San Francisco CA | Completed
855 Brannan features three interconnected six-story buildings bringing 449 new apartments—including 21 flex lofts—to the tech-heavy SOMA/Design District. The buildings engage and transform the street with widened sidewalks, plantings and mature palm trees, residential stoops, street furniture, resident and community use, and retail spaces.
Two public mid-block passages draw residents and pedestrians into and through the large community, creating connections and establishing a walkable scale. Langton Way is a 40-foot-wide public pedestrian path at the northeast edge of the site, featuring private landscaped stoop entries, a dog run, and an anticipated connection to the planned adjacent affordable housing. Closer to the mid-point of the development, Decatur Way is lined with flex-lofts accessed by Dutch doors. This passage—paved with permeable pavers and offering seating and bike parking options, connects Brannan Street to Bluxome, a private alley at the rear of the site used for parking access as well as outdoor events.
At the core, an inviting public courtyard crowned by a grove of coast redwoods provides a serene sanctuary for the bustling area. A suite of linked amenity spaces connects to this grove via a “town hall” deck that offers a seamless indoor-outdoor connection.
The building is topped by a private outdoor space for residents, a roof deck including an outdoor kitchen and dining area, sculptural fireplace, and varied seating with great views of downtown San Francisco.
At the nexus of San Francisco’s Design District and the more industrial SOMA zone, the design of the building volumes considers metals as fabrics to create dynamic texture and interest across the large community: A corduroy-style vertical standing seam treatment of weathering and galvanized steel; an eyelet-inspired offset window pattern on in white cement plaster on the internal courtyard walls, and a waving, “pleated” corner made from composite rainscreen.
Inside, Douglas fir salvaged and restored from the site’s previous use—a former train depot—lends a sense of warmth and character to the shared spaces.
Project Details
855 Brannan Street
San Francisco, CA
United States
Total 449
