Long-awaited affordable housing in San Francisco’s Mission District, La Fénix at 1950 offers 157 new homes meant to help Mission residents gain stability in their neighborhood. Imbued with bold accents celebrating Pan-Latino heritage, the community provides outdoor gathering spaces, affordable artist studios, child-care services, neighborhood retail, and access to transit.

The jury appreciated the partnership with community organizations that led the engagement on this project; the result is a thoughtful response to a densely-urban housing and community space that achieves high aspirations significantly beyond those of the ordinary multifamily residential building. The project meaningfully offers important resources to a community that is united through its open, public spaces. The building is a gift to the community it serves and has the stature of a true a citizen of the street and the city.