Masonic Temple, Masonic temple in Berkeley, California.
The Masonic Temple is a Classical Revival building at 2105 Bancroft Way, on the corner of Shattuck Avenue one block west of the University of California, Berkeley. Designed by William H. Wharff and completed in 1905, it has four floors; the ground floor holds a yoga studio, the second floor the Haas School of Business, and the upper floors were occupied by the startup Grabango from 2019 to March 2024.
The building was constructed in 1905, reflecting architectural trends of early-20th-century California. Its listing on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 recognized its importance in preserving Berkeley's historic built environment.
The building's name recalls the Masons who founded a local lodge in 1882 and formed the Berkeley Masonic Temple Association to fund its construction. Since 1944 it has housed a bank and later university offices; today a yoga studio occupies part of the ground floor and the Haas School of Business uses the second floor.
The building occupies a corner location, making it visible from both adjacent streets and easy to locate. The mixed-use design with ground-floor retail means visitors can readily experience the exterior character of the space, even though upper floors remain private.
The building was converted into a bank in 1944, and its ground floor later stood empty while University of California staff worked on the upper floors. From 2019 to March 2024 the third and fourth floors housed Grabango, a Berkeley startup making frictionless checkout technology.
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