"Octavia Court" HUD 811 Housing & Gallery
San Francisco, CA

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Octavia Court, completed in early 2011, was the first project completed along the new Octavia Boulevard in San Francisco. This Type III, HUD section 811 affordable housing project for developmentally disabled residents includes a vocational space, gallery, offices, community room and garden courtyard at the ground floor.

[Octavia Court] is an oasis for developmentally disabled adults that meets the high standard of architectural quality set by other affordable-housing projects in the Bay Area…What’s important is that this is a building that not only does good but also looks good.
John King, Architecture & Urban Design Critic, San Francisco Chronicle

Ignition became the Design and Executive Architect in 2008 after winning an invited design competition sponsored by the OCII. One of the primary design concepts was to balance the use of affordable materials, such as plaster, with highlighted areas of richer finishes, such as the wood-patterned resin panels seen at the corners.

The exterior is accentuated by the “blue ribbon”, a stainless steel element that starts at the roof, bisects the façade, and wraps along the base along the street edge. At night, the ribbon acts like a beacon, grazed by blue lighting. The bisected façade provides an area for glowing glass balconies to float over the lively streetscape below. Solar arrays on the roof gather energy during the day to power all the exterior building lighting.

Owner

Brilliant Corners (formerly West Bay)

Construction Type

Type IIIB

Construction Cost

$6.5 Million

New / Renovation

New

Awards

2012 Builder’s Choice Award of Merit, Affordable Housing Category, Builder Magazine

Sustainable Design

Bay Friendly Landscaping Certified, GreenPoint Rated

Agencies

HUD, OCII, MOH, MOD

Completion

2011

Units

15 / 1BR and 2 BR

For Sale/Rental

Rental (30% AMI)

Parking

None (Transit-Oriented Development)

Site Area

4,650 GSF (75% Density)

Building GSF

16,000 GSF

Community Outreach

Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association (HVNA)

Contractor

James E. Roberts-Obayashi

Credits

This project was a collaboration between Ignition Architecture and ellipsis a+d.

Funding Sources

HUD, OCII, Tax Credit Allocation Program

Publications

2015 Architect’s Newspaper; 2012 Builder Magazine; 2011 San Francisco Chronicle, John King

Photographer

Treve Johnson Photography

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