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Author Archives: saufley
Sowwah Island
Utile, in collaboration with over,under, is developing a culturally and climactically-responsive contemporary Arab urbanism for the on-going build-out of Sowwah Island, Abu Dhabi’s new central business district, for Mubadala Real Estate & Hospitality. This design agenda is guiding the development … Continue reading
Utile Begins Planning Study for New Haven Mill River District
Utile has partnered with Stoss Landscape Urbanism for a study of the New Haven Mill River District for the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven and the City of New Haven. An article in the New Haven Register lays out … Continue reading
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Worcester Planning
Utile was engaged by the Economic Development department of the City of Worcester and the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) to re-envision the commercial center of Worcester, Massachusetts, the Commonwealth’s second largest city. The plan tied real estate development opportunities … Continue reading
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Tagged Economic Development, Information Design, Public Client, Urban Design, Urban Planning
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New Bedford Downtown Urban Design + Development Study
A multifaceted client team, comprised of representatives from local and state public agencies, selected Utile to undertake a physical and economic study of the tight-knit, charming downtown core of New Bedford. Among the assets of the downtown is the New … Continue reading
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Tagged Economic Development, Public Client, Public Process, Streetscape, Urban Design, Urban Planning
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Morrissey
Utile worked with Synergy Financial, a Boston development firm, to create a new mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood along Morrissey Boulevard near the JFK/UMASS MBTA station. The proposal was coordinated with the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s ongoing Columbia Point Master Plan and with … Continue reading
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Tagged Economic Development, Streetscape, Urban Design, Urban Planning
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MIT Courts Masterplan
Utile collaborated with Reed Hilderbrand Associates to analyze and create a new vision for Eastman and McDermott Courts at MIT. The project included open space programming, an environmental and urban design assessment, and conceptual master plan. A careful analysis of … Continue reading
Massport
In March 2003, Utile was selected as the urban design and design review consultant for Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport). The contract, which includes both design review and development guidelines development, has a renewable four-year term. Massport develops, manages, and promotes … Continue reading
Hiphop Archive
The Hiphop Archive, part of the W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Studies at Harvard University, is a research library that organizes and develops collections, initiates and participates in research activities, sponsors events, and acquires materials and artifacts … Continue reading
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Utile, Inc. has provided the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum with strategic consulting for the planned expansion of their facility on the Fenway in Boston. In collaboration with Macomber Construction, Utile created a set of dynamic spreadsheets that linked a menu … Continue reading
Downtown Crossing Signage
As part of a larger effort to revitalize Boston’s Downtown Crossing District, the Boston Redevelopment Authority hired Utile to develop sign regulations specific to this area. To begin, Utile completed a survey of existing signage in Boston, studying the City’s … Continue reading
Chinatown Edge Study
Utile worked with the Artery Business Committee (now a A Better City) on behalf of the large-scale property owners that surround the open space corridor along Surface Street, adjacent to Boston’s Chinatown. Utile proposed possible development scenarios within the context … Continue reading
Ames Shovel Works
When a local developer purchased a site in North Easton, Massachusetts that used to house the Ames Shovel Works, the Ames family took notice. As lifetime owners and operators of the Shovel Works (they sold the complex in 1972), they … Continue reading
Broad Street
Utile is the lead urban designer and architect on the team selected by the City of Boston to redesign Broad Street in Boston’s financial district (along with HDR, lead engineer, and Richard Burck Associates, landscape architect). Broad Street is the … Continue reading
Posted in projects
Tagged Public Client, Public Realm, Streetscape, Urban Design, Urban Planning
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Boston Public Market
Utile, Inc. collaborated with Hecht Design on the layout and design of a temporary summer market on the Old Northern Avenue Bridge in Boston for the Boston Public Market Association. The design includes a custom graphic on standard awning tents … Continue reading
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Tagged Information Design, Non-profit, Public Realm, Streetscape, Urban Design
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Porter Square Air Rights
