San Francisco one of those big, dense cities with very few parking spaces. In fact, in some areas of the city, parking can be more expensive than living space. Add to that the recent changes in the city code for adding garages that prohibit any extensive alterations to the front of historic buildings, and you can see how big the problem is.
To overcome these challenges and incorporate a garage in their investment property on Oak Street, near Ashbury, Corey and Ben McMills of McMills Construction turned to Beausoleil Architects for help, and they came up with an innovative –to say the least- idea.
Their solution to the problem was to transform the entire face of the Victorian apartment house it into a secret two-piece sliding door while keeping its appearance intact. The two doors open thanks to floor mounted hydraulic activators, which rotate them on pivot hinges.
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