Working share link to your Forma project, view access for the teaching team.
Comparison matrix, one page.
Design memo of 300 to 500 words: what you read in the site, the three strategies, what the analysis said, your recommendation, and the surprise.
(Borrowed TA format) The site: 400 Divisadero St., San Francisco, CA, 94117 (parcel 1216017) and neighboring 1052–1060 Oak St. (parcel 1216005). The site sits on the southwest corner of Divisadero St. (west), and Oak St. (south) in San Francisco, CA (23,997 sq ft total). The site is in the Lower Haight neighborhood, which is overwhelmingly mixed-use commercial/residential. Divisadero is the neighborhood’s main commercial strip, but Oak street gets more traffic.
Three strategies A, U-shape: Eight stories face both roads and seven face east. The courtyard opens to the north, providing a secluded area for commercial visitors or residents. B, large base with L-shaped bar: The first four floors which take up a large portion of the site footprint. An L-shaped bar for residential units goes along the north and east side of the building, reaching eight stories.. C, stepped courtyard block: Lowest massing in the front (3 stories), then higher in the back (six stories to the northwestern and southeastern corners and eight in the north). A secluded courtyard sits in the middle.
Analysis Floor area: A, B, and C deliver 91,863,95,664, and C 92,315 sq ft, respectively. Sun and daylight: In all scenarios, the roofs received direct sunlight for 9+ hours and 66-71% of facades received direct sunlight for at least 3 hours. ~11% of A, ~2% of B, and ~16% of C was below the adequate >25 daylight score. The lower scores for A and C were caused mainly by the courtyards. Noise, wind, and microclimate: A and C and over 40% of the facade <55dB (mainly due to the courtyards), while B has only 27% of the facade below 55dB. The wind patterns are relatively similar, with >97% of the ground comfortable for sitting (especially courtyards). The microclimate was comfortable in the midday January, but >80℉ perceived temperature across all sites in midday July. Carbon: Embodied carbon is 37 kgCO₂e/ft² for A and C and 31 for B.
Recommendation: C C matches A on many metrics, but has superior design in terms of human experience. C’s design limits noise from Oak and Divisadero and has a non-windy courtyard comfortable for sitting. While it has the lowest daylight score, I will modify this by editing the massing arrangement on the eastern and western sides. I believe that the design fits in most nicely with the neighborhood and seems pleasant to live in. Massing adjacent to the street is lower, making the building look less out of place next to other lower-rise units. The courtyard also seems like a comfortable outdoor space for residents or commercial visitors seeking study spots or pleasant cafes.
Surprise: I was surprised by how difficult it turned out to be to get daylight into courtyards. I expected proposal A in particular to have much more daylight since it was open to the sky and had areas of low massing, so I will have to find ways to account for this more in future iterations.
Three massing images, one per proposal, from the same viewpoint.
