Chelsea, MA – The Architectural Team (TAT) has announced the completion of The Archer Residences, a 62-unit condominium building in Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood.
TAT’s design solution for The Archer Residences joins two former Suffolk University buildings into a single, 172,000sf structure topped off with a pair of contemporary penthouse additions and a sweeping landscaped roof terrace.
The building includes a mix of one-, two-, three-, and four-bedroom condominium homes just blocks from Boston Common, and features 14-foot windows and other preserved original elements. The individual units offer either a contemporary or transitional style. All units feature layouts with large chef’s kitchens, open floor plans, market-leading fixtures and finishes, and home entertainment systems. Community amenities include a full-service pet spa, fitness and wellness center curated by The Wright Fit, conference room, kid’s playroom, and bike storage, along with a clubroom featuring a double-sided Mont Blanc quartz fireplace. Many of the spaces, including the lobby and reception area, also offer a custom art program with installations by artists Lori Shouela and Matt Shlian. The complex also provides 50 below-grade parking spots, serviced by a 24-hour valet and accessed via a vehicle elevator.
Converting this pair of buildings from their former institutional use into residences required significant structural modifications in order to effectively merge the two buildings into one. Once the new structure was stabilized, the design team chose to preserve much of the original buildings’ varied ceiling heights and window forms, ensuring a level of singularity among individual units. There are now 57 different layouts in the 62-unit property with some units having direct street access.
To create a transition between the two 6-story structures, the firm stitched them together with a staircase and elevator banks, among other structural moves. TAT restored decorative cast-concrete panels and exterior brickwork on the older Classical Revival structure. TAT was able to reuse approximately 85% of the original building materials by surface area. For the second building, the project team replaced the original brick facade with new cladding in a historically contextual palette of red brick and granite.
The project’s penthouse additions, including a copper and glass jewel-box residence, are carefully set back as the result of extensive sightline studies, meeting stringent local guidelines and ensuring they are largely unseen from the street. The setbacks create space for nearly 5,000sf of shared roof gardens and outdoor amenity areas.
The project is led by developer JDMD Owner, LLC, with interiors by LDa Architecture & Interiors. TAT architect, Matt Duggan, AIA, served as project manager on the development.
