HOA-LAN TRAN:

HOA-LAN TRAN

ARCHITECTURE

The project below was Hoa-Lan Tran’s Bachelor of Architecture (B.ARCH) terminal project.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

This design project began in a simple idea: the housing project, although ‘affordable’ housing, needed to embody principles and an aesthetic nature both noble and elevating, needed to become a form and a generator of activity capable of injecting the city block with life, beauty and a ‘neighborliness’ which would transform the space permanently, and elevate the spirit of the landscape. The block in question was in the Mission District, at the juncture of 16^th Street and Folsom, in San Francisco.

I chose to combine retail and housing for the obvious reasons: retail helps to generate income for the development; retail also enlivens the space, opening it up to the neighborhood and the city; retail also provides services for the residents of the housing units. The business streets, in terms of traffic, are 16^th Street and Folsom. Because of this I chose to wrap retail units on the ground floor in an L-shape along these two streets: enclosed shops along Folsom and an open ‘Market Hall’ along Sixteenth. The open market street is designed to encourage an ‘open’ interaction among members of the community. The opposite streets, Shotwell and 17^th, are more ‘residential’ in character, less busy with traffic, more amenable to quiet pedestrian movement. I chose to present a series of townhouses along Shotwell for several reasons: I wanted to alter the scale and the rhythm of the design, establishing a clear ‘residential’ character for this street, one with more private ‘houses’ and social yards shared by these houses. I also wanted these ‘houses’ to act as a warm introduction for visitors to the housing complex, presenting them clearly as houses in the city.

The form of the housing complex became a rectangular mass with a strong formal exterior (demanding privacy) surrounding an elevated ‘common’ courtyard to which all units have access. This becomes the primary community space. It is a broken space, however, broken by two protruding townhouse units and by central garden planters and fountains, creating intimacy and privacy within this community space. The courtyard is a place of meeting, for socializing; it is also a place for silent meditation, reading, or intimate conversation. Beneath the elevated courtyard is parking for the complex. Elements in the housing on the Folsom side reflect an Italianate style that predominates in the historic housing of the Mission District, and mirrors elements in the housing across the street.

Housing above the Market Hall along 16^th Street is reserved for elderly residents (mostly one- with a few two-bedroom units). I have chosen to set them off from the ‘family’ units to the south as a way of honoring their need for a more peaceful environment. Residents of this building are connected to the adjacent community courtyard to the south by a second-floor bridge (which is, itself, connected to a second-floor lobby designed to encourage socializing by the elderly residents). The bridge allows them access to the family courtyard but it does not require such participation. This is a choice the elderly residents can make if desired. Elderly residents also have easy access to the Market Hall below for grocery shopping, and to the shops along Folsom Street.

In all, the complex includes 205 housing units, with 144 residential parking spaces. There is 11,520 square feet of retail space, and 25 parking spaces for retail.

See Hoa-Lan Tran Curriculum Vitae for architecture education and professional experience:

http://www.hoalantrangallery.com/HLT7.htm