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Museum Residences
156 West Superior
'PORTICO' Scots Church Redevelopment
Clipper Mill Assembly Building
De Plussenburgh
6747-6759 St-Urbain Street
Guerrero Street Mixed-Use Development
Viridian Noosa Residences
165 Charles St
Loft23Loft23
Unusual materials make a new loft building stand out in a historic neighborhood
Occupying one of the final building sites in a large urban mixed-use development, this 56,600-square-foot multifamily residential building responds to the master plan design guidelines in ways that address both the specific site and also the housing program. The homogenous red brick context of the surrounding buildings influenced the selection of a unique cladding material: pre-patinated copper. The blue-green color of the flat and corrugated copper panels creates a unique dialogue with the adjacent buildings and recalls many details of historic buildings in the neighborhood.
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The building’s design concept developed directly from the opportunities of the site, specifically the adjacent lush green open spaces to the north and south. The building’s shorter end walls open up to these park views with floor-to-ceiling windows, and the longer side walls, clad in copper, are more opaque and offer more privacy from the adjacent residential properties. The conceptual result is a glass box sandwiched between two copper walls.
The design guidelines’ requirement for the building to hold and reinforce the street edge was another challenge, given the 130-foot width of the site. The development of a long and narrow (18-foot-by-45-foot) one-bedroom apartment module maximizes the number of park-facing units and fills up the width of the site. Along with metal deck ceilings and concrete floors, a generous 12-foot floor-to-floor height enhances the loft-like feel of the apartments and gives the building an appropriate scale among the neighboring 70-foot high buildings. Inside the units, a partial-height wall separates the living and sleeping zones and allows ample natural light to reach far back into the space.
The building also showcases several sustainable features, in addition to its redeveloped brownfield site. The copper cladding was produced from 95 percent recycled material, and the deep canopy overhang provides passive solar shading to the southwest side of the building. The vegetated green roof enhances the thermal performance of the roof assembly, addresses the city’s strict stormwater management requirements, and provides symbolic continuity between the two parks.
Formal name of project: Loft23
Location: Cambridge, MA
Gross square footage: 56,600 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: $11,000,000.00
Owner:
Forest City Enterprises
38 Sidney Street
Suite 180
Cambridge, MA 02139
Contact: Carin Herring
617-225-0310
www.forestcity.net/
Architect:
DiMella Shaffer
281 Summer Street
Boston, MA 02210
617-426-5004
617-426-0046 fax
/www.dimellashaffer.com/
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