BCYF Programming and Siting Study

Utile has been working with the Boston Centers for Youth & Families to conduct programming and siting studies throughout Boston, including the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Charlestown, and Allston. The goal of these studies is to produce comprehensive reports using community feedback as a generator for programming, location, and design of future sites.

Community engagement tactics have been at the core of the studies since their conception. Engagement methods included interactive virtual community meetings, online and in-person programming surveys, a virtual site mapping tool, and existing conditions and demographic analysis of neighborhoods. This information and feedback allowed for the continual evolution and eventual synthesis of ideal programming and site locations for new BCYF centers.

For the final report, program sheets were created to showcase the program types most requested by community members and the BCYF team, as well as typical layouts, size, occupancy, and ideal adjacencies. With program specifics used to identify size limitations of sites, community ideas were considered alongside additional metrics like site adjacency, transportation, environmental resilience, and population to find suitable locations for development.

From there, several popular sites were chosen for further test-fit development. Programmatic elements were organized on site to see how they could successfully function together as a designed BCYF center, while also exploring dedication to Net Zero Carbon goals, cost estimation, and the ability for new buildings to function as emergency heating/cooling centers for the community.

Finally, all sites explored were placed into a matrix of suitability, comparing their characteristics, impacts, and ability to meet BCYF goals and objectives. With this information, the City of Boston can make informed decisions on where and how to site new centers.