Best of Both Worlds

SF's Christiani Johnson Architects addresses need for workforce housing

By Don Lipper & Elizabeth Sagehorn

The two partners at Christiani Johnson Architects, a residential and commercial architecture firm based in San Francisco, are seeing more mixed-use in the city's housing future.

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Richard D. Christiani, co-founder and president, says: "Cities and buyers are demanding better designed projects, and the value of good design is producing tangible returns to the developer."

Christiani says that in San Francisco he has observed two opposing trends, one for large three-bedroom units and also for small studio units. Both are trying to address the need for workforce housing, all the while adding the retail attraction.


The Christiani Johnson-designed Symphony Towers is a good example of this momentum. These two concrete L-shaped towers of nine and 13 stories at the corner of Turk and Van Ness streets contain 130 condominiums with a high ratio of studio units.

The underground 115-space parking garage maximizes its space with an auto stacking system. In addition, a retail component of approximately 1,500 sq ft will occupy the ground level of the Van Ness Ave. tower.

The general contractor on this project is West Bay Builders of Novato.

Christiani says this project will stick in his memory because the building had very small floor plates with all the complexity of a high rise building. Symphony Towers will open in November.

David B. Johnson, co-founder of the firm, says he believes city dwellers are entering a cycle that places a premium on exciting, modern design.

"This seems to coincide with homebuyers' preferences for a more dynamic urban lifestyle, where shopping is entertainment and dwellings and furniture are sleek and look to the future," he adds.

Johnson says 1844 Market is a good example of this trend. It will be an eight-story mixed-use building occupying an infill site on Market Street. The ground-floor retail space will support 114 homes facing onto Market and Waller streets as well as an interior courtyard.

A fifth-floor roof terrace offers recreation space with views of downtown.

Parking will be offered in an underground garage.

Johnson, who says his design philosophy is to search for solutions that will stand the test of time, recounts the memorable challenges of 1844 Market. He says they include an irregularly shaped lot, grade differences, the height and bulk limitations of the zoning code, community involvement and being almost the first new building to be approved in the Market/Octavia planning area, a redevelopment of a portion of the earthquake damaged former Central Freeway.

1285 Sutter, another Christiani Johnson-designed project, also features grade differences and housing over a grocery store. This concrete construction consists of a 13-story residential tower containing 108 market rate condominium units with 15,000 sq ft of retail.

The stepped tower rises from a concrete podium containing a four-level underground parking garage with 167 parking spaces for both residents and retail customers. Its most distinguishable feature is the 13-story curved curtain wall element made to invoke a spinnaker. Construction is expected to start later this year.


For those who prefer to live a little bit out of the downtown spotlight, The Potrero at 450 Rhode Island will feature three five-story buildings housing 168 units wrapped around two landscaped courtyards.


The Christiani Johnson project also includes a 323-space subterranean parking garage, public promenade and a neighborhood park constructed over a Whole Foods Market, neighborhood retail and three levels of parking. The move-in date is in June.

Christiani says he loves architecture because it "is a social art. As an architect, one must enjoy working with people, sharing ideas and seeing a problem from different viewpoints. The challenge is to find the central idea or approach that will provide organization and bring out the best qualities of the design and site."

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