We’re very pleased to announce that the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion won a 2011 Honor Award for Design Excellence from the Boston Society of Architects.
From the jury comments:
The design is a wonderful example of how a simple issue—in this case, providing shelter and dispersing rainwater—can lead to a poetic solution. The two roof forms, basically flat, are subtly curved and molded to divert rainwater to a tidal pool. The result is a functional and beautifully sculptural form.
This winter Utile completed work on the MIT Center for Real Estate’s new offices overlooking Massachusetts Avenue on the third floor of MIT’s Building 9. This new home will further the integration of the real estate program with graduate education in city and regional planning, architecture, engineering, transportation and logistics, and the Sloan School of Management—linkages that will ensure that the program’s alumni/ae will continue to be among the best trained real estate professionals in the world. The new facilities include a state-of-the-art lecture hall, classroom spaces, a student lounge, and offices.
This past summer Utile completed work on The Advent School’s SMART Lab, a satellite facility housing the independent elementary school’s science, math, and art programs. Located a few blocks from the school’s main campus on Beacon Hill, the new facility transforms an existing two-story brick building into a collection classroom, studio, and workshop spaces that invite students and teachers alike to explore, innovate, and experiment. The first floor houses a math classroom, a faculty office, and a music room. On the upper floor, a large art studio adjoins an engineering workshop. The program also includes a gallery, faculty workroom, and breakout rooms that provide further opportunities for collaborative learning opportunities.
Stay tuned to our website in the coming weeks for new photos.
Utile has been hired by The Beal Companies to develop a sustainable cafe concept for the main office building at The Arsenal on the Charles complex. The study reveals how the surplus space in the lobby area can facilitate increased employee interaction and provide new meeting, assembly, and dining spaces.
Fast progress is being made at the First+First Townhomes project in South Boston: 10 of the units are fully framed, and foundations are now started on all the remaining units. Windows started going in yesterday, and rough-ins, roofing, and insulation will all be progressing in the next couple of weeks. We’re also looking forward to our first round of LEED inspections, taking place soon. The block is really taking shape as the newly-defined edge of the townhouses rises – and there are some great views of the city, South Boston, and the industrial waterfront from the fourth floor decks of the houses! Stay tuned for more updates…
At last! Our urban design for Broad Street is taking shape. They are currently installing our state-of-the-art storm water collection system, developed by our landscape partners Richard Burck Associates. What you see (above left) are the PVC water collection sumps, each of which is located beneath a custom drain inlet. Each drain inlet is the size of a brick (above right), and is integrated into the overall brick pattern of the sidewalk. It is essentially a porous sidewalk, which captures rainwater and delivers it to the roots of the adjacent Ginko trees, whose roots will be allowed to spread. Gone are the days of the sad, undernourished street tree!
Tim Love recently appeared on a panel at Build Boston about how architects and developers can work together to engage the community and ensure the success of their projects. Helene Solomon moderated the panel, which also featured Aaron Gornstein, executive director of the Citizens’ Planning and Housing Association; Rebecca A. Lee, real estate partner at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP; and Paul McMorrow, associate editor at CommonWealth Magazine and Boston Globe contributor.
Utile, Inc. has been designated by the Boston Redevelopment Authority as the master planners for City Hall Plaza. Utile–working closely with Reed Hilderbrand Associates and Alex Krieger of Chan Krieger NBBJ–will develop an implementation master plan for the plaza, building on the momentum from the EPA’s Greening America’s Capitals project.
The new curtain wall for Mattahunt Elementary School is going up! Utile has been working with Gale Associates on the project for the Boston Public Facilities Department.
Utile is part of a collaborative team, led by McMahon Transportation and Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, that is studying McGrath Highway for its potential to reconnect fragmented Somerville while still serving local and regional traffic needs. The team has finished the analysis of existing conditions and is starting the next phase of work, developing alternatives for this corridor in Somerville.
