• Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • RSS
  • Sign In
  • My Account
High-Profile MonthlyNew England Facilities Development News
  • All News
      • Up Front
      • Groundbreaking
      • Topping Off
      • Ribbon Cutting
      • View All Up Front Stories
      • 300 BentNauset Begins Final Phase of Cambridge Data Center
      • Special Features
      • Contributor
      • Green
      • J.E.D.I.
      • Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing (MEP)
      • Vision
      • Women In Construction
      • Regions
      • Connecticut
      • Northern New England
      • Popular Sectors
      • Cannabis
      • Corporate
      • Education
      • Healthcare
      • Interiors
      • Landscape/Civil
      • Life Science
      • Multi Residential
      • Restoration/Renovation
      • Retail/Hospitality
      • Senior/Assisted Living
      • Technology & Innovation
      • Other News
      • Awards
      • Community
      • COVID-19
      • Mixed-use
      • Municipal
      • National/International
      • Organizations and Events
      • People
      • Philanthropy
      • Products and Services
      • Real Estate
      • Training and Recruitment
  • Subscribe
  • Membership
  • Next Issue
  • Archive
  • Advertise
  • Podcast
  • Events
    • Industry Events
    • A/E/C Associations
High-Profile Monthly
  • All News
      • Up Front
      • Groundbreaking
      • Topping Off
      • Ribbon Cutting
      • View All Up Front Stories
      • 300 BentNauset Begins Final Phase of Cambridge Data Center
      • Special Features
      • Contributor
      • Green
      • J.E.D.I.
      • Mechanical / Electrical / Plumbing (MEP)
      • Vision
      • Women In Construction
      • Regions
      • Connecticut
      • Northern New England
      • Popular Sectors
      • Cannabis
      • Corporate
      • Education
      • Healthcare
      • Interiors
      • Landscape/Civil
      • Life Science
      • Multi Residential
      • Restoration/Renovation
      • Retail/Hospitality
      • Senior/Assisted Living
      • Technology & Innovation
      • Other News
      • Awards
      • Community
      • COVID-19
      • Mixed-use
      • Municipal
      • National/International
      • Organizations and Events
      • People
      • Philanthropy
      • Products and Services
      • Real Estate
      • Training and Recruitment
  • Subscribe
  • Membership
  • Next Issue
  • Archive
  • Advertise
  • Podcast
  • Events
    • Industry Events
    • A/E/C Associations
Contributor • Multi Residential

Revitalizing a Cultural Corridor in Boston

March 31, 2022

by Clara Wineberg

Allston, Mass. is named after a largely forgotten 19th century Cambridge artist, Washington Allston. In his day, Allston earned praise for how he conveyed mood in his landscape works and now he is the namesake to one of only a handful of communities in the country named in honor of an artist.

As a Boston neighborhood of over 30,000 people, housing problems persist for both artists and the community at large. SCB’s Architects project at 449 Cambridge focuses on artist living, IDP housing units and smaller sized market rate units that provide more affordable unit options within the neighborhood.

The developments at 449 Cambridge and 2 Emery are a 167,000sf two apartment building complex composed of 152 units ranging from studio to two bedroom. The project includes eight units designed as live-work artist units and 26 that will comply with Boston’s Inclusionary Policy. While focused on affordable housing, the project replaces two underutilized and deteriorating properties along the Cambridge and Emery cultural corridor, revitalizing the streetscape and largely creating a public way that integrates active uses, artist vitrines, and bold building murals.

The two building design is inspired by the simplicity of mid-century buildings, carefully composed fenestration, a purposeful material palette and strong balcony expressions. The Cambridge Street frontage is activated by the lobby and retail storefronts, while the Emery Road elevations are more neighborhood focused with a masonry ground expression and residential scaled articulation and duplex unit access.

The artist work-live units seek to ensure affordability and longterm stability giving burgeoning creators a place to establish a community among other graphic artists, painters, jewelry makers and sculpturers. The 449 Cambridge artists units have dedicated light filled work areas that are distinct from the living space. Each unit also has direct access or wider corridor paths from the building elevators to allow artist materials to be easily brought into the units. By integrating affordable housing for artists, 449 Cambridge is not only creating a new and fresh design for a multi-family project on largely forgotten parcels, it also seeks to become a core part of the neighborhood and contribute to its vitality and  unique character through the clustering of an artistic community.

Alongside the goal of integrating affordable housing and artist housing, the project is going beyond meeting Boston’s Article 37 requirements by integrating BDPA’s more expansive and progressive pilot energy initiatives. SCB Architecture & Interiors’ design for 449 Cambridge and 2 Emery focuses on careful design strategies that do not sacrifice affordability and contribute to neighborhood character.

Clara Wineberg

Clara Wineberg, AIA, is a principal at Solomon Cordwell Buenz (SCB) and the executive director of the firm’s Boston office.

Allston April'22 HPNews
    FacebookTwitterLinkedInEmail

You may also like

Contributor

The Shifting Energy Code Landscape...

February 1, 2023
Contributor

Rhode Island Supreme Court Defines...

January 31, 2023
Cannabis • Contributor

NCIA Continues to Propel the...

January 30, 2023
Contributor • HP25

Designing a More Inclusive Boston

January 26, 2023
Contributor • HP25

BW Kennedy & Co.’s Journey to...

January 26, 2023
Contributor • HP25

Resiliency and Adaptability:...

January 26, 2023
Contributor • HP25 • Northern New England

Tracking the Growth of...

January 26, 2023
Contributor • HP25

25 Years of Transformation in...

January 25, 2023

View the February 2023 issue!

Read HP’s 25th Anniversary Issue now!

Check out the 2022 Annual Green Supplement!

Read HP’s 2022 MEP issue!

Read the WIC 2022 Supplement!

Read our annual supplements!

  • Green2021.png
  • WIC2022.png
  • MEP2022.png
  • Vision-2019.png

HIGH-PROFILE MONTHLY
615 School St.
Pembroke, MA  02359
Phone: 781 294 4530
Fax:  781 293 5821
info@high-profile.com

Quick Links

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • My Account

Stay Informed

Sign up for Fast Facts Friday, our weekly e-newsletter, and stay up-to-date with the latest industry news!

Sign up
Subscribe to High-Profile Monthly to receive an email notice of each new article!
Loading

Copyright © 2023 High-Profile Monthly.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • RSS
  • Sign In
  • My Account