Dolores Street
3870 sf (main and in- law unit), outer Mission neighborhood, San Francisco CA
white oak, backlit onyx, marine plywood, LaCantina® doors

Our clients approached us with a challenge to re envision the communal spaces of their existing home located on a busy, urban street in the outer Mission neighborhood of San Francisco. The building consists of a street level Garage, second floor in law unit, and a 2-story flat on the 3rd and 4th floors.

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The owners wanted an open plan for living, dining, kitchen, and bar, and a better connection to the back yard. The common spaces in the house were cramped and dark, with a warren of rooms that didn’t foster quality time together.

Our idea was to bring natural light from the top floor down into the main level of the house, and reorganize vertical circulation to take advantage of the light. Our design centers around a moment of suspension (literally). At the top Master Bedroom level, the inside corner of the stair is hung from the roof. The stair hangs and hovers just above the main living level. We engineered the stair, using 1″ thick marine plywood and steel box beam treads finished in white oak. Our GC did a great job of executing our vision. The form of the stair is like a child’s paper cutout, filtering light at the open risers throughout the day.

Architecture YamaMar Design David Yama, Nagisa Yano, Christian Tipping, Thomas Jameson, Ana Arcelus Arrillaga
contractor Clonduff Construction
structural Spartac Bet- Lachin
lighting design Revolver Design
photography Bruce Damonte
staging Meghan Lopez, Interior Occupations
art Lisa Bartleson The Couch/ The Chair/ The Rug/ The Table, 2007, mixed media on panel