is a gift to the city as a passage through to Preservation Park.
The floor of the Rotunda has a map of the Bay Area with Oakland at the center of the Universe.
Bay Area map on the Rotunda floor.
South Wing with Federal Courthouse.
North wing with Auditorium and Post Office.
Entry lobby corridor leading to the elevator lobbies.
Elevator lobby.
Fifth floor corridor looking towards the Rotunda.
Glazed link between the Auditorium wing and the South Tower.
Main Courtroom.
Immigration Courtroom.
Gaza War protest November 2023.
The Federal Building occupies two blocks on either side of 13th Street and is a culmination of the City Center development that extends back to Broadway.
The Ground Floor shows the disposition of the two towers with their lobbies served from the central rotunda. On either side of the plaza are the Federal Courthouse and the Auditorium Wing.
Aerial of Downtown Oakland showing the Federal Building in context.
30th year reunion by members of the design and construction team. September 2024.