Edith Witt Senior Community
(aka 9th & Jessie Senior Housing)
San
Francisco, CA
A 107 unit, 11 story,
95,000 sf, Type I
(concrete frame) high rise in San Francisco's South of Market
district, Edith Witt Senior Community is both a vital
individual
presence in the area and part of a larger, rapidly developing
neighborhood. The building was designed and developed in
tandem
with an adjacent Family Housing building to create a community of
seniors and families with shared outdoor courtyard and terrace spaces,
education and health services, and multipurpose rooms. The
units
are reserved for extremely low income seniors, many of whom were
formerly homeless. Mercy Housing skillfully orchestrated the
complexities of developing a pair of buildings on a constrained site
with multiple funding sources and myriad competing interests.
KodamaDiseno served as associate architect to Architect of
Record
KMD Architects, who had primary responsibility for the exterior design.
We designed the units and all interior spaces, provided
construction documents, and assisted KMD with construction
administration. Cahill Contractors maintained high standards
of quality while bringing the project in under budget.
The
9th Street elevation features subtly shifting bay windows and
a
curved corner element, behind which are a stack of rooms (e.g. library,
lounge, dance studio, laundry) which are accessible to all tenants.
GFRC exterior panels and extensive curtainwall contribute to
a
quality level beyond that typically found on this type of publicly
funded project.
The
narrow alley necessitated use of fire rated operable steel windows.
The west elevation faces the Family Building and the shared
terraces. A trellised, frosted glass screen provides privacy
and
wind protection at the terrace.
The large blank property
line elevation is broken up with a tapering notch (illuminated at night) and protruding fin.
The
units feature stupendous views of the City. Quality windows
and
glazing, heavily insulated exterior and party walls, and Z-ducts result
in quiet interiors despite the dense urban environment along busy 9th
Street.
The
double height entry lobby will feature a colorful suspended public
artwork by Ball-Nogues Studio of Los Angeles (I was fortunate to serve
on the selection committee). The entire team was extremely
professional and amiable, and despite many last-minute surprises, the
project always proceeded relatively smoothly. I consider
myself
privileged to be associated with this ambitious and attractive project.
- Paul Dent: project manager (schematic design through
construction administration)
- KodamaDiseno Architects, associate architect
- KMD Architects, Architect of Record
- Richard Sheng, Director
- Mercy Housing California, Owner
- Cahill Contractors, general contractor
- Construction cost: $35 million
- Completed 2010
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Paul H. Dent Architect