David Baker, FAIA, LEED AP, has forged an illustrious career designing stylish and practical market-rate and affordable urban housing, primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as in Baltimore, Denver, Charleston, S.C., and (coming soon) Seattle.
Witty, urbane, opinionated, and equipped with a rapid-fire patter, the 67-year-old, whose San Francisco–based firm David Baker Architects (DBA) celebrates its 35th anniversary this year, has hewn to a design philosophy that prioritizes the social and financial concerns of the communities in which the firm works.
But Baker, an avid cyclist, knows all too well that getting affordable multifamily housing to the finish line is always an uphill climb, especially when what the community wants is at odds with a city’s planning and growth agendas. Baker cites developers and builders who balk at affordable housing as a market “distortion.” He also singles out an “exhaustive” planning process that, in San Francisco at least, can keep approvals in limbo for as long as five years: As he once told The Architects’ Take, “Building new housing should not be a multi-year journey.”
‘Building new housing should not be a multi-year journey.’
—David Baker
What really irks Baker are the barriers to homebuilding that, year after year, limit supply and drive up prices. Among them: inclusionary fees that developers must pay for the privilege of not having to build affordable housing on site—fees that, in San Francisco, cost $269,000 per one-bedroom apartment and $366,000 per two-bedroom. Little wonder, he says, that developers flee toward more lucrative housing prospects.
Baker says his worldview has been shaped by two rather dark books: Jared Diamond’s Collapse and Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow. Despite the somber nature of these literary influences, Baker remains a clear-eyed optimist. He has energized his 34-member firm to design more than 10,000 apartment and condo units, 6,000 of them in the affordable column, in buildings that promote an acute sense of community. The firm has been honored with more than 300 awards, including five national AIA awards.
ALWAYS AN ARCHITECT AT HEART
Baker was born in Grand Rapids, Mich. The family moved to Tucson, Ariz., and lived in a passive-solar rammed-earth house designed by Baker’s father, Bernard. Baker worked as a union carpenter and as an energy consultant before earning a master’s in architecture from UC Berkeley in 1982. He says he wanted to be an architect from the age of eight, when his father gave him several books about famous architects (his favorite: Le Corbusier).
Baker has not owned a car in years. He commutes to work and job sites on his custom bicycle, made by Empirical Cycles, Berkeley, Calif. The bicycle umbrella and stand are by Dutch company Senz. Photo: Anne Hamersky Media
Baker got into affordable housing almost by accident. While at Berkeley, he was on a team that entered a competition to design an energy-efficient state office building with integrated housing. Through connections he made in that competition, he was introduced to Rick Holliday, founder of BRIDGE Housing, a nonprofit development agency in San Francisco. After graduating from Berkeley, Baker launched his firm and took on his first multifamily workforce housing assignment with Holliday. He recalls, somewhat whimsically, his “overnight” success: “After a couple of projects, I was suddenly an expert at multifamily work.”
‘After a couple of projects, I was suddenly an expert at multifamily work.’
—David Baker
Baker points to the fruitful relationships that DBA has enjoyed with BRIDGE (which remains a client) and other nonprofits like Mission Housing Development Corporation and MidPen Housing.
“These are mission-driven agencies, very smart, and the people they serve are incredibly grateful,” he says. He recalled a 70-year-old chronically homeless man who was about to move into an apartment building that DBA had designed.
Upon receiving his key, the man burst into tears, overcome with having his first key ever to a dwelling he could call his own. “The experience can be very profound,” said Baker.
LEAVING A DESIGN SIGNATURE
Over the last 35 years, Baker and his staff have left their creative imprint on the urban landscape—for example, as early proponents of “activating the edges” by animating the ground floors of apartment buildings with retail and restaurants.
But its numerous affordable and market-rate housing projects are where DBA has made its mark. One project currently in design is 1950 Mission, a 100% affordable building which, when it opens in mid-2019, will feature 157 apartments, 20% of which will be set aside for formerly homeless families. Then there’s the recently completed Potrero 1010, a dual-building complex of 453 units, 91 of which rent at below-market rates. It features a one-acre park, a pedestrian mews, and galleries and art spaces for the California College of the Arts.
DBA’s diverse market-rate portfolio includes the recently completed 388 Fulton, with 35 micro-studio units (320–370 sf), six one-bedrooms, and 28 two-bedrooms. Baker contends that demand for micro apartments might be more robust than some housing experts claim. He points to DBA’s own 388 Fulton condo project, whose micros “sold quite well” at $1,500/sf, even with no parking. The typical buyer: a young, single, professional woman.
A David Baker Architects project: urban agriculture on the rooftop community garden of the Richardson Apartments, supporting homeless individuals. Photo: Bruce Damonte
The Union Flats, currently under construction as part of Union City’s transit-oriented development, will offer 243 market-rate rentals (28 of them live-work lofts) assembled from 408 modular pods manufactured by Guerdon Enterprises. Baker thinks that while modular construction might not be “fully baked” (his term), “It’s getting there.”
