The Viridian Boston Housing Development, Massachusettes Architecture, Affordable Mixed-Use High-Rise

The Viridian, Fenway Park district

Massachusettes Mixed-Use Housing Development design by Bruner/Cott & Associates, USA

Oct 26, 2015

The Viridian in Boston

Design: Bruner/Cott & Associates

Location: Fenway Park district, Boston, Massachusettes, USA

Bruner/Cott & Associates, a design firm with emphasis on large institutional projects and urban development, announces the completion of The Viridian, a $200M, 350,000-square-foot, mixed-used high-rise at 1282 Boylston Street. The development is a center for modern living in Boston’s historic Fenway Park district, and is part of the transformation a one story retail strip to a smart-growth, transit-oriented neighborhood.

Small in size, big on design, the building’s apartment layouts shift the emphasis from large personal space to community and amenity venues. Over half of the 342 units are 700 square feet or less, with “Micro” studio units and one-bedroom “Metro” units as well as traditional one-, two-, and three-bedroom units. Thirty-eight of the units meet affordable housing requirements. This unit mix supports a diverse population from graduate students to empty-nesters.

The Viridian’s 350-foot-long street plane is highly activated, with 10,000 square feet of neighborhood retail space that provides the base for its two residential towers and includes a new Fenway Community Center. Highly articulated and transparent at the pedestrian scale, a large three-story opening marks the residential entry into a contemporary “living room” lobby that engages Boylston Street. The building’s 20th floor sky deck offers “a bird’s-eye view of the ballpark from a height more than five times greater than the fabled left-field wall” according to the Boston Globe. Below-grade parking provides space for 290 vehicles and over 300 bicycles.

Responding to local neighborhood associations’ concerns about context, the owner/design team conceived the steel-framed complex in multiple volumes that ease the transition from historic low-rise buildings nearby to the new towers. These volumes include zinc and glass bays along with a ceramic tile rainscreen of varying textures, colors, and glazed accents designed to read at a variety of human and urban scales.

LEED Gold registered, the project includes energy-efficient mechanical systems, environmentally responsible materials, and easily-accessible bicycle storage. It is the latest of Bruner/Cott’s major residential projects in New England.