Transit Realty Associates (TRA) is the designated real estate asset manager for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). When the City of Somerville began to rewrite its zoning code to accommodate future transit-oriented development, Utile was brought in to test … Continue reading
Webster Block
The Webster Block is a new 141-unit multi-family project on just over 2 acres in Chelsea’s emerging Broadway/Eastern mixed-use district. A diverse mix of unit-types, including lofts, flats and townhouses in three new buildings, as well as new community-serving retail, … Continue reading
Schoolhouse Lofts
Schoolhouse Lofts is a project comprised of two late-nineteenth-century brick grammar schools in Worcester, to be renovated into 45 residential units. Both schools are registered historical properties; the Dartmouth Street School is on the National Registry of Historic Places, and … Continue reading
Union Square
Utile assisted the City of Somerville in writing a Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) grant to conduct a housing study of four municipally owned sites in Union Square. Of the four total sites, two play host to historical … Continue reading
Posted in projects
Tagged Economic Development, Public Client, Public Process, Public Realm, Publication, Urban Design
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Virgin USA
Utile was engaged as a design consultant as part of an effort by the City of Boston and Commonwealth of Massachusetts to convince London-based Virgin to choose Boston as the headquarters for a proposed U.S. start-up airline. Utile was asked … Continue reading
Summer Street Stair and Ramp
Un-disrupted pedestrian access is critical in establishing strong urban neighborhoods. Utile was commissioned by Madison Properties to consider ways to re-establish connections in South Boston’s Seaport District. The Summer Street stair/ramp was conceived as a way to mitigate the 30’-0″ … Continue reading
South Boston Waterfront Gateways
The South Boston Gateways Planning Initiative was sponsored by the Artery Business Committee (now A Better City), a consortium of downtown Boston property owners that sponsor urban planning studies in an effort to coordinate large-scale development and the reciprocal impact … Continue reading
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Tagged Economic Development, Public Realm, Urban Design, Urban Planning
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South Bay
Utile was hired by the Boston Residential Group as the urban design consultant for a proposal submitted in response to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority’s request for proposals for South Bay, a large development parcel south of Kneeland Street in Downtown … Continue reading
Shops at Ocean’s Gate
This 40,000-square-foot retail project on Massachusetts’s South Shore was completed in 2008. Comprised of new and adaptively re-used buildings, the complex sits at the center of the historic Town of Marshfield. The central location and high visibility make the character … Continue reading
Roslindale
Roslindale Field is a collaborative effort between Urban Edge and Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation that will provide affordable homeownership opportunities to the Prospect Hill neighborhood of Roslindale. The steeply sloped site is located in a residential area and fronts … Continue reading
Methuen Real Estate Development Study
As part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Gateway Cities initiative, the City of Methuen chose Utile, along with GLC Development Resources, to assess the development potential of three underutilized sites near the downtown core. The City was particularly interested in … Continue reading
Maxpak
Utile, Inc. collaborated with Peter Wiederspahn on a planning study for Maxpak, a five acre post-industrial site along a rail corridor in Somerville, Massachusetts. The study was commissioned by the City of Somerville. The goal of the study was to … Continue reading
LEED Graphics
Utile provides proactive leadership for a sustainable design consulting approach that balances environmentally responsible policy with a careful analysis of the relative value and costs of potential design approaches. Utile has formed an alliance with mechanical engineers, landscape architects, and … Continue reading
Harvard-Allston Design Guidelines
Utile was hired in the spring of 2006 to assist in framing design guidelines for the new Harvard campus in Allston, across the Charles River from Harvard’s historic Cambridge home. Utile’s efforts included research of best practices urban design and … Continue reading
Fourth and Broadway
Fourth at Broadway is an adaptive reuse of a turn of the twentieth century, three-story, masonry building prominently located on Chelsea’s main retail stretch. Originally built as a commercial building that included a theater, the property had been converted several … Continue reading
Water Transportation Terminal
Utile is the architecture and urban design lead for the design of a new water transportation terminal in the formerly-industrial area of the South Boston waterfront for Massport. Sandwiched between two piers—one holding Boston’s World Trade Center, the other the … Continue reading
38 Oxford Street
The project at 38 Oxford Street is an adaptive re-use of the former particle collider facility at Harvard university. The new facility is to house labs, classroom and office spaces for the Large Particle Physics and Cosmology department as well … Continue reading