Background History

The San Francisco Bay Club is owned and operated by Western Athletic Clubs (WAC). WAC operates a family of West Coast Clubs located throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and San Diego.

Since 1977, The San Francisco Bay Club has set the standard of excellence for private athletic clubs. The Bay Club attracts professionals from all over the City with its award-winning design, internationally recognized fitness and group exercise staff, and squash program.

The Bay Club was the first downtown, co-ed, multi-recreation club in the country. The Club is located in what was once a cold storage warehouse and one of the City's first buildings in the Embarcadero/North Beach area.


BIG's Role
Over a period of about a decade, Bennett Hall worked with the Club's General Managers and head of Design, Sandy Hoeffer to create a visual environment to connect with the membership. Great care was taken by management and Business Image Group, to create the optimal design that was also expressive of the Bay Club brand.

Throughout the San Francisco Bay Club, BIG installed hand-tinted historical views of the Club's neighborhood in combination with modern views of San Francisco. The blend became express of the area, establishing a "pride of place."

The overall environment blends contemporary and traditional styles. The artworks' content is compelling, relevant and most importantly, the Club members and their guests enjoy the work.

FlexFrame Systems were then installed for the display all content that changed, such as programs, events, announcements, as well as personnel and fitness instructors. This enabled the Club to adapt as the natural changes occurred in their business operations.

Learn more about FlexFrame systems

These exhibits were also the basis of style for Western Athletic Club's other San Francisco facilities, the Golden Gate Tennis Club and the Bay Club Bank of America. At the Golden Gate Club, BIG's team provided faux finishing services for their entire work-out and lobby area to soften and warm up the entire, using a "Tuscan style" aged finish. Historical San Francisco images were installed against this backdrop