Plaque

Heywood Building

DOWNTOWN

2014-2016 Shattuck Ave Map View

CITY OF BERKELEY LANDMARK

designated in 1993

HEYWOOD BUILDING

James W. Plachek, Architect, 1917
Renovated by Jim Novosel, The Bay Architects, 1994

This small commercial building was built for William Heywood, son of Berkeley pioneer Zimri Brewer Heywood. The upstairs was used as the architectural offices of James W. Plachek, designer of many buildings in downtown Berkeley, including the Berkeley Public Library. The elaborate glazed terra-cotta façade with double rope molding and Gothic wall tracery was produced by Gladding, McBean & Co., of Lincoln, California, whose terra-cotta also decorated Oakland’s Paramount theater and other spectacular Beaux Arts and Art Deco buildings. Glazed terra-cotta on commercial buildings was considered fire resistant and conveyed a sense of elegance and high style. The building’s ground floor was renovated and partially restored in 1994.

Berkeley Historical Plaque Project
2000


  • Heywood Building, photo George O. Petty (2023).

  • Heywood Building Plaque, photo George O. Petty (2023).

  • Heywood Building (2010), photo R. Kehlmann.

  • Heywood Building upper façade (1975), photo Anthony Bruce.

  • Plachek working plan elevation, James W. Plachek Collection, BAHA Archives.

  • James W. Plachek, BAHA Archives.

More information:
BAHA

Photo credit abbreviations:
BAHA: Berkeley Architectural Heritage Assn.
BHS: Berkeley Historical Society