Hammersmith

A recent trip to San Francisco gave me an opportunity to visit a lesser-known landmark, the Hammersmith building. Located at 301 Sutter Street, it was built in 1907 just after the 1906 quake and fire that destroyed much of San Francisco proper. It has retained its historic architectural character despite having been home to a variety of businesses over its nearly 120 year existence. The current tenant is Zoox, using the building as a "rider lounge" for their robotaxi service...I'll return to that shortly.Out of all the beautiful buildings in a city packed with fantastic architecture, why visit this structure? Because Scale Structures Limited produced an HO scale kit for this ornate pile that has always caught my eye and I wanted a closer look at the prototype inspiration. I say "inspiration" because while the SS Ltd model looks like the Hammersmith from three feet away, the details are less than perfect, by a wide margin. The general proportions are off as well, with the kit including…