Spring 2021 Issue - 65

DAV I D B A K E R A R C H I T E C T S

The site is part
of the SOMA
Pilipinas Cultural
District, which the
city established
to highlight
the culture and
contributions of the
Filipino American
community.
The lobby entrance to Tahanan Supportive Housing.

concrete podium. Each module contains two studio
apartments with a corridor between them. The compact units, measuring just 260 square feet (24 sq m),
are largely identical in order to align with the efficiencies of the factory process, all helping reduce time
required and costs. The units have extensive built-in
elements to organize and maximize the efficiency and
comfort of the spaces as well as to minimize the wear
and tear caused by moving large pieces of furniture in
and out of the building.
Another typical hurdle in adoption of modular construction is the lack of familiarity that most subcontractor trades have with the process. To facilitate training,
the project team had Factory OS stack two modules on
the factory floor, giving subcontractors an opportunity
to consider the best methods for completing installation of utilities and structural systems on site.

Designing for Community
The site is part of the SOMA Pilipinas Cultural District, which the city established to highlight the
culture and contributions of the Filipino American
community. As part of its community engagement
efforts, the project team reached out to the SOMA
Pilipinas Arts & Culture Committee, a collaboration
that turned out to be an abundant source of inspiration to the designers.
The cast concrete of the ground floor incorporates the pattern of a traditional banig, an often
colorful handwoven grass mat commonly found
in homes of the Philippines. The graphic lines of

terraced rice paddies of the Philippines are prominently represented with a custom perforation pattern
on the building's metal rain-screen panels, fabricated by BOK Modern. The paint colors for individual
unit doors are drawn from a bright palette contributed by SOMA Pilipinas.
In addition, the design focuses on building
community among residents through thoughtful
integration of architecture and landscape, the latter
designed by San Francisco-based landscape architecture firm Fletcher Studio. The interplay between
indoor and outdoor spaces not only facilitates social
connection by providing people with places to
gather, but also visually connects the public and private areas with portals linking the street and lobby,
community room, and courtyard. Retail space on the
ground floor helps activate the pedestrian realm.
Tahanan Supportive Housing is on track to meet
its three-year, $400,000-per-unit goal and points
the way toward a new inclusive model for housing
development that uses a public/private partnership
to combat homelessness and an insufficient supply
of affordable housing. Aptly named with the Tagalog
word evoking " home, " " coming home, " and " return
home, " Tahanan provides a model for future housing, and the success of this innovative approach
clears the path for the provision of more homes for
more people more quickly. UL
D A N I E L S I M O N s is a principal and J O N A S W E B E R is an
associate of David Baker Architects in San Francisco.

SPRING 2021

AFeature_Kenny_SP21.indd 65

U R B A N LA N D

3/30/21 2:20 PM

Spring 2021 Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spring 2021 Issue