David Baker Architects

Designed by principal David Baker in collaboration with firm associate Caroline Souza, Five 88 is described by the firm as the largest affordable housing development to open in San Francisco in the past decade. Located in the city’s rapidly developing Mission Bay area, the building provides 200 apartments for low-income families—a portion of which are prioritized for local school and health-care workers—as well as retail space along the main traffic corridor.

The sustainable building has two entries along the street, a landscaped mid-block passageway, and residential stoops that anticipate an upcoming public park. The main corner is a dramatic form clad with weathering steel and visually supported by a row of what the firm describes as “dancing columns”—tilting textured-concrete pillars that make for a dynamic pedestrian experience.

Designed by principal David Baker in collaboration with firm associate Caroline Souza, Five 88 is described by the firm as the largest affordable housing development to open in San Francisco in the past decade. Located in the city’s rapidly developing Mission Bay area, the building provides 200 apartments for low-income families—a portion of which are prioritized for local school and health-care workers—as well as retail space along the main traffic corridor.

The sustainable building has two entries along the street, a landscaped mid-block passageway, and residential stoops that anticipate an upcoming public park. The main corner is a dramatic form clad with weathering steel and visually supported by a row of what the firm describes as “dancing columns”—tilting textured-concrete pillars that make for a dynamic pedestrian experience.