PERSPECTIVES

RODE is proud to announce that Bremen Street received approval from the Boston Civic Design Commission, a major milestone for this striking new development facing the Bremen Street Community Park.

Our design takes great care to integrate the scale of a 145-unit building into a dense, existing residential building fabric, while also offering a bold, contemporary vision for the neighborhood. The integration with the community extends to the building program: artist units and maker-space amenities work to sustain the local creative community.

We are especially appreciative of the encouragement voiced by members of the Commission:

This is the kind of the mid-scale project that we should be encouraging all over the city. It's well-crafted architecturally with a variety that is economical and superior to typical residential projects we see in the city.   / William Rawn

I'm impressed with how you took a long building that fits into the context without directly imitating. This is a nice project.   / Andrea Leers

I commend you on creating something modern and new that is still responsive to the existