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South-west Berkeley was mostly open farm land until the 1906 Earthquake and Fire not only destroyed many manufacturing plants in San Francisco, but drove the companies out of the city permanently. Among the manufacturer's who left and settled in Berkeley were Jackson-Byron Iron Works, McCaulay Foundry, and Pfister Knitting Company. These companies built new manufacturing plants in the vicinity of Seventh and Eighth streets between Dwight and Parker.  

One of the businesses that came to Berkeley as the result of the 1906 Earthquake was the Kawneer Company. This company produced a revolutionary styled metal-framed window which was greatly sought after for the rebuilding of San Francisco. Since the manufacturing plant was in Kansas City, the company built a second plant in Berkeley in 1912 on Eighth Street between Dwight and Parker.  

The designer of these popular metal-framed windows, and founder of the company, was Francis John Plym. When Plym visited the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair he was twenty-four years old and had only a sixth grade education. But the fair inspired Plym to become an architect and he entered the University of Illinois School of Architecture where he successfully obtained a degree.  

By 1906 he was the city architect of Kansas City, and had also patented a design for a metal frame window. Plym called his new product “Kawneer” after the Kansas River, commonly known as the “Kaw.” His window design was widely used in commercial and industrial buildings throughout the world, and became the foundation of today’s modern glass-wall architecture.  

The window factory Plym designed for his Berkeley plant incorporated a series of twenty windows projecting from the roof and letting natural light into the work area. These projecting windows created the distinctive saw-tooth silhouette, which became a common feature in industrial buildings. The Kawneer Company continued to manufacture windows in this building until 1958 when it was sold to the Sealy Mattress Company.  

By 1972 the building had been converted into artists’ studios, and small theater groups performed in some of the spaces. During the 1970s many old manufacturing buildings were being vacated and, like the Kawneer Building, were reused for artists' studios. The spaces were large, open and the rent was affordable. Now, thirty years later, a building like Kawneer is sought after by much more affluent tenants and the artists are being displaced throughout west Berkeley.  

Susan Cerny is author of “Berkeley Landmarks” and writes Berkeley Observed in conjunction with the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association.