The Sanctuary, a facility that empowers displaced individuals/families living ON the urban fabric. It is a modular care facility with aquatic/urban farming on the southern waterfront that promotes therapeutic health. 10SEG is the grid for SF and URZ [urban recovery zone].

The VOMAE 7: 10SEG-URZ Marine-Urban Sanctuary

The current unhoused situation in San Francisco has displaced individuals and families living ON the urban fabric instead of within it. This is a common scenario that results in unsafe environments for those living on the streets and those who reside in the surrounding urban areas. Current aid networks who help these individuals and families are challenged by the location of this assistance within the Tenderloin District+.

Vomae 7 is proposing to shift the URBAN environment to the southern waterfront. Social aid organizations and non-profit kiosks shall be relocated to a secure logistical hub off the bay with additional short-term shelters and supporting amenities. Our proposed urban model features prefabricated units is designed to amplify, without imposing additional undue strain on the city’s existing public health systems.

Vomae 7 will lead the efforts required to relocate and coordinate with existing SFDPH networks. In conjunction with the reconception of the urban environment, there will be a MARINE component that is the heart of The Sanctuary. The Marine platform is built from a cast Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) system. The platform will house prefabricated architectural complex that includes a 24/7 medical clinic, shelter housing units, urban farming areas, and a subsurface regenerative aquaculture farm. The Marine-Urban Sanctuary is essentially a modular live-work environment that grows and harvests its own food in and from the bay, making it a AgTech solution for San Francisco’s unhoused population. This provides a framework for living and healing within the community.

This part of San Francisco’s Boundless Proposal.

AFFIRMATION OF APPROACH

Our implementation stems from a rigorous synthesis of naval engineering, nature-based technologies, and socio-spatial methodologies. The physical feasibility of The Sanctuary relies on marine engineering. Shifting to a permanent, custom-cast modular grid Ultra-High-Performance Concrete (UHPC) platform represents a massive leap in asset resilience. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) loops utilize indigenous nature-based bay-farming principles [1] to filter up to 900,000 gallons of water daily without disturbing subsurface sediment [2]. The technical fabrication by VOMAE 7 and Carbon Vudu utilizes elastomeric shear keys and vertical mooring arrays to safely stabilize the structure within a compliant Public Trust legal framework [3]. Our confidence in human recovery is grounded in the socio-spatial design principles of Christopher Alexander [4] and Lisa Heschong [5]. Transitioning from restrictive environments to passive, climate-responsive, live-work layouts accelerates neurological stabilization. By translating Alexander’s core concepts of localized micro-enterprise and transitional entrance thresholds, we provide the economic freedom for residents to safely work. Crucially, the architecture integrates Heschong’s principles of thermal delight. By designing microclimates that maximize sensory thermal comfort—utilizing solar warmth, wind barriers, and passive ventilation—the physical space functions as an active therapeutic tool. This intentional thermal environment encourages displaced individuals to feel deeply relaxed, biologically safe, and motivated to pursue rehabilitation, transforming street-level trauma into a self-generating, high-dignity ecosystem.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES

[1] Watson, J. (2025). Lo—TEK Water. TASCHEN: Nature-based bay-farming models validating off-grid IMTA loops.

[2] NOAA Fisheries Restoration Center: Technical data validating low-disturbance multi-trophic aquaculture for water bio-filtration.

[3] California Coastal Commission & BCDC Manuals: Administrative precedents using the Public Trust Doctrine for waterfront infrastructure.

[4] Alexander, C. (1977). A Pattern Language. Oxford University Press: Socio-spatial planning models driving the live-work makers overlay.

[5] Heschong, L. (1979). Thermal Delight in Architecture. MIT Press: Designing passive, climate-responsive thermal environments for biological healing.

POPULATIONS SERVED

• Priority Population #1: People experiencing homelessness

Direct Application: The Sanctuary systematically transitions individuals from the severe weather exposure and chronic street-level trauma of the Tenderloin a relocatable prefab shelter units. Guided by local clinics and the city’s Coordinated Entry system, residents are safely relocated via our secure transit pipeline, receiving continuous clinical care, therapeutic stability, and a reliable path to long-term rehabilitation.

• Priority Population #2: People with disabilities

Direct Application: Traditional, land-based shelter footprints are often restrictive and physically inaccessible. Our cast, UHPC platform is explicitly engineered for full accessibility, featuring reasonable accommodations and private layouts. The symbiotic architecture utilizes natural solar warmth, wind screens, and passive ventilation to create a safe, predictable microclimate that accelerates neurological stabilization and biological healing for individuals with physical or psychological disabilities.

• Priority Population #3: Low-income, underemployed workers, displaced local artisans and aspiring green-enterprise makers

Direct Application: This project acts as an economic launchpad for residents who want to join the emerging circular economy. The live-work water zoning amendment, the project shifts direct economic power back to low-income makers. Operating as a water-dependent marine enterprise, the platform trains participants to manage vertical hydroponic modules and subsurface aquaculture loops, yielding organic produce. This agricultural engine provides clean, nutrient-dense daily meal components for our residents, completely neutralizing site food insecurity while generating a high-dignity neighborhood marketplace.

ABILITY TO SCALE

The VOMAE 7: 10SEG-URZ Marine-Urban Sanctuary scales its impact from a localized pilot into a cross-bay, multi-jurisdictional network.

The Phase 1 prototype anchors along San Francisco’s active Southern Waterfront, but the entire custom-cast infrastructure is engineered as a highly mobile, replicable template designed to expand into a unified, two-site regional matrix. Concrete scaling steps utilize underutilized public trust waters to establish a shared-city axis: Phase 1 Prototype (Southern Waterfront): Serves the immediate Southeast San Francisco public health framework with a zero-soil-disturbance deployment that explicitly safeguards local residents and tourism. Phase 2 Expansion Node (Alameda Berths / Oakland Axis): Replicates the model at the former Naval Air Station Alameda, capitalizing on deep naval drafting channels and pre-existing marine infrastructure.

