826 Valencia Tutoring center sparks creativity and love of learning

Client 826 Valencia
Location San Francisco, CA
Size 2,500 sq ft
Completion 2019
Program Writing and learning center, storefront, office
Photographer Celso Rojas
Awards AIA San Francisco Community Alliance Awards Program, Social Impact Award Recipient (2019)

826 Valencia’s Mission Bay Center is a nonprofit writing hub located on the ground floor of a 100% affordable housing development. It provides one-on-one tutoring for under-resourced students, fostering writing skills and a love of learning. Serving kids from nearby housing and schools, it anchors equity in a city where rising costs displace families. Amid luxury apartments, medical buildings, and a bustling sports arena, 826 Valencia offers a vital space for youth, weaving opportunity and inclusion into the fabric of a changing San Francisco.

Learning, creativity, and community: the hero’s journey

Inspired by the hero’s journey, the design transforms the center into an “enchanted forest,” where students embark on adventures, solve problems, and emerge transformed. This playful environment ties the transformative power of learning to creativity and community, exemplifying 826 Valencia’s mission of fostering equity and opportunity.

The storefront, branded as Woodland Creature Outfitters, Ltd., continues 826’s tradition of playful stores like the Pirate Supply Store and King Carl’s Emporium. Selling student publications alongside fantastical forest tools like unicorn horn polish, the store draws curious visitors who often become volunteers and donors. Visitors journey through a magical space featuring hollowed-out logs, a mushroom tree, and a reading cave, arriving at the Writing Lab, complete with a rock-pool stage for student presentations.

Delivered pro bono, WRNS Studio partnered with local businesses, artists, and students to bring the space to life, blending creativity and community in support of 826 Valencia’s vision that education should be a right, not a privilege.