154 Broadway
With its use of mass timber and Passive House certification, The Guild, a 45-unit mixed-use development in East Somerville, Massachusetts, sets a new standard for residential design that combines high-performance building with high style. This cutting-edge mixture of Green technology and hip living spaces are aimed at young professionals in the Boston area, providing 40 studios, 3 one-bedroom units, and 2 three-bedroom units, of which 9 are affordable.
The Guild’s mix of stylish design and environmentally-friendly technology is best exemplified through its use of a cross-laminated timber floor structural system which gives the units beautiful wood ceilings created from two locally sourced species. As an all-electric project, The Guild will have zero on-site fossil fuel combustion. Through its Passive House design, the building greatly lowers demand on the electricity grid through an efficient, airtight envelope, high-performance energy recovery ventilation, and cold-climate heat pumps.
Despite these forward-looking sustainable design features, the 38,251 GSF building draws closely from the traditional scale and character of its surrounding neighborhood. The façade design is inspired by the vibrant textures, colors, and scale of materials observed throughout the neighborhood and along Broadway. The massing’s stepback at the fifth floor creates space for private tenant terraces and its roofline is a contemporary echo of the pitched roofs from the neighborhood. The ground floor further looks to connect the residents to the community by featuring active retail frontage and residential lobby space, both with storefront windows to visually connect ground floor uses and the public realm.
