Urban Infill Senior residence in San Francisco houses Institute of Aging

The six-story project is expected to be completed by November 2010

By David Silva

For Rob Rich, project manager for Cahill Contractors, building San Francisco’s $62-million Geary Boulevard Senior Living and Health Center has been an exercise in trying not to bump into things.

“This is urban construction on a tight urban site,” says Rich, whose San Francisco- based firm is general contractor for the 227,000-sq-ft, mixed-use development on Geary Boulevard – one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.

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“Everything on Geary is right out in front, built property line to property line. Logistics is always an issue. Just delivering materials to the site and unloading them as fast as possible has been a challenge. Everything pretty much goes from truck to installation.”

When completed in November 2010, the center will provide 150 affordable apartments for San Francisco’s older residents and house the Institute for Aging, which co-owns the project along with another nonprofit for seniors, BRIDGE Housing of San Francisco. Construction on the center began in September 2008.

TWM Architects + Planners of San Rafael is project architect, with BAR Architects of San Francisco providing conceptual drawings.

According to TWM principal Derrick Dutton, plans call for a six-story building and a below-grade garage level with 67 stalls. A porte-cochere on one side of the building will allow for dropping off and picking up institute clients, while a ground-level ramp on the other side will provide residents and institute employees access to the garage.

The Institute on Aging, which provides seniors such services as day programs, health care and counseling, will occupy the ground floor and half the second floor. A first-floor courtyard provides the institute outdoor space.

The senior residences will comprise the other half of the second floor and the four floors above it. Courtyards on the second and third floors will be used primarily by the residents.

BRIDGE Housing, which provides affordable residences to seniors throughout the nation, will manage the property.

Dutton credits BAR Architects for much of the project’s design and color palette.

“The color scheme follows from BAR’s conceptual design,” he says. “It’s kind of a Mediterranean look, with an exterior of cement plaster and a concrete-tile roof. The scheme is off -white, with earth tones in keeping with the Mediterranean style of the building.”

Rich says that while not a LEED-certified project, the center can be described as a “green” building.

“We’re Green Point-rated,” he says, referring to the certification program developed by the nonprofit membership organization Build It Green, which is based in Berkeley. “At this point, we have over 120 points, which in our experience translates to a LEED level. We should have about 134 points when completed, and I think you need 50 points to be Green Pointed-rated.”

The Green Point certification program provides rating points to projects in five categories: energy efficiency, resource conservation, indoor air quality, water conservation and how a project relates to the community at large.

The Geary Boulevard Senior Living and Health Center Project Team:
Owner: BRIDGE Housing and the Institute of Aging,
General Contractor: Cahill Contractors, San Francisco
Project Architect: TWM Architects + Planners, San Rafael (conceptual design by BAR Architects, San Francisco)
Forming Concrete Contractor: Peck and Hiller Co., Hayward
Rebar and Post-Tension Deck Contractor: Alamillo Rebar Inc., Vallejo