By
Lisa Cisneros
Single students and postdoctoral scholars will begin to move into a new 36-bedroom apartment building at 145 Irving St. on August 25.
Construction of the four-story, 18-unit apartment building, designed by Pyatok Architects, is nearly complete. The building, awash in earth tone colors accented with dark teal along the exterior and doors, features large bedrooms, double-paned windows to reduce the sound of the busy street, high-speed Internet access, kitchens with dishwashers, secure bike storage and a common laundry room. Some units on the third and fourth floors overlook the treetops of Golden Gate Park.
The apartment building is conveniently located just a short stroll away from the UCSF Parnassus campus and the N-Judah Muni train line. In fact, due to the close proximity to public transportation, the building does not include a parking garage.
"We're really happy with the architect," says Luanne Mullin, project manager for UCSF Capital Projects & Facilities Management. "We've been getting a lot of compliments on the building from passersby."
With a history of working on university housing, including work at UC Berkeley, Oakland-based Pyatok Architects said their main goal on the project was to design a building that fits well into the neighborhood.
All 18 units in the housing complex have been rented to single students and postdocs, according to Jim Jacobs, associate director of Housing Services.
Special attention has been paid to the bedrooms. Each has ample room for a bed and desk as well as its own thermostat, so occupants can stay comfortable and pay their own utility bills.
"We made an extra effort to put as much space into the bedrooms as possible because that's where the majority of students spend most of their time," Jacobs says.
For Community & Governmental Relations (C&GR) staff, the apartment building is an example of how the University works with neighbors and architects to ensure that the community's concerns are addressed. For example, initially, some neighbors wondered how the building would fit into the architecture of the neighborhood. C&GR organized a community design session, where architect Michael Pyatok laid out styles and textures for the neighbors to choose their favorites. Together, they worked through the height and bulk concerns and agreed on the craftsman-style building that would be architectural compatible with the neighborhood.
Plans for this development were described in the 1996 UCSF Long Range Development Plan (LRDP), which discussed reverting office buildings, such as those at 145 Irving and 1308/1310 Third Avenue, back to residential use, either through renovation or replacement. In addition, campus staff worked in close consultation with the UCSF Community Advisory Group on the UCSF master housing plan, which calls for the construction and renovation of housing units at Parnassus Heights as well as Mission Bay.
Mission Bay Housing
Meanwhile at Mission Bay, the 431-unit housing complex is 82 percent occupied. Earlier this year, the University opened the housing complex to staff for a limited time. A total of 24 staff members are now living on the UCSF Mission Bay campus, Jacobs notes.
UCSF also opened up Mission Bay housing to students from other universities, including Hastings College of the Law, Golden Gate University and California College of the Arts.
Today, UCSF Mission Bay is home to a large international population of students and scholars, many of them with families. A grassroots community group now socializes together, hosting potlucks in the community room and gathering for major sporting events, like World Cup soccer.
"People are coming in every day, they apply online and we show them the available units," Jacobs says.
Recently, UCSF remodeled seven houses for faculty members and their families. The 5th Avenue houses are part of an enticement package to help bring in some of the world's top young scientists to UCSF.
"We expect that our new housing at Mission Bay and Parnassus will serve as a great benefit in the University's efforts toward recruitment and retention," says Barbara Jones, director of Housing Services.
