Residential
Affordable Housing Development Competition
My students celebrated the end of their semester last night at the awards ceremony for the FHLB Affordable Housing Development Competition. Over the past six weeks they have been working with Donald Alexis from the Caribbean Integration Community Development (CICD) along with architecture and policy students from Harvard’s Kennedy School and Northeastern to design an affordable housing proposal in Mattapan…
130 Cambridgepark Drive
Arrowstreet is designing a 220-unit residential building and 456-car garage in the Alewife Triangle District, convenient to the young professionals and families employed at the adjacent and surrounding office buildings. Organized around three intimate private courtyards, the building features one- and two-bedroom units, studios, and “innovation”-style micro-units. A striking, colorful metal panel creates a noticeable corner for the building, which is set back from the street. The adjacent garage features fabric panel “fins” jutting out perpendicular from the building to screen the garage from a side view and create a bright, bold identity.
Quirks of 3-D Printing
Arrowstreet is currently designing a unique private residence in India – a Georgian-style estate with some traditional Indian motifs incorporated. At the same time, we’re experimenting with in-office 3-D printing. What better way to combine these two things, we asked ourselves, than by 3-D printing some interesting details of the residence…
Micro-units and Urban Living
Earlier this past spring, I attended a lecture given by The Center for Real Estate and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board (GBREB) entitled “Micro-Housing: Rethinking Urban Living.” As the third event in the Building Boston 2030 series, the lecture was co-sponsored by Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School and the GBREB, and comprised a robust, well informed panel including the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Chief Planner Kairos Shen.
Anyone in or around the design, construction, and real estate development of urban housing in Boston can tell you the current hot topic on the street is micro-units…
Rebuilding Together
I recently participated in a volunteer event organized by Rebuilding Together Boston. Rebuilding Together’s mission is to provide critical repairs and renovations for low-income homeowners across the United States. The organization gathered about 300 volunteers to participate in building rehabilitation projects throughout the city. The site I visited was a Dorchester home owned by a 63-year-old single woman who suffers from…
Pier 4 Breaks Ground
The groundbreaking for Pier 4 in Boston’s Innovation District was last Friday. Arrowstreet master planned the project for New England Development. The first phase will be apartments for developer Hanover Co…
Structural Insulated Panels in Lake Winnipesaukee
I have been working on a private residence on an island in Lake Winnipesaukee utilizing innovative structural insulated panels (SIPS). The system was developed by a company in Rhode Island for outfitting ships at sea, was subsequently adapted to provide demountable structures for the US military in Afghanistan, and is now being adapted further for home building…
LEED for Homes: Multifamily Midrise
In late 2010, the United States Green Building Council expanded the LEED for Homes certification with a new Multifamily Midrise category, in order for 4-6 story residential buildings to pursue LEED certification. As the original LEED for Homes certification was designed for single family and low rise multi-family, the program did not accommodate the special demands of the slightly taller projects, especially with the increased density of living units…
Livable Communities Exhibit
Arrowstreet will be showcasing Keen’s Crossing at Winooski Falls at the Livable Communities Exhibit, located in the A.P.E. Gallery in Northampton, MA from October 1-15. Hosted by the AIA New England / Western Massachusetts AIA, the exhibit highlights projects located in New England or designed by New England firms that relate to the AIA’s Ten Principles of Livable Communities. We felt Keen’s Crossing– located in Winooski, Vermont- was a great fit for many reasons- its vibrant public courtyards, mix of uses, and neighborhood identity among them…
Rock Spring Centre
Arrowstreet is currently working on Rock Spring Centre, a large mixed-use project in Montgomery County, Maryland. The project received Planning Board site plan approval earlier this year, an important milestone that entitles the development to proceed to final certification prior to submission of documents for construction permitting…