Neighborhood Context
Becoming native to a place means connecting to the land-community (urban, rural, or something in between) in which we live. There are many ways we affect these connections with architecture, but one of the most obvious is how the building interacts with its neighborhood context through its exterior and entry.
The Middle Creek Bungalow is one of three identical homes on the block originally built in 1920. The single-story addition a half-level down in the rear maintains the scale of the neighborhood while creating a “secret” courtyard garden as the new everyday entry sequence into the home.
At the remodel of Flour + Water we were taking on the complete reimagining of a foundational restaurant for the Mission neighborhood. We carefully crafted the interiors to capture what Flour + Water always wanted to be. The new entry screen allows them to welcome guests in from the street while maintaining privacy for adjacent tables.
The new location of Flour + Water Pizzeria was a remodel of a classic staple of the North Beach neighborhood, Rose Pistola. We kept the striking original mosaic floors and maintained the seating arrangement near the large operable steel windows on Columbus Ave to connect the new restaurant to its past and to the neighborhood.
“We do not seek shelter in isolation. We live in communities. These shared settings provide the larger context for our lives, multiplying and enriching our relationships. They have, as well, their own communal rhythms and rituals that measure our possibilities for choice. Each community has its own present aspect, the product of the past that has created it. To understand its present, we must understand its history.”
– Ralph L. Knowles, Ritual House (2006)
Project & Images Credits:
1. Middle Creek Bungalow by Knowles Architect, Inc., photos by @rgavinknowles
2. Flour + Water by Lundberg Design (R. Gavin Knowles project architect + principal), photos by @krescentcarasso
3. Flour + Water Pizzeria by Lundberg Design (R. Gavin Knowles project architect + principal), photos by @kristenloken