Bell Mews Affordable Housing, Townhouses
San Francisco, California

Located in the historic Western Addition neighborhood of San Francisco on a former gas station site, this development offers affordable two, three and four bedroom townhouses to first-time home buyers The San Francisco Redevelopment Agency facilitated by providing below market rates to qualified families.

This 10 unit high-density design holds the urban street edge with three-story townhouses. They enclose a semiprivate courtyard or "mews", surfaced with interlocking concrete pavers, that provides access to individual garages and a two-story "cottage" duplex. Private balconies off the kitchens and dining rooms overhang the mews, which extends the public street into the site while buffering it.

The townhouses feature a split-level section, which allows each floor, containing a single room, to be only a half story from the adjacent floors. This also places the first living level a half level above the street for privacy and partial separation from the public sidewalk. The wood-frame structure is finished along the street face with a "green" painted composite siding. To add a variation of texture, the cottages and interior elevations are finished with cedar shingles.

project details

Architect

David Baker + Partners

Client

San Francisco Housing Development Corporation