Infill design Boston

The Whitney Hotel // 2019

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The Whitney Hotel on the iconic Charles Street in Beacon Hill, represents the best of contextual infill construction and good design. Completed in 2019, the hotel was built on an open lot adjacent to the 1909 Eye and Ear Infirmary Nurse’s Residence that sold in 2016. Developers hired Boston architectural design firm of Hacin to construct the new structure as an addition to the 1909 building. As the building is located within the Historic Beacon Hill District, a local commission closely reviewed plans to ensure the new building would blend old and new on the site, while being its own landmark on the prominent corner lot. The scale, massing, materials and rhythm of windows ties the 2019 contemporary wing with the 1909 building, while the brick layering styles, window types and unique rounded corner read clearly contemporary. The hotel is named after Henry Melville Whitney (1839-1923) a Boston politician and businessman who founded the West End Street Railway Company, which preceded the Metropolitan Transit Authority and today’s MBTA. The Whitney Hotel serves as an important visual anchor and entrance into Beacon Hill, enlivening the street and neighborhood through high-quality design.

Eye and Ear Infirmary Nurse’s Residence // 1909

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The Massachusetts Charitable Eye and Ear Infirmary (now Massachusetts Eye and Ear) began in 1824 by doctors, Edward Reynolds and John Jeffries II as a free weekly clinic they operated out of a rented room in Boston’s Scollay Square. At the time, Boston was an immigration destination for laborers arriving from Europe, among whom occupational injuries were common, but affordable medical care was scarce. With an increasing population and increasing medical needs, the clinic expanded rapidly. In 1849, a new clinic was built on Charles Street, just south of the West Boston Bridge (now Longfellow Bridge) from plans by Edward C. Cabot. As demand grew in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the hospital sought expansion and built a new facility farther north on Charles Street, closer to Massachusetts General Hospital. The 1849 building was deemed excess and demolished, soon to be replaced by the current building on the site, the Nurse’s Dormitory. Built in 1909, this handsome, four-story brick and stone structure was designed by the office of Page and Frothingham in the Colonial Revival style, which contributes to the architectural character of Beacon Hill. The building provided much-needed residential space for nurses and other staff people who worked at the new Eye and Ear Infirmary a few blocks away. The building was later converted into an inn, the John Jeffries House (after one of the founders of the infirmary) until 2016, when the site closed and was converted into a wing of the new Whitney Hotel by Hacin Architects!

Tilia Jamaica Plain // 2020

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As many of you likely agree with me, most contemporary architecture and buildings in Boston (and in many U.S. cities) is bland and mundane, but there are some projects that really stand out for creative and contextual designs. Tilia in Jamaica Plain is one of the latter! When the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began accepting bids for the development of an undeveloped linear parcel along Washington Street just south of the Forest Hills T-stop, developers jumped at the opportunity. Urbanica Inc., a local design/development group had the winning proposal which consists of approximately 110‐120 residential units in buildings of varied density ranging from a larger apartment building to more human-scaled townhouses. Led by architect Stephen Chung with Kamran Zahedi as developer, the design for the townhouses specifically is a contemporary nod to the triple-decker form we see so much in the surrounding area. The varied color and recessed sections provide a lot of depth and character to the development along the streetwall.

Langham Court // 1991

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Image courtesy of Goody/Clancy

Appropriate infill construction can be a very difficult thing to accomplish, with some developments hitting the mark and others adversely impacting the historic neighborhoods where they were built. Boston is home to many examples of both occurrences, but I wanted to share a very successful infill project in the South End neighborhood, Langham Court. As the South End resurfaced as a desirable neighborhood, long-time residents were priced out, which led to the Boston Redevelopment Authority to fund projects to provide much-needed housing for the local community. This site which once housed over 20 townhouses, was razed by the 1960s in a period of urban renewal where existing housing was deemed unsafe and inadequate. The local design firm of Goody/Clancy was hired, and they masterfully designed a U-shaped complex of 84 mixed-income units that fits well within its surroundings. The design exhibits dormers, bays, arched and vaulted entries, a combination of mansard and flat roofs, stringer courses and textured brickwork, and a palette of well chosen materials all at a scale that blends in the 1990s building to its surroundings which came nearly 150 years prior. The complex remains as a testament to good-quality design even for affordable housing, which notoriously gets the short end of the stick design-wise.