PROJECT DESIGN

MERIT AWARD

Woodside Gardens
San Francisco, California

Low-Rent Public Housing Program

Architect:

Neill Smith, AIA, and Associates

San Francisco, California

Landscape Architect:

Lawrence Halprin, ASLA, and Associates

San Francisco, California

Engineers:

Chin & Hensolt (Structural)

San Francisco, California

Alexander Boone, Inc. (Mechanical/Electrical)

Palo Alto, California

Builder:

The Pacific Company

Berkeley, California

Owner:

Public Housing Authority of San Francisco, California

Woodside Gardens is located on a steeply wooded hillside purchased from a large city-owned and city-operated home and hospital for the permanently handicapped elderly. The 110-unit building provides housing for elderly persons whose spouses are in permanent care at the home, those who require some outpatient care from the hospital, and elderly persons needing housing from the community at large. The site is an island of public property surrounded by single-family middle-income dwellings. Care was taken to insure that the original character of the site remained intact and that the scale and architectural character of the building made it more a part of the surrounding community than an extension of the huge city institution which lies to the north of it. The site plan and building configuration sought to preserve the character of the sloping hillside, with as many of the original large trees as possible, and still provide easy access from the fronting Woodside Avenue. Within this framework, the building gives the maximum number of apartments east, south, and west exposures, with a minimum number to the north.

The community room with its terraces and gardens is located on the southeast corner with easy access from parking and a bus stop. The apartment plans have been designed to give the feeling and sense of normal apartment life, while providing as many special features and conveniences for the handicapped or elderly as possible. Members of the Jury recommended the attention given to design details. Total