Artists for Humanity EpiCenter
Boston
Arrowstreet

Green building provides fertile ground for artists

© Richard Mandelkorn

For more photos click on 'photos & drawings' above. To see the people and products behind this project click on 'people & products.'

Artists for Humanity, an urban nonprofit organization, provides educational and apprenticeship opportunities for at-risk teens ages 14 to 18. Program participants come from high schools with large dropout rates, yet most participants successfully matriculate and go on to seek higher education or employment in painting, photography, sculpture, silk-screen, and graphic design. The nonprofit asked Arrowstreet for an iconic building, the “Epicenter,” whose design would convey the organization’s cutting edge, socially conscious identity. The architects designed a building that opens, literally and physically, to the neighborhood, making the EpiCenter an architectural invitation to the surrounding community, which has a history of racial tension.

The Epicenter's location in Fort Point Channel, an industrial zone in South Boston, posed several challenges including environmental remediation, negligible lot-line clearance, direct street frontage on two ends, and a nine-foot grade change. The architect used the grade change to its advantage: creating an entrance “bridge” from the street, over a courtyard, into a mezzanine level of the building. On the ground floor, a gallery opens onto the courtyard, which houses sculpture and exhibits and hosts outdoor receptions.

The building's glass and metal front elevation reveals internal structural bracing. Arrowstreet exaggerated the curtainwall’s depth and geometry, giving it a further three-dimensional quality. Stainless-steel cladding creates a sparkling quality that contrasts with the dull finish of neighboring industrial buildings. The architects selected a simple corrugated profile for the panels, which are canted to accentuate the reflection of the sky. An integrated fastening system allows students to mount banners and colorful signs.

In keeping with Artists for Humanity’s environmental consciousness, the Epicenter is eligible for LEED platinum certification. A pitched roof provides space for an array of photovoltaic energy cells, one of the largest in Boston. Mounted four feet above the roof, the array produces roughly 59 megawatts of electricity per year—more than what Artists for Humanity needs, so the school sells surplus electricity back to the grid. Inside the building, the floor plan features open spaces with walls of clear corrugated acrylic. The acrylic enables daylight from the north and south window walls to penetrate deep into the floor plate. Wherever possible, the Epicenter incorporates recycled materials: guardrails, for instance, come from steel railroad rails and car windshields.

Formal name of Project:
Artists for Humanity EpiCenter

Location:
Boston

Gross square footage:
23,500 sq. ft.

Total construction cost:
$4.3 million

Owner:
Artists for Humanity

Architect:
Arrowstreet
212 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144
617-623-5555 tel.
617-625-4646 fax
www.arrowstreet.com

From left to right: Nick Rodrigues (metalworker/sculptor); Andrew Motta (AFH program director); Elisha Long (AFH owners construction rep); Anthony Iacovino (construction architect); James Batchelor
(partner-in-charge and architect of record); Patricia Cornelison (project manager and principle designer) and Carlo Lewis (intern architect, former AFH student employee and program leader)