Armstrong Place Affordable Housing, Townhouses, Under Construction
San Francisco, California

Located in San Francisco’s Bayview District, this affordable family townhouse community is part of a trend of transit-oriented development along Third Street, and lies just a block from a stop of the new Muni Third Street Light Rail. It is being designed and built in conjunction with the adjacent Armstrong Senior Housing, which brings new neighborhood-serving retail space and community services to the area.

Two sections of stacked townhouses flank a large shared open public courtyard and also each feature a private gated courtyard. The central public courtyard features allotment gardens for families to grow food and flowers, as well as a rain garden to manage and clean stormwater biodynamically.

The townhomes have a unique configuration, stacking an “upside down” townhouse on top of one with a more conventional plan. The lower level homes are entered directly from the podium level and in many units, via stoops from the sidewalk, into the main living level, with the bedrooms upstairs. The upper townhouses are entered from elevated fourth floor catwalks into the living level and descend to the bedroom area downstairs. This arrangement keeps the private quarters above street level, manages internal noise by not having active spaces above neighbors’ bedrooms and avoids public walkways along bedroom levels. More than half of the homes have three or four bedrooms, to accommodate growing families.

Additionally ten three-story townhomes with private garages line Mendell Street, which is designed with pedestrian-friendly features such as pavers and extensive plantings. Surrounding the development, the street edge is lined with curbside bioswales—landscaped swaths that add green and collect and manage stormwater runoff.

Armstrong Place is separated from Armstrong Senior Housing by a landscaped pedestrian way linking Armstrong and Bancroft streets.

project details

Client

Bridge Housing

Affiliated Government Agency

San Francisco Redevelopment Agency

Architect

David Baker + Partners

Associate Architect

TSH International

Landscape Architect

Adrienne Wong Associates

Lighting Designer

Horton Lees Brogden

Structural Engineer

OLMM Consulting Engineers

Electrical Engineer

Bhatia Associates

Geotech Engineer

Treadwell + Rollo

Mechanical/Plumbing Engineer

Tommy Siu + Associates

Acoustical Engineer

Wilson Ihrig + Associates

Contractor

Roberts-Obayashi Corporation

Civil Engineer

Luk + Associates