The Kelsey was built to serve people of all abilities, incomes, and backgrounds. Located in San Francisco’s Civic Center, 25% of the building’s units are reserved for people with disabilities who use home and community based services. This fully accessible and universally designed building provides programming for all residents and neighbors with the goal of fostering a mutually supportive environment rooted in the ethos of interdependence and informal support networks. All units are available as affordable housing.
The project team was awarded the site by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership, a program that seeks to drive carbon neutral and resilient urban regeneration. To meet the goals of this program, we worked with the design team to minimize the carbon footprint both during the construction process as well as throughout the life of the building. For this Type 1-B construction building, we collaborated directly with the concrete supplier to implement cutting-edge solutions such as using recycled concrete as aggregate. The building is designed with post-tensioned concrete shear walls to increase the resiliency of the seismic system, which confers an additional carbon reduction, as this system requires less steel. The residents also benefit from rooftop gardens and solar panels.

Photography: Bruce Damonte