2026 AIASF San Francisco Home Tours

Confluence is the central act of the design: the drawing together of movement, program, landscape, and ritual. New staircases gather the three floors into a spatial current, allowing their different rhythms to meet and overlap. On the garden level, an axis brings the gym, sauna, wet plunge, and music room into confluence with the landscape, terminating at the fire pit as a place of release and gathering. On the middle floor, entry, relaxation, cooking, and dining converge as the foyer, lounge, kitchen, and dining room flow toward the west facing deck. Above, the primary suite creates a confluence between intellect, rest, and restoration. The library forms a threshold between the main floor and the primary suite’s private realm. Throughout the house, thresholds become places of exchange rather than separation. Interior meets exterior, activity meets reflection, and private ritual meets collective life, creating a home defined by the relationships between its spaces.

Situated in San Francisco’s Richmond District, 383 6th Avenue is a dignified, age-restricted residential development designed by Y. A. studio in partnership with the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corporation (TNDC). Representing Y. A. studio’s first major solo commission, the building harmonizes with its dual-scaled surroundings through stepped massing, durable red-accented and brick detailing, and nature-forward biophilic elements that extend from the streetscape into the interior and courtyard. Developed through extensive community outreach to support local seniors and formerly unhoused individuals, the design prioritizes accessibility, intuitive color-coded wayfinding, and supportive living features alongside three specialized outdoor spaces, a sunrise deck, afternoon terrace, and community garden. Despite a mid-design pivot to a Type III wood-over-concrete structure, the team preserved key amenities and structural durability while meeting ambitious environmental benchmarks, participating in the International Living Future Institute’s Affordable Housing Pilot and far surpassing GreenPoint Platinum standards through low-impact materials and energy-efficient systems

This addition and alteration transforms a 1937 residence by Maybeck, White and Merchant in San Francisco’s St. Francis Wood Historic District to better serve a family of five while preserving the character of the original house and its landscaped setting. Like the original, the new work emphasizes material, craft, and detail through custom casework, playful geometries, natural light, and contemporary finishes that complement the historic home.

A modest addition and re-worked second floor create a fourth bedroom and third bathroom. The staggering of the three children’s bedrooms welcomes light and air from windows on multiple sides of each while preserving a mature holly tree.

Above, a new attic level provides flexible family space with roof decks overlooking the Pacific Ocean and rear garden. A gable roof, dormers, and glazed openings draw from the style of the house while harvesting daylight, framing views, and accommodating an open stair to the attic with a built-in custom study nook underneath the stair. On the ground floor, the modernized kitchen, dining, and breakfast areas were expanded and opened to each other while strengthening their connection to the garden.

Upgraded insulation, a smart air barrier, heat-pump conditioning, carefully placed windows, and low-carbon materials improve comfort and performance. The exterior remains compatible with the home’s Monterey Revival character while expressing a contemporary intervention.

For the design of 78 Haight , we were able to utilize the State Density Bonus to increase the density we could build on this small site; the bonus allowed 3 additional stories for a total of 8 stories and a density of 64 units. The 64 units include 32 units dedicated to transitional age youth (TAY) who have aged out of foster care, 31 units of affordable housing for adults, and one Family Daycare Unit. The building steps down with the slope of Octavia Street; the façade design reinforces the stepping, working with the slope. The first and second floors of the north and south facades are designed to respond to the lower scale of adjacent buildings on the streets perpendicular to Octavia. The bay windows relate to the city’s fabric while bringing in daylight, maximizing views, and creating visual variety from the street. The community room opens out to a rooftop terrace. Together the rooftop spaces can serve a variety of residential gatherings, classes, and social events. Also provided are offices, reception, laundry, and a dedicated community space for the 32 TAY units. The family daycare unit (3-bedroom), on the ground floor with its own entry, serves up to 6 children. 78 Haight occupies a prominent site at the peak of the hill on Octavia Boulevard helping frame one of the main entries into San Francisco. The south facing street façade, oriented towards this entry, features our Public Art installation: solar panels overlaid with the artist’s images that depict the transition of Hayes Valley from an area divided by the freeway, to a more cohesive San Francisco neighborhood.