Bay Area studio David Baker Architects has completed 145 units of social housing using modular construction and a weathering steel facade in San Francisco, California.
The 63,000-square foot (5,850 metre) project ? called Tahanan, the Tagalog word for "coming home" ? was completed in November 2021 through a financing prototype that aimed to accelerate the timeline and reduce the cost of permanent supportive housing.
Modules make up the social housing in San Francisco
"This is a particularly meaningful project for our team, because it provides homes to formerly unhoused people, along with the services they need to thrive," said David Baker Architects (DBA) principal Daniel Simons.
The six-storey project stacks 87 two-unit boxes ? fabricated by Factory OS in nearby Vallejo ? atop a concrete podium that contains a flexible community room, in-house social services, and tenant retail space. The six-storey project stacks 87 two-unit boxes
David Baker Architects designed the modules with an angled end that creates a sawtooth facade along the project's western edge, orienting the 290-square foot (27-square metre) apartments toward downtown San Francisco, rather than the adjacent judicial complex.
The compact units contain only the necessities ? a bedroom, kitchenette and bathroom ? and rely on the support services and amenities of the building and surrounding neighbourhood to fill out the rest of the residents' living spaces.
Only the necessities are included in...