Hyde Blakemore featured in Boston Globe
Utile Principal Matthew Littell was featured in a recent cover story in the Boston Globe Home section about a new generation of affordable housing. Ted Siefer writes: “Among the humble brick and vinyl suburban-style houses along Hyde Park Avenue in Roslindale, the Hyde-Blakemore Condominiums stand out. There are the mahogany-louvered fences, the solar panels, and the flying-V roof line on the main building, which besides looking cool, channels rainwater into a landscaped rock garden.” Utile worked with Urban Edge, A Roxbury-based community development corporation, on the project.
Siefer continues: “Littell said Hyde-Blakemore represents a new stage in the evolution of affordable housing.”Starting in the 1980s, after the big brick public housing model became invalid, these wood frame Easter egg-colored villages began appearing,” he said. “Gradually they became more in synch with the adjacent neighborhood. What we’re seeing now is a much better second generation of that.”
Landworks Studio designed the project’s landscape strategy which enhances privacy between buildings and addresses environmental issues, such as managing storm water run-off through grading and the use of bioswales (in collaboration with civil engineer Samiotes).
Utile is also collaborating with Urban Edge on the residential portion of the Jackson Square complex in Jamaica Plain, and the firm is working with Chelsea Neighborhood Developers on a 48-unit affordable apartment complex, part of the city’s massive Box District redevelopment plan.”
Click here to view the Globe’s photo gallery of the project.
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