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The Story of a Development: Congress Square
Join the BSA Emerging Professionals Network (EPNet) and the ULI Young Leaders Group (YLG) for a joint panel discussion that tells the story of Congress Square on February 5th from 6-8pm. A thoughtful combination of the old and the new in Downtown Boston’s Post Office Square, this addition-renovation finds a balance between the traditional preservation of historic buildings and complete…
Hidden Treasure at Congress Square
One piece of our Congress Square project includes transforming the existing streetscape of the old Shawmut National Bank building into an active, pedestrian friendly retail and restaurant environment. The existing building includes several design features prominent in old bank structures, including dark windows and heavy metal grillwork. These features were important to a bank’s ability to convey a sense of privacy…
Site Visit to Chestnut Hill Square
Recently, the Arrowstreet staff accompanied me to the Chestnut Hill Square project for a site visit. The four new structures are each at different phases of construction, but enough is there to get a good sense of the massing, spatial relationships, and envelope finishes. Building A, the largest structure, is the one furthest along, with the brick veneer and storefront being installed and partitions and cores going up on the interior. Buildings B and C have the steel up and the exterior is starting to be framed out. The parking garage is far along- it went up quickly, within the past five weeks, with prefab concrete components…
Arrowstreet Design Forums
Each month, AST holds an in-house Design Forum where we get together as a firm and discuss relevant design related topics. The forums provide a great outlet for critiquing current and completed AST projects as well as discussing general topics important to the design community…
YouthBuild Boston Designery Visits Arrowstreet
Students from YouthBuild Boston’s Designery visited Arrowstreet last month to see what we’re working on and how an architecture firm runs on a daily basis. Michael Chavez, one of the program’s managers and a classmate of mine from the Boston Architectural College, approached me about hosting this group as they tour several firms to find out what life could be like as an architect. David Burn gave a quick introduction, then Jessica Bessette and I gave presentations on some of the projects we’ve been working on, as well as the process we follow and the technology we use. We then toured the office to show the spaces we work in and more of the design process. The group had some great questions and will no doubt be amazing designers of their own one day.
Designing with BIM
BIM is clearly the production tool of the future for the architectural profession. But when is the best time to integrate BIM software into the conceptual design of a project? At Arrowstreet, it is becoming more and more clear the answer is “the sooner the better”. Arrowstreet architectural staff members such as Jason King, David Burn, Matt Rice, and others continue to demonstrate the advantages BIM provides with regards to being able to explore multiple design options quickly and produce images that are easy for clients, consultants, contractors, prospective tenants, and public officials to understand. This allows for a very fluid process, expediting design decisions and budget and cost analysis, as well as assisting in the leasing and marketing aspects of several projects…
Arrowstreet Volleyball Takes Silver Medal
The architectural volleyball league concluded its 2010-2011 season this week with Arrowstreet finishing 2nd overall. After completing the regular season with a record of 44-16—good enough for third overall—we made a great run through the playoffs and did not lose a single game until we reached the championship match. Despite playing some of our best volleyball, we fell to a very talented TJA team. Nevertheless, we are very proud of our silver medal finish, which is the best finish ever for an Arrowstreet volleyball team. Most importantly, we had a great time competing this season. As a team that prides itself on having a great time both on and off the court—evidenced by our colorful shirts and constant joking around—we look forward to next season and the challenge of winning the championship!