Grass Roots Urbanism

The culmination of many community-focused design workshops, and stakeholder input, that created the California Cable Car Turn-Around Vision Plan ignited the formation of a separate group committed to seeing this area become the gateway to the Polk Street mercantile corridor.  The idea of creating a more formalized pedestrian focused transit node, away from the busy Van Nes corridor, here at the Polk intersection was the starting point for the Polk Plaza Vision

A New Cable Car Social Hub

Working with the growing group of “friends” of Polk-Plaza,  INTERSTICE was asked to create an addendum to the original vision plan that focused on the Polk intersection cable car stop,  with its obvious connections to the community, and to the heritage of San Francisco’s iconic cable car past.  The intersection is envisioned to serve as the gateway to the city’s western center – With widened sidewalks, bulbed curbs, street amenities and plantings at the four corners, the intersection at California street forms a larger hub connecting the bike lanes, and personal mobility routes to this very walkable neighborhood, with its heritage merchants, eateries and lively bars, that characterize this thriving Polk Gulch neighborhood.

From this new activated area, visitors and locals are just steps away from Nob Hill, Russian Hill, Cathedral Hill, Civic Center and the Tenderloin neighborhoods – so, it seemed the natural place to envision a lively orientation point at the western most terminus of the Cable car system.

Focusing Community

Here Street musicians would serenade the waiting commuters, the passing shoppers,  and the tourists on their elevated journey over the hills – to and from the Embarcadero and Chinatown. The plan imagines a redesigned civic space that makes people welcome and provides opportunity for interpretive signage, wayfinding , and musical programming from the nearby Music City Studios and hotel. The entire Vision plan can be found here – with the Polk Plaza addendum published here as a standalone document.

Join the friends of Polk Plaza and the Polk Corridor Neighbors as we continue to work on the best public commons for our San Francisco neighborhood.  

Honoring History through Revitalization

Located in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, 555 Larkin/500 Turk Streets is a new mixed-use development comprising ground-floor retail space and 108 units of 100% affordable and supportive housing for formerly homeless residents, along with a shared courtyard, community room, and rooftop urban agriculture. INTERSTICE Architects is working with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC) to convert what was formerly Kahn and Keville automotive garage, a beloved Tenderloin business for over 100 years, into the lively, community-oriented development that will provide much-needed housing to this San Francisco neighborhood.

In the (Playful) Details

The courtyard landscape is at the heart of this project, acting as a place of relaxation, play, and community for the complex. INTERSTICE wanted to create a youthful space where those of all ages  can enjoy a welcoming and playful environment. With close programmatic connections to the surrounding neighborhood, the ground and street level is designed to serve the community and contribute to environmental resiliency through the use of permeable paving throughout the courtyard and a soil support system in the sidewalks to improve the viability of the urban forest. A brightly-colored ping-pong table sits beneath overhead festoon lighting adjacent to the community room where residents can gather and socialize. Wooden sculptures meant for passive and imaginative engagement are situated in a loose circle, acting as a focal point for the courtyard.  The terraced planter wraps around this centerpiece and provides wood-clad seating beneath the canopy of adjacent birch trees and ferns. INTERSTICE designed a banded textural paving pattern underfoot that extends from the planters at one edge of the courtyard to the foyer and to the ground-level studio apartments. These ground-floor apartments feature small planted garden spaces, providing a sense of private oasis at the residents’ front doors. The courtyard wall, meant to provide privacy and security from the neighboring Phoenix Hotel and surrounding buildings, is designed with vertical board form texture, reflective inserts, lighting, and quotes to create an activated and engaging perimeter.

A Beloved Billboard Reimagined

Kahn and Keville automotive garage was established in 1912 on Golden Gate Avenue—not far from 555 Larkin/500 Turk where it moved 23 years later. In 1956, the now famous letter board sign was erected at the corner of Turk and Larkin Streets as a way to amplify what had once been written on simple pen and paper inside the garage: quotes, poems, and observations soon appeared in bold, black letters above the intersection. The sign became a fixture in the Tenderloin neighborhood and the design team has integrated it into the new project. The sign can be seen from the front entry reception on Larkin and upon entry to the courtyard. Visitors and residents will continue to experience and honor the genius and history of its presence on this particular city block.

A Central Oasis

The busy intersection of California and Polk Streets is the north gate of the Polk Alleyways District, which punctuates the westernmost cable car stop in San Francisco. The landscape designed by INTERSTICE Architects complements this new, thoughtfully conceived building by David Baker.  A multifamily unit residence creates our neighborhood canvas for a spacious new corner streetscape, while providing a new festoon lit alleyway access off of Polk Street that leads into a semi-private courtyard: an oasis at the center of the project.

Unfolding Organization

The courtyard is a pinwheel of programs designed around a central, nest-like intimate seating element.  Around this custom wood enclosure, which undulates and unfolds under a grove of deciduous trees, are organized an exterior living room space, a restaurant view-scape, a yoga studio deck, and a mini dog-run for the building’s pets. The court connects the two entry levels on this sloped site from California and Polk Streets along a second planted exterior pathway. This path ascends from the inner court though an open air atrium up a planted stairwell to reach the California Street lobby paseo. 

Green Meanders

Along the wire structures, vines climb to provide privacy and vertical green walls throughout the enfilade spaces. Alongside this green space, cut logs become pavers that lead the eye into the lushly planted areas meant to allow a more intimate, slow access to the courtyard complex, whether enjoying a brief pause in the space or meandering along the pathways. The grove’s shaded nest is both a furnishing and social concentrator: residents can choose to perch solitarily, or join in small groups. This quiet open space is perfect for imaginative play by the younger members of the extended housing community.  

Garden Respite

This densely populated area of San Francisco is in desperate need of more green spaces. The 1567 California Street project offers a lushly intimate, park-like court that is a welcome respite from the bustling mercantile corridor just beyond the new housing project. Like a miniature Tivoli Gardens, it provides material richness and after-hours lighting to allow for an extended use into even the darkest seasons for its diverse community to enjoy throughout the year.