None of these projects has podium parking. Baker, who served on the board of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition for seven years, has long viewed parking garages in apartment complexes as inimical to creating dense, walkable communities. At 388 Fulton, you won’t find a single tenant parking space, but there’s a bike space for every unit.
IN SEARCH OF THE NEXT BIG IDEA
Baker lives with his partner of seven years, Yosh Asato, in a net-zero-energy cottage of his own design in the Mission District. The building is part of Shotwell Design Lab, a mixed-use complex that also houses StoreFrontLab, “a small space for big ideas,” where they host salons, installations, lectures, film screenings, workshops, and pop-ups. Although the cottage was designed to Passive House principles, Baker doubts most multifamily projects could meet those standards, especially the air circulation requirement of 0.5 exchanges/hour. “It’s tough to get to 1.0,” he says.
Looking ahead, Baker would like to see his firm get involved in more district-wide urban planning projects like Union City. The firm is already exploring pod-type “shared housing” to give the fast-growing singles population a greater sense of community. “It’s kind of a roommate situation with dignity,” says Baker, with a chuckle. “It’s the middle ground between total isolation and living in a commune.”
One of 408 modular pods (manufactured by Guerdon Enterprises) being installed at The Union Flats, Union City, Calif. Photo courtesy David Baker Architects
Station Center Family Housing, part of the Union City TOD master plan. Photo: Bruce Damonte
The flatiron profile of Potrero 1010, which provides a one-acre community park and 91 units (of 453) of affordable housing. Photo courtesy David Baker Architects
Related Stories
MFPRO+ News | Jun 24, 2024
‘Yes in God’s Backyard’ movement could create more affordable housing
The so-called “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) movement, where houses of worship convert their properties to housing, could help alleviate the serious housing crisis affecting many communities around the country.
Student Housing | Jun 20, 2024
How student housing developments are evolving to meet new expectations
The days of uninspired dorm rooms with little more than a bed and a communal bathroom down the hall are long gone. Students increasingly seek inclusive design, communities to enhance learning and living, and a focus on wellness that encompasses everything from meditation spaces to mental health resources.
Museums | Jun 20, 2024
Connecticut’s Bruce Museum more than doubles its size with a 42,000-sf, three-floor addition
In Greenwich, Conn., the Bruce Museum, a multidisciplinary institution highlighting art, science, and history, has undergone a campus revitalization and expansion that more than doubles the museum’s size. Designed by EskewDumezRipple and built by Turner Construction, the project includes a 42,000-sf, three-floor addition as well as a comprehensive renovation of the 32,500-sf museum, which was originally built as a private home in the mid-19th century and expanded in the early 1990s.
Building Technology | Jun 18, 2024
Could ‘smart’ building facades heat and cool buildings?
A promising research project looks at the possibilities for thermoelectric systems to thermally condition buildings, writes Mahsa Farid Mohajer, Sustainable Building Analyst with Stantec.
University Buildings | Jun 18, 2024
UC Riverside’s new School of Medicine building supports team-based learning, showcases passive design strategies
The University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine has opened the 94,576-sf, five-floor Education Building II (EDII). Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps, the medical school’s new home supports team-based student learning, offers social spaces, and provides departmental offices for faculty and staff.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 18, 2024
A healthcare simulation technology consultant can save time, money, and headaches
As the demand for skilled healthcare professionals continues to rise, healthcare simulation is playing an increasingly vital role in the skill development, compliance, and continuing education of the clinical workforce.
Mass Timber | Jun 17, 2024
British Columbia hospital features mass timber community hall
The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project in Duncan, British Columbia, features an expansive community hall featuring mass timber construction. The hall, designed to promote social interaction and connection to give patients, families, and staff a warm and welcoming environment, connects a Diagnostic and Treatment (“D&T”) Block and Inpatient Tower.
Concrete Technology | Jun 17, 2024
MIT researchers are working on a way to use concrete as an electric battery
Researchers at MIT have developed a concrete mixture that can store electrical energy. The researchers say the mixture of water, cement, and carbon black could be used for building foundations and street paving.
Codes and Standards | Jun 17, 2024
Federal government releases national definition of a zero emissions building
The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new national definition of a zero emissions building. The definition is intended to provide industry guidance to support new and existing commercial and residential buildings to move towards zero emissions across the entire building sector, DOE says.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 14, 2024
AEC inspections are the key to financially viable office to residential adaptive reuse projects
About a year ago our industry was abuzz with an idea that seemed like a one-shot miracle cure for both the shockingly high rate of office vacancies and the worsening housing shortage. The seemingly simple idea of converting empty office buildings to multifamily residential seemed like an easy and elegant solution. However, in the intervening months we’ve seen only a handful of these conversions, despite near universal enthusiasm for the concept.
