PS House, North Beach, San Francisco CA, completed 2010

photos: Craig Scott

PS House is situated within the inner block of San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood, offering an unexpected degree of spatial and material richness within a small, efficient urban-infill residence. A speculative project, the design focuses on maximizing the potential of an existing dilapidated structure at the rear of the property, which was demolished but whose small footprint could not be expanded. As such, PS offers a model for densifying the mid-block of an already dense San Francisco neighborhood.

The overall site’s negative space is strategized in terms of outdoor living, natural light and ventilation, and includes three spaces: the courtyard separating the new house from the existing Edwardian building fronting on Powell Street; an exterior entrance passageway that connects this courtyard to the street; and an upper level south-facing deck.