Elevation to California Street
The planned façade of the cathedral, facing south at California Street, was somewhat modest, in the spirit of several English Gothic cathedral facades. The absence of a central door allows use of the full length of the sloping site, resulting in a nave floor 27 feet above the sidewalk (from nave axis). Side staircases are thus introduced, winding around the bases of the octagonal-topped towers. The towers stand at the ends of the inner nave aisles. The architects concentrate much exterior decoration on the façade (including the inscribed phrase, "Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus.") Sloped weathering protects the lower parts of the façade.