Leland House
San Francisco, CA

Conversion of two existing medical office buildings into a new Residential Care Facility for formerly homeless people with HIV/ AIDS.

A glassy, light-filled bridge links the two buildings, and a new third floor clerestoried space creates a welcoming community lounge complete with outdoor deck and views. A full commercial kitchen serves the community dining room. There are forty-five single occupancy rooms, nursing stations on each floor, and an acute-care wing. The work required renovation of elevator and life safety systems and accessibility improvements. A garden provides a contemplative and quiet retreat and screens a small parking area.

For this project, we addressed many design issues which are important in design for the disabled and the elderly by incorporating architectural elements that provide significant clues to orienting the user  color codes, visual contrast at change of planes, additional grab bars and supports in corridors, and special signage for room recognition.