Architect Kevin Hackett's modern design offers a peak into an ancient brotherhood.

Hidden beneath San Francisco’s monumental mid-century Masonic auditorium, a relatively new lodge by architect Kevin Hackett and his firm Síol Studios reimagines one of Freemasonry’s oldest traditions for a more contemporary membership. 

Commissioned by the Grand Lodge of California, the 5,000-square-foot 2020 project transforms a third of the building’s basement into a sequence of spaces designed around ritual, contemplation, and fellowship.

The experience begins with a descent from the street. Beyond an understated door, a marble-lined foyer mediates the transition from the everyday world to the ceremonial realm beyond. Brass screens, oak floors, leather furnishings, and seating create a carefully choreographed progression, revealing one space after another.

At the heart of the project is the temple, whose proportions are rooted in the sacred geometries long revered by Masons. An east-facing marble circle anchors the room, symbolizing the rising sun and the pursuit of enlightenment. Fabricated from bands of marble that transition from rough split-face stone to a polished surface, the piece embodies transformation through labor and knowledge.

Masonic ritual is embedded directly into the room’s organization. A pentagonal marble dais is in the center. The Master sits in the East, facing the lodge, while the Senior Warden occupies the West and the Junior Warden the South. The North remains intentionally vacant, reflecting a longstanding Masonic association with darkness and the absence of light. Built-in seating along the perimeter reinforces these ceremonial relationships while creating a keen sense of intimacy.

Overhead, intersecting barrel vaults inspired by medieval crypts amplify the feeling of being underground. Hackett, a Master Mason himself, spent years studying sacred architecture and ritual precedents before developing the design. Acoustics became a critical component: isolated from the concrete structure and protected from vibrations generated by nearby cable cars, the temple achieves an unusual quiet. “To reach the sacred,” Hackett says, “you have to calibrate the journey from the outside in.