ICA Watershed in Boston MA, Massachusetts contemporary art gallery interior, Stack + Co American architecture images

ICA Watershed in Boston

Contemporary Art Gallery Building Redevelopment design by Anmahian Winton Architects, USA

Oct 15, 2018

Design: Anmahian Winton Architects

Location: Boston, USA

ICA Watershed

The ICA Watershed is a large-scale space for contemporary art, located in an abandoned copper pipe factory.

Photos by Florian Holzherr and Anmahian Winton Architects

ICA Watershed

Its site is known as the East Boston Shipyard, an active, industrial yacht basin directly across Boston Harbor from the ICA Museum, accessible by water taxi, car, and public transportation.

Although the Watershed’s original antique structure was derelict and had to be torn down, several of its iconic elements—crane and monorail hoists, railroad tracks—have been retained, used to reference the site’s purpose and help shape the space.

Within the 300’ long by 50’ wide by 25’ tall envelope, the design synthesizes the retained infrastructure with equally powerful, new industrial materials, to serve the ICA program for contemporary art.

Breaking with the customary “white room / black box” gallery paradigm, daylight plays a seminal role in the space, illuminating a major wall and highlighting both ends of the building. A 250’ long slot skylight shines through new steel trusses, allowing light to wash down the richly textured concrete-and-cinderblock surface of an existing wall that had once supported the loading and unloading of rail cars running through the building.

A translucent polycarbonate skin clads the steel frames of the building’s two end walls. Each is punctuated by a monumental hangar door that opens for access and loading, connecting the art space to the shipyard, the harbor, and the city. This expansive gesture invites the public to and through the building, revealing the industrial history of the East Boston Shipyard and welcoming them as participants in the Watershed’s experience.

ICA Watershed Boston – Building Information

Completion date: 2018
Building levels: 1

Owner: The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston

Architect:
Design: Anmahian Winton Architects
Nick Winton, AIA – Partner in Charge of Design
Alex Anmahian, AIA – Consulting Partner
Aaron Bruckerhoff, AIA, LEED AP BD+C – Principal
Helena Briones – Designer
Emily Bell McNamara – Designer
Contractor: Stack + Co

Structural Engineer: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH)
MEP Engineer: SED Associates Corp.
Geotechnical Engineer: Haley & Aldrich
Civil Engineer: Samiotes Consultants, Inc
Code Consultant: Building, Fire & Access, Inc. (BF&A)
Specification Writer: Paul DiBona Specifications LLC
Lighting Consultant: Lam Partners Inc.

Photographer: Florian Holzherr and Anmahian Winton Architects

ICA Watershed in Boston images / information received 151018 from Anmahian Winton Architects

Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

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