San Francisco Design Center

Love the design of the center, Had three to four levels of flooring. It’s a nice place to have company functions.

In love with this venue!
When first entering the space, we felt it was a odd venue for an Indian Wedding, with its multiple levels and architecture.
But upon decorating this venue for an Indian Wedding Reception, we fell in LOVE. The slick white walls, market lights, over-​sized stage, pillars, brick details, multi levels and so much more — there is not one negative comment that can be made.
The loading and uploading area was a breeze, which is a huge plus in our book. The staff was friendly and responsive when emailing/​finalizing details before the event. We didn’t have one issue on the day of the event itself.
Overall, we were extremely impressed and cannot wait to decorate another event at this venue.

I’d been here before for lunch but, wow, this is an excellent space for a party. Three floors worth of meandering, refreshing one’s drinks, lounging, and a very large open space on the bottom for dancing along to the must from the band or DJ on stage.
Whatever pictures that you find of this space will do it way more justice than any of my words.

The Showplace and The Galleria are important historical buildings, but the Design Center is the best in the west. All ranges, tones, styles of furnishings. So glad it didn’t go to office space.

I had occasion to attend a cocktail party here. I can’t say very much for the center itself, but it definitely has an odd mix of architecture. Some of it’s interesting, and some weird like putting the elevators at the back of the building.
The place I went to had some ridiculously priced stuff (so I’m told, there were no tags), and was a San Francisco society climber do. I didn’t feel out of place, but it did seem slightly silly. Still, free cocktails. The snacks, however, were not vegan.

The company I work for threw a huge event here one evening. This is such a nice event space. It was a private event for invited guests only. The main lobby was dedicated to people coming in and getting their name badges.
As you walked in the center ground floor was for seating and a large stage was set up for a presentation of something or other my company was unveiling.
I broke away from the main event and took a look around some of the stores. I would suggest anyone who is at the beginning of their home or office design journey, come here. Couches and wrought iron and wall sconces and paint swatches to blow your mind.
Our event was catered with a buffet and the caterers set up outside in a little fenced in area. There’s a bar near the lobby that’s in the rear of where the event is going on in front.
There’s a really diviner elevator but you can take stairs. All the bathrooms are located on the upper levels which if you’re at almost exploding pregnant, it’s a little bit of a hike.
I think the space is great for an event and also there’s so many great design ideas for those of us interested in that kind of stuff.

If you like high quality, you will love shopping here. this is one of my favorite places to shop for furniture, rugs, etc. The little café is also a nice place to grab a bite after shopping.

My company held our holiday party here and I LOVED the space. I didn’t organize it so I can’t comment on the staff, but the layout, vibe, and setup are great. The open galleria/​court makes it fun to walk around the different levels without ever being too far from the main floor. We had food and drink stations set up all around which made it super easy to get a bite or a drink, with plenty of room for other activities/​displays set up on each floor.
As others mentioned, parking is also easy (HUGE plus) and it’s close to the freeways. Plus I love the Potrero Hill area. There’s not much else you can walk to from here though, so if you wanted to continue the party, you might need to grab a cab and head elsewhere, but that’s actually why I loved the space. It’s tucked away.

This is a wonderful center comprised of high end furniture and home design accessories showrooms. I first came here with my dad as a kid and now it has really evolved into a beautiful place. Highly recommended if you’re into top notch interior design or are a designer yourself. It’s generally a very quiet place where the associates leave you alone to browse and admire the pieces.

We held our wedding and reception here this year and our guests loved the venue. The space is huge leaving a lot of room for big creativity.
Julia and Chuck are very professional, thoughtful, and helpful. They sought to aid in any way they could to ensure our event was a success. In many instances, Julia tackled issues which should have been handled or prevented by our sub par wedding planner.

I attended the 25^th anniversary of a nonprofit celebration. The event was not only designed to celebrate their work but also to raise funds to promote HIV prevention. Special guests included the current mayor, Ed Lee as well as the former mayor, Willie Brown and dancers from Asia SF.
My main complaint is that I was directed to the wrong event space by the SF design center reception staff. I ended up at an interior design magazine event that was very formal. Needless to say, I looked like a fish out of water. I finally found someone (a random guy walking down the street) to help me find the event.
My second complaint is the restrooms are located in the back of the building so you have to navigate through tons of party-​goers just to take a tinkle. I mean what is this world coming too?!
The building itself is huge with multiple floors and stairs… wow! The outdoor space was inconvenient and with a city like sf I think it would be wise to invest in outdoor spaces but that’s just my opinion folks so settle down. Overall, the venue was exceptional, very spacious with an open concept floor plan, a free-​standing bar, large stage and projector, and the ramps appeared to be ADA accessible as an fyi.

I agree with another reviewers who reminds folks that this is an event venue – you cannot hold the establishment responsible for a poorly planned partaay.
With that said, my experience was just dandy. Went earlier this morning for the tail-​end of an interior design conference. The employees working the front desk were helpful and concise with information. It has a very cool interior layout and a bar in the lobby to boot, (though I couldn’t dare grab a drink at 10 a.m. for a social media lecture – damn)!
I recommend the Design Center for conferences, but certainly not for a wedding, prom or musical-​like function. Looking forward to stopping by for other writer/​blogger/​design-​related conferences tho…

Meh. I came here for a corporate holiday party, and had a flashback to senior prom (also at the same venue).
The acoustics still suck, and they really need to set up some kind of containment area for the cold air blowing in the front and the back (catering entrance, propped open).
Double sucked that the coat check refused to accept any bags at all (even a plastic bag that had my «after party» shoes in it).
Final note: The space for a dance floor is super small relative to the capacity of the venue. The venue spans 4 floors, 3 are strictly for lounging because they overlook the central atrium where the dance floor is, so that means that when the dance floor is packed, it’s jam packed.

