After designing 44 affordable-housing projects over the last 30 years, San Francisco architect David Baker has developed a formula for making them look like their market-rate cousins: “You build 20 percent with high-end materials, and the other 80 percent with less expensive ones.

Program: A 44,330-square-foot 32-unit townhouse and apartment complex in downtown San Francisco designed for middle-income and first-time homebuyers. The below-market-rate condos, priced between $150,000 and $375,000, are part of the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency's Limited Equity Program. Amenities include parking, patios, and a landscaped garden. Design concept and solution: The complex is located in San Francisco's cultural district with neighboring public transportation and numerous restaurants. In a nod to the nearby cultural offerings, the complex's interior courtyard, designed by landscape architect Fletcher Studio, prominently features a curved concrete planter shaped like one of Kurt Cobain's famous guitars. The frame of