Boston is a patchwork of numerous neighborhoods of diverse character and scale abutting one another. This morphology, along with the setting, is among the city’s most distinctive and desirable qualities.  

This 12-story mixed-use building defines the border between two contrasting morphologies. The south side, Braintree Street, is a former industrial district. The proposed street façade is composed as a series of medium-scaled industrial buildings of the type found in Boston’s Fort Point Channel District. Large windows and diverse colors and tones of materials form a continuous street wall. This façade represents an urban aggregate. In contrast, the north façade represents a single building that participates in the metropolitan scale of like buildings adjacent to the Massachusetts Turnpike. An elevated entrance on the western end links the building to the new MBTA Commuter Rail Station.

The Braintree Street façade is divided vertically into three zones: glass retail base, masonry lab/office middle and a metal screened-in mechanical penthouse top. It is as if, above the first three levels, a projecting cornice is extruded vertically for nine stories. This effect is made evident by the façade’s staggered plan along its entire length, producing a consistent unifying silhouette. The façade conforms to the bend of the street such that the whole length of the building isn’t entirely visible from either end. In contrast, the entirety of the Pike façade is uniformly clad with folded metal and glass vertical stripes.

A major objective of the project is to provide an improved pedestrian experience along Braintree Street. Today, an existing building abuts a narrow, 6’-5” wide sidewalk bordering Braintree.  The proposed Project is pulled back at the ground floor to create a much wider, sidewalk / plaza. The streetscape is further enhanced to incorporate green street standards, including street  trees, storm water rain gardens, and upgraded lighting. The pedestrian realm is expanded to include a furnished zone on both sides of the street. The full height of the building pulls back further between Everett and Blaine, creating a wide entry plaza that connects the new streetscape to a new community open space, by Mikyoung Kim Design.
 
The Everett Street Bridge is one of the few moments of crossing over the Massachusetts Turnpike and is an important connection between Lower Allston and the Project Site. The park and 119 building are designed to provide improved access between the Everett Street bridge and Braintree Street, connecting the commuter rail platform to the Lower Allston neighborhood. Well-placed ramps and balconies will create an accessible multi- tiered spatial experience. 


Location: Boston, MA, USA

Program: Lab/R&D/Office building with ground floor retail and dining

Size: 78,167 sq. ft.

Gross Floor Area: 401,000 sq. ft.

Schedule: 2017-2024

Team: Preston Scott Cohen, Inc., (Design Architect); Preston Scott Cohen and Carl Dworkin (Design); SGA Spagnolo Group Architecture (Executive Architect); Mikyoung Kim Design (Landscape Architect)