We were recently here for a wedding this past weekend. This venue is fabulous and beautiful. Its very accommodating for a large wedding. The ceremony took place downstairs on the the main floor, followed by cocktails on the 3^rd floor while the set up for dinner was being prepared. Which made perfect sense and was not chaotic whatsoever. I loved the layout of the SF Design Center. The multiple floors and the huge opened space makes for a fantastic effect. The only con of the whole day/​night was how stuffy it had seemed to be. Even with the large sky light open it was a bit uncomfortable.

An event’s success can largely be heightened by the space that it’s hosted in.
I’ve been to a number of fashion events at San Francisco Design Center now, and each time I’ve been impressed.
The open multi-​leveleled space, lined with glass, is an exciting space. It has a natural edge about it, with it’s unique layout — that separates itself from the dark, concrete venues — which so many other events are housed in.
Being able to see the outside sky — in daylight and in the evening, while you are admiring a riveting fashion show, or local crafts show on an overlooking balcony in San Francisco is a stirring experience.
I don’t think I’d want to catch a show here or watch a live music experience here. I don’t this space lends itself well to live acoustics, but as a bumpin’ chic party venue — it holds it’s own.

Most of (if not all) the negative reviews for the SFDC are not referring to the venue itself but to people who rented the venue. Moral of the story: don’t buy tickets to a concert held at this location because it will apparently suck and you won’t be able to see anything, etc.
The venue itself, however, is beautiful. It is basically a 4 story building with a hollowed out center with balconies on each level and a skylight for a ceiling. There are christmas lights strung along all the architectural lines which is definitely a cool sight at night. The interior has some beautiful brick walls and the venue as a whole is really bright and full of natural light (when the sun is out, of course).There is a lot of space to do whatever you want within your budget.
I have had 2 proms and a wedding reception here and all of them were amazing to say the least.
There is a stage area in front of the dance floor. There is plenty of room to dance and tables can be set up on the entry level and even the floors higher up as well. There is a glass elevator as well as stairs to get you up.
There are bathrooms at every level. The bathrooms are nice, clean, but nothing too extravagant.
It’s in a nicer, businessy part of town so it tends to be pretty quiet in the evenings/​weekends, so nothing huge to disturb your party. Close to the freeway. Somewhat easy to miss if you’re not looking out for it!
This is a good sized venue for a party of anywhere between 200 – 400 people. It is pretty pricey but definitely worth it if you have the cash to spend.

I think its important to remember that this is an event rental space — so the thing to review isn’t how some douche bag can’t throw a party, its how good the space/​staff itself is. Its about how good the party COULD be.
And let me say, the party could be pretty damn good.
So this space is a huge 4 story getup with an atrium feel (the entire center is hollow, with balconies that go all the way around on each floor). The lighting/​sound/​tech capabilities of any good event planner with enough cash could be pretty much limitless.
Other huge positives include great parking, easy freeway access, an event manager by the name of Jil that is one of the sweetest to work with, and a completely rearrangeable main floor bar/​fixture setup. From fashion shows (I was there for a runway show), to weddings, to galas, to concerts, this place is flexible enough to accommodate it.
The space can be a bit pricy, but at the end of the day what major event space isn’t. The Galleria is a phenomenal party/​event venue, planners just need to execute inside of it accordingly.

A good place for a venue. It’s in a safe part of the city, lots of parking… big open area for a great venue. There’s a big dance floor in the middle…3 floors above to view the drunkards dancing and laugh!!! hee hee…
it’s a great venue!

My friends had their reception at this venue. I thought it was pretty frickin’ awesome. The happy hour was offered on the second floor and dinner and dancing took place mostly on the bottom floor.
The wedding party was up on the stage and we were able to see everyone enjoying themselves. It was very chic and the perfect size for the 300 or so guests.
Highly recommend!

Okay, I’ve been here both for a NYE event for ’08-’09 and the furniture showrooms for my interior design program…
3.5 stars for the NYE event: MOANY. They were playing different music upstairs on the top floor VS. the 1^st floor… and I hated how the sound blurred by the time you got your party on upstairs. It was nicely spaced out, and not once did I feel crowded or groped. Very large space.
Now the furniture showrooms blow this place out of the water… I didn’t think I could salivate so much over so many inanimate objects in one place, but I guess I was wrong. A few colleagues and I decided to take a little day-​trip there to familiarize ourselves with the layout, and just as a warning to potential shoppers: it’s a FULL-​DAY excursion. It’s open to the public, but you will be charged retail prices w/​o the presence of a professional… [uh, that’s why you hire an interior designer, =P] Even with that, I don’t think we could finish it all in the 4 hours we gave ourselves. We only explored the top floor… and I don’t even think we did a thorough job of it either.
A second rescheduled trip is in the near future, and I’ll remember to write down all of the showrooms that are absolute MUSTS to visit for your home/​office/​commercial/​hospitality needs.
Some stores were absolutely uppity — not giving us the time of day because they knew we weren’t buying… but other stores were wonderful — gracious — and very informative when it came to answering our questions and filling us in on products. I’m not going to bash this place because there were just a few rotten eggs in the batch, here and there… but I’ll tell you one thing: I will remember the kindness shown to me by the outstanding staff of those stores that did take the time of day, and those people will be the first people I contact when it is time for me to place some orders. Don’t wait till I am a professional to butter me up — because I have a keen memory that holds good grudges against snobbery and arrogance. =P
I also saw many people w/​dogs on leashes, walking around the place — which I found extremely odd w/​all the high priced items in store. =P