PYATOK | Project Work

AVALON HAYES VALLEY AvalonBay Communities

San Francisco, California Market-Rate/Mixed-Use

The removal of the Central Freeway following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake stimulated a dramatic rebirth of the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Octavia Street was recreated as a treelined boulevard, setting the stage for reconstruction of the human-scale urban form disrupted 60 years prior.

Joining forces with AvalonBay Communities and associate architects Owen Kennerly and Jon Worden, PYATOK led a community design process to shape a high-profile mixed-use building on Parcel P, the largest of the former freeway sites. Drawing upon both historic neighborhood patterns and contemporary design, the team developed a distinct character for each of the project's four street frontages, with individual stoops or shared entries located at an average interval of 25 feet. The two-story "portal" on Octavia Boulevard, the mid-block courtyard, and multiple two-story open-air passages create a porous community that lives and feels like a traditional neighborhood block. The Octavia frontage includes retail spaces extending the Hayes Valley commercial district.

Personnel