What if thinking about the block rather than the lot could unlock more housing?
IOBY reacts to the recent Cal State Legislation SB 9 which allows up to (4) units and no off-street parking on any single family lot. In an effort to motivate single-family owners in the Sunset neighborhood of San Francisco to mobilize their lots toward density - the proposal looks to weave rear alleys through the oversized blocks to access new units that are fully experientially independent of the street facing houses. This allows existing homeowners to pool their lots and multiply their block’s density without changes to their streetfacing private residence.
IN OUR BACK YARD
AIASF / ISA / San Francisco, CA / 2023
SUBTRACT LESS, ADD MORE
IOBY re-engineers Sunset’s urban fabric, envisioning a new armature of high-density walk-up housing inserted into the middle of the block without demolishing existing housing or displacing residents.
By adding an entirely new mid-block frontage, IOBY unlocks new parcels and additional block density.
Adjacent homeowners opt in, contributing to block density by converting a 25-foot portion of their rear yard into a duplex multifamily building accessed from the rear pedestrian alley.
HOST HOUSING
Host houses convert existing ground floor garages to provide access to the mid-block alley and create opportunities for live/work studios or pop-up mixed-use retail.
Blocks with open lots prioritize those gaps in the fabric as community amenity parcels, maintaining them as shared open space and access points to the inner block community.
These customizable portals to the street include gardens, playgrounds, picnic tables, bicycle storage, mail and other shared infrastructure for new and existing community residents alike.
