La Fénix at 1950
Honor Award
Residential Design
San Francisco, California, United States
GLS Landscape | Architecture
Client: BRIDGE Housing & Mission Housing Development Corporation
La Fénix at 1950 beautifully captures the essence of community engagement through its design, seamlessly blending the drought tolerant landscape with the cultural and social fabric of the community it serves.
- 2024 Awards Jury
Project Credits
Gary Strang, FASLA, AIA, Principal-in-Charge, GLS Landscape | Architecture
Wendy Mok, ASLA, Project Manager, GLS Landscape | Architecture
Alyssa Olson, ASLA, Job Captain, GLS Landscape | Architecture
Daniel Simons, FAIA, Principal-in-Charge, David Baker Architects
Caroline Souza, AIA, Project Manager, David Baker Architects
Erin Feeney, Project Architect, David Baker Architects
Anne Cervantes, Community Outreach and Associate Architect, Cervantes Design Associates
Marc Steyer, Structural Engineer, Tipping Structural Engineers
Sean Flahive, General Contractor, Swinerton Builders
Jim Fain, Civil Engineer, Carlile Macy
John Toman, Electrical Engineer, Emerald City Engineers
Hiram Banks, Lighting Designer, Hiram Banks Lighting Design
Adam French, Plumbing Engineer, Emerald City Engineers
Project Statement
San Francisco’s Mission District has been an epicenter of gentrification for 25 years. La Fénix at 1950 provides 157 affordable homes for displaced and unhoused families in the Mission, as well as a home for nonprofit service providers. The ground level courtyard, or Zócalo, links amenities to encourage community building. The Paseo de Artistas opens to the street and is lined with murals, low-cost artist studios, and classrooms for free art education. At the Jardin de las Familias, a roof deck planted with natives and southwest plantings provides a play area with panoramic city views. A partnership of community nonprofits led the engagement process, allowing the design to be guided by long-term neighborhood constituents.
Project Narrative
History of Mission District Affordable Housing Initiatives
The Mission District has a diverse cultural history. Historically, it has been home to Irish, German, and Polish immigrants, and it served as a theater district during the 1920s and 1930s. Since the 1940s, it has housed the City’s highest concentration of Latin American immigrants. The dot-com boom of the late 1990s displaced 50% of Latino constituents. Alarmed by the lack of local voices in the planning process, neighborhood nonprofits formed the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition (MAC) to engage neighbors in workshops to articulate their vision for their neighborhood. A direct result of this grassroots planning is La Fénix at 1950, a 100% affordable community with an active ground floor supporting artists and local services.
Site Context
The project was developed on an urban infill site adjacent to the 16th Street BART Station on the Mission Street transit corridor. The site once housed the Phoenix Continuation High School, a San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) facility. In 2014, the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development (MOHCD) acquired the land and converted it to the City’s first interim-use navigation center to serve the unhoused. It was slated for permanently affordable housing the following year. Named after the phoenix, a mythical bird that symbolizes rebirth, La Fénix represents the City and community’s dedication to supporting vulnerable residents, drawing inspiration from the Pan-Latino cultural landscape of the Mission District.
Creation of an Education, Arts and Social Hub
La Fénix at 1950 provides 157 affordable homes, with 30 homes for formerly unhoused families, supported by extensive services and community spaces. The program was the result of extensive grassroots engagement led by local nonprofits supporting art and social services. A Community Advisory Committee with strong local ties provided feedback on early design concepts and affordability targets. Community meetings conducted in Spanish and English focused on gathering feedback from educators, artists, nonprofits, and local businesses.
The Zócalo, or central courtyard, links shared amenities such as the community room, kitchen, laundry room, and youth media lab. It’s also an extended living room for residents to connect and socialize. It opens to the Paseo de Artistas, a new mid-block passage lined with low-cost artist studios and space for the Youth Art Exchange. The Paseo functions as an outdoor workshop and gallery featuring a three-story mural by local artists, and continues the network of plazas and alleyways that characterize the Mission District. The connected Zócalo and Paseo de Artistas host social events, performance art classes, and festivals.
North of the Zócalo is the outdoor play area for the Mission Neighborhood Center’s Early Childhood Education Center (ECE), accessed through the Paseo de Niño. Subtropical plantings reminiscent of Latin American landscapes fill the courtyard, and the fence is adorned with symbols inspired by mesoamerican hieroglyphs.
The Jardin de la Familias, or the family garden, is a roof terrace six floors above the hustle of the Mission. With panoramic views to Twin Peaks and Downtown, it creates a safe play space and a respite from the street. Native drought-tolerant and southwest plant species create a verdant subtropical garden and enhance urban biodiversity, with bees and hummingbirds regularly visiting the rooftop.
Products
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Furniture
- Vestre
- Id Metalco
- Kohler
- Columbia Stone, Inc
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Drainage/Erosion
- Zurn Industries
- Iron Age Designs
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Irrigation
- Christy
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Lumber/Decking/Edging
- Permaloc Corporation
- My Bark Co Inc.
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Parks/Recreation Equipment
- Kompan
- Robertson Recreational Surfaces
- El Dorado Climbing
- Palmer Group
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Water Management/Amenities
- Just Manufacturing & Chicago Faucets
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Soils
- Lyngso Garden Materials Inc.
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Hardscape
- Scofield
- Pacific Interlock Paver, Inc. Basalite Concrete Products bik
- Tournesol Siteworks
- Ackerstone
Plant List
- Pacific Wax Myrtle (Myrica california)
- Hollywood Juniper (Juniperus torulosa)
- Yucca (Yucca filamentosa)
- Angel's Fishing Rod (Dierama pulcherrium)
- Beschorneria (Beschorneria yuccoides spp.)
- Variegated New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax 'Variegated')
- Cabbage Tree (Cordyline australis)
- Fox Tail Agave (Agave attenuata)
- Blue Flame Agave (Agave 'Blue Flame')
- 'Pride of Madeira' (Echium candicans)
- Giant Needle Grass (Stipa gigantea)
- 'Little Ollie' Olive (Olea europaea 'Little Ollie')
- Coral Aloe (Aloe striata)
- Kyoto Super Dwarf Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus 'Kyoto Dwarf')
- Angelina Sedum (Sedum rupestre 'Angelina')
- Blue Spruce Sedum (Sedum reflexum 'Blue Spruce')
- Aloe (Aloe vera)
- Silver Carpet (Dymondia margaretae)
- Irene Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis "Irene")
- Bacopa (Bacopa monnieri)
- Victorian Box (Pittosporum undulatum)
- Mexican Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta)
- Mediterranean Fan Palm (Chamaerops humilis)
- Lemon-scented Gum (Corymbia citriodora)
- Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)
- Mexican Weeping Bamboo (Otatea acuminata ssp. Aztecorum)
- Giant Bird of Paradise (Strelizia nicolai)
- Rancho White Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus 'Rancho White')
- Beach Strawberry (Fragraria chiloensis)
- Dwarf Blue Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus 'Peter Pan')
- Dwarf White Lily of the Nile (Agapanthus africanus)
- Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila)
- Purple Vine Lilac (Hardenbergia violacea)
- Passion Vine (Passiflora incarnata)
- Variegated Flax Lily (Daniella tasmanica)
- Flamingo Mexican Lily (Beschorneria yuccoides)
- Japanese Aralia (Fatsia japonica)
- Big Mac Cactus (Macrogonus trichocerus)
- Regular Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae)
- Pink Stripe New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax 'Pink Stripe')
- Blue Fox Tail Agave (Agave attenuata 'Nova')
- Striped Mother-in-Law's Tongue (Sansiveria trifasciata 'Laurenti')