Sessions at the Presidio

In foggy downtown San Francisco a brewhouse and craft cuisine eatery is a dream come true. Owners Michael Bilger and Evin Gelleri, previously owners of separate restaurants in the financial district, shared a passion for home brewing craft beers and brought that passion to their latest project.  Together they created a new type of American public house, Sessions, a craft-inspired environment with a menu of locally grown and raised food.

Engaging Lundberg Design, a firm known for fabricating unique hand-crafted elements to complement the spaces they design, they overhauled the 510 square meters and worked to unify the space by removing opaque walls and a low ceiling that made the previous space feel disjointed.

To balance the infamously foggy external environment, Lundberg Design created a bright interior with Northern California soft yellow Sugar Pine wood, high ceilings, large windows and Douglas-fir end grain flooring. One of the major design goals was to feel “airy, open and connected to the landscape,” says Lundberg Design architect Dina Dobkin.

Sculptural Wireflow free-from lights by Vibia were laid out on the ceiling to form a minimalist geometric pattern. “The Vibia fixtures were an elegant accent without being overbearing or obstructing views,” says Dobkin, “the minimal design and thin profiles of the fixtures play off the linear patterning though out the space created by the horizontal pine cladding along some of the walls and ceilings.”

Wireflow was specifically chosen for an area where the original concrete ceiling had been exposed. The wire design draws attention to the material, and is line with the very clean, but moderately industrial aesthetic. The black lines of the Wireflow and also the Match installed in the reception area complement the blackened steel accents and details throughout the space.