Positioned directly across the estuary channel from the Port of Oakland, the Phase 2 Alameda node allows the floating sanctuary to receive patients via emergency vessels from San Francisco, Oakland, and Alameda simultaneously, utilizing adjacent paved runways for low-overhead landside staging.

To scale effectively, the entire plug-and-play matrix—including the UHPC floating platform and the containerized medical, housing, and hydroponic modules—can be unmoored, unplugged, and towed to these new deep-water berths. Managed under Carrie Masters and Pearce’s modular infrastructure framework, this regional expansion establishes a dynamic water-based micro-enterprise zone. This allows residents to harvest, transport, and trade aquaculture assets across the broader Bay Area economy, proving how major cities can activate maritime infrastructure to absorb, employ, and heal vulnerable communities on a macro scale.

TIMELINE AND MILESTONES

Our five-year implementation strategy utilizes a phased, scalable rollout that balances immediate crisis relief with permanent, low-maintenance civic infrastructure.

Years 1–2: Phase 1 Deployment & Pilot Stabilization. Secure an active Port of San Francisco lease on a +/-15,000-square-foot pier apron to build the VOMAE 7 Office and Carbon Vudu R&D arm. Operating within industrial parameters, contractors cast zero-soil-disturbance UHPC floating platform blocks. Milestone: Relocation of Tenderloin pipelines via clinic workflows, integration with the city’s Coordinated Entry system, and deployment of relocatable prefab modules.

Year 3: Metabolic Maturation & Regulatory Expansion. Stabilize the closed-loop, off-grid ecosystem. Milestone: Full integration of subsurface aquaculture loops harvesting native oysters and estuarine macroalgae to generate organic matter for on-site composting. This fuels containerized urban farming modules to yield produce. Concurrently, collaborate with city officials to legally codify the live-work water zoning amendment, enabling direct citizen micro-enterprise trade.

Years 4–5: Phase 2 Legacy Transition. Under Carrie Masters and Michael Phillip Pearce, would scale the physical platform and expand regional networks to the Oakland/Alameda axis. Milestone: Achieve full off-grid autonomy. Custom-cast UHPC modules, reinforced with corrosion-proof polymers and linked via elastomeric shear keys, lock together infinitely. This engineering establishes a permanent framework for maritime displacement recovery, eliminating traditional dry-docking and heavy structural land excavation.

MEASURING PROGRESS AND RESPONDING

Our tracking methodology combines real-time ecological sensing, clinical diagnostics, and public health metrics to create a continuous feedback loop for agile adjustments. Managed under Carrie Masters and Michael Phillip Pearce, data collection is categorized into three key performance indicators (KPIs):

• Ecological and Food Safety Testing: We conduct rigorous chemical water testing around the custom-cast UHPC platforms to monitor bay purification. To ensure absolute safety, we run advanced toxicity screening tracking heavy metal bio-accumulation within our aquaculture loops, alongside strict quality tracking of our vertical hydroponic units to secure a targeted desirable amount of annual organic produce. Digital sub-meters track off-grid solar and battery utility performance.

• Public Health & Assistance Tracking: We systematically log care delivery metrics, medical intakes, and stabilization outcomes within the relocatable prefab clinic and shelter units. This information is routed through a unified workflow compatible with the city’s Coordinated Entry system, absorbing administrative overflow.

• Economic Autonomy: We measure the financial velocity of the live-work water zoning amendment, tracking the volume of micro-enterprise goods manufactured and sold directly by resident makers. Weekly reviews allow us to quickly isolate problem areas. If water testing shows contaminant spikes or if intake data indicates operational bottlenecks, Pearce’s modular engineering allows our spatial systems to be immediately reconfigured. By archiving these metrics, we seamlessly incorporate our programmatic learnings into our Phase 2 regional expansion, establishing a data-backed framework for water-based civic recovery while fully safeguarding adjacent waterfront neighborhoods.

BARRIER ASSESSMENT AND RISK MITIGATION

We have identified three critical barriers to execution, backed by protocols per the following standards:

• Regulatory Hurdles: Navigating BCDC boundaries and municipal zoning is complex. We mitigate this by utilizing the Public Trust Doctrine as a legal mechanism, structuring the water footprint as a water-dependent marine enterprise, and classifying relocatable shelter as essential accessory crew quarters while operating land-side staging strictly within industrial parameters to safeguard local neighborhood tourism.

• Environmental Toxins: Waterfront parcels carry complex industrial legacies. To eliminate the risk of spreading contaminants, the VOMAE 7 and Carbon Vudu custom-cast UHPC platforms utilize a zero-soil-disturbance vertical mooring array that ensures the seafloor is never physically disturbed. Furthermore, we run rigorous chemical testing on all food harvested from our aquaculture loops to guarantee absolute consumption safety.

• Community Skepticism: Displaced populations often reject rigid institutional structures. Our modular prefab units mitigate this by integrating passive, climate-responsive design baselines create a high-dignity, sensory-rich Sanctuary where residents actively choose to heal and operate.

Our team possesses the capacity to manage these complexities. Michael Phillip Pearce brings leadership to optimize modular fabrication at the Carbon Vudu R&D arm. Unified under the executive oversight of Carrie Masters, this framework seamlessly coordinates municipal strategy, public health integration compatible with Coordinated Entry data standards, and local marine engineering to ensure an agile, minimal-overhead model for waterfront civic recovery.

Additional Research not part of the proposal:

For additional information please inquire.