PYATOK | Project Work

THE VILLAGE SF WELLNESS CENTER Friendship House Association of American Indians

San Francisco, California Senior + Supportive Housing / In Design

The Village SF Wellness Center will be a first-of-its-kind intertribal “gathering of fires” — a physical, cultural, and spiritual nexus facilitating community connection and providing essential services by and for urban American Indians. The project will colocate and dramatically augment services and programming run by a coalition of Bay Area indigenous organizations on a 0.15-acre site adjoining the Friendship House community center in the heart of San Francisco’s newly designated American Indian Cultural District.

The architecture models sustainable urban living and environmental justice embodies indigenous wisdom and values, stewardship, and deep ecology through a “living building.” The mass timber structure will be left exposed on the interior to reinforce the owners’ commitment to nontoxic natural healing surfaces. A breathing skin of operable windows and a vertical terracotta lattice will modulate airflow and sunlight. Land is reclaimed by the roof garden, a gathering place for native peoples, plants, and animals, reconnecting occupants to sky and surroundings. The building will also serve as an emergency shelter for the broader community.

The program will form a true vertical village serving all ages across seven stories, the rooftop garden and a renovated courtyard shared with Friendship House. Service providers will include offices for housing navigation, benefits counseling, workforce development, and education services; medical, behavioral health, and dental clinics; a gymnasium, classrooms, and other spaces for youth and teen programs; recovery-to-employment supportive housing; and a Women’s Lodge of transitional housing for young mothers seeking substance use treatment and victims of sex trafficking.

From its prominent location, The Village SF Wellness Center will bring visibility to the 9,000 American Indians who call San Francisco home, ensure the well-being of this community for seven generations, and establish a replicable model for urban services hubs across North America.

Awards

Winner - 2023 Softwood Lumber Board Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero-Carbon
Honor Award, On the Boards Category - 2022 AIA East Bay Design Awards
Merit Award, Best Supportive/Transitional Housing (On the Boards) - 2021 PCBC Gold Nugget Awards

Personnel