The Sister Lillian Murphy Community was designed to foster community among the building’s resident families and connect them to the surrounding neighborhood. Four distinct building wings create small, identifiable ‘micro-neighborhoods’ within the building. A stair tower at the intersection of China Basin St. and Merrimac St. is a unique indicator of place within the greater neighborhood, while the dynamic and warm interior encourages an active lifestyle and facilitates repeat encounters amongst residents.

Breaks in massing between the wings provide visual connections out to the neighborhood and back into the block, offering passersby with peeks into the midblock courtyard and life within. Two primary building entries as well as community and residential unit entries on all four frontages, create an active ground floor and connections to the neighborhood streetscape.

These visual and physical connections, combined with integrative and supportive programming, help to create a healthy and dynamic environment that encourages relationships and builds community between resident families and the neighborhood. The building is named after a much loved former leader of Mercy Housing, the developer and operator.

Client: Mercy Housing | Size: 152 units; 191,627 SF | Cost: $93 million | Completion: May 2022

Presenters: The design team, led by Paulett Taggart Architects, in collaboration with Assoc. Architect Studio VARA and GLS Landscape | Architecture

Image credit: Bruce Damonte