In 2015, Arrowstreet engaged in a process of research, outside collaboration, and critical design thinking to submit an entry for the City of Boston’s International Design Competition, Living with Water. Intended to catalyze an increase in the city’s sustainability and climate change resiliency, the competition challenged leading planners, designers, and thinkers to envision new solutions and concepts that promote our ability to live with future impacts of climate.
Arrowstreet’s proposal envisioned the 100 Acres site in South Boston as a Living Laboratory designed to blend boundaries between natural ecosystems and urban space by forming a resiliency district that fosters a collaborative approach to smart research, development, and strategic implementation. Central to this vision is a three-pronged agenda:
- Establish a world-class, mixed-use test-lab destination at the center of the city where people will live, work, research, enjoy, and understand life on the water.
- Facilitate and leverage development opportunity parallel to climate resilience and adaptation strategies.
- Create a hub of research-based strategy development to adapt to climate change that can impact, not only this development but the larger community, region, and world.
The Living Laboratory is organized around a series of interventions designed to adapt over time.
- Resiliency Spines at A Street and Channel Line
- Research Epicenter and Datum Pavilions
- Migrating Salt Marsh designed to explore environmental restoration while implementing resiliency measures