Sister Lillian Murphy Community

Shaped by community concerns about the large mixed-use and industrial buildings that characterize the Mission Bay redevelopment area in San Francisco, this project cracks the perimeter block typology into four articulated wings. The building exceeds the clients’ goals of offering equitable and affordable housing for the city’s disadvantaged families while also contributing significantly to the overall transformation of the neighborhood.

At just over 300 acres, Mission Bay was once marked by rail yards and industrial buildings that were built on top of a landfill. Its redevelopment, which began in the 1990s, incorporates a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, business and employment opportunities, and enhanced infrastructure. The nonprofit client for this project was an early supporter of Mission Bay’s transformation, opening the neighborhood’s first affordable housing project for low-income seniors there.

This new addition to the neighborhood, named after a champion and developer of affordable housing, offers 152 homes, from studio apartments to five-bedroom units, for households that annually earn up to 80% of the area median income. Its easily identified wings are connected by open-air circulation and multilevel landscapes that offer residents visual connections to the surrounding neighborhood while maximizing daylight in outdoor areas.

Input from the community also shaped the program placement and the design of each wing’s facade to reflect those area’s contexts. The building’s main entry and ground-floor child development center face Mission Bay Kids Park. The building’s south entry fronts Mission Bay Commons, viewed as the neighborhood’s “backyard” park, and contains a children’s music school, courtyard, and community room. The final wing is lower in height to respect the scale and intimacy of a mid-block pedestrian passage.

“In this project, solutions to the Framework for Design Excellence principles are so thoughtfully and graciously integrated into the building design that it should be recognized for quality instead of quantity,”  - Jury comment

The project’s interiors are open and airy, warmed by the wood elements throughout. A corner stair tower at the main entry is a new beacon for the neighborhood with a dynamic pattern of light shaped by its unique window configuration. It provides sweeping views for residents, encouraging them to use the stairs as part of an active and healthy lifestyle.

“This is a complicated building program, but the design solution is extremely thoughtful and elegant.” - Jury comment

Outdoor spaces on the ground floor and the upper-level courtyards work in concert with other vignettes as an extension of the indoor common areas. They all boast a range of seating options and vibrant landscaping. The perforated patterns of the bicycle pavilion, an additional enticement for healthy living, casts playful shadows in the sunlight and glows as a lantern in the evening. These spaces and the building’s outdoor circulation offer ample fresh air, a critical consideration that was spotlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic.