People who live in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood used to refer to Sixth Street, one of the area’s thoroughfares, as a “gauntlet”—a dirty, crime-riddled passage through which you grit your teeth, keep your head down, and hope for no unpleasant surprises. The neighborhood, largely built on landfill, suffered some of the heaviest damage in the 1989 earthquake. Since then, Sixth Street has been the focus of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency’s earthquake recovery program. The agency has focused on replacing former single room occupancy hotels (SROs) with equally affordable housing that is more livable, less institutional, safer, and green. In 2002, the agency launched the nonprofit Public Initiatives Development Corporation (PIDC) to bolster redevelopment in San Francisco’s neediest communities. The Plaza Apartments at Sixth and Howard streets—the belly of the beast—is the PIDC’s first project.
Recognizing that the neighborhood suffered from neglect and blight even before the earthquake, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, in association with Paulett Taggart Architects, devised a building plan that affects community and economic vigor for long-term change. Having already won the American Institute of Architects’ 2006 “Show You’re Green” affordable green housing competition, the Plaza Apartments are also on track to receive a silver LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 106 300-square-foot studios, laundry, retail space, planned credit union, black-box theater, support services, and outdoor spaces were designed with input from the former residents of the SRO-style Plaza Hotel, which used to stand on the spot. Many of them have returned to the new building, which enlivens Sixth Street during the day with its multicolored wood/resin panels, and is a beacon after dusk, when residents can be seen chatting in its bright, double-story entry. Neighbors walk by with their heads up—proving that designing with people in mind can be beautiful on many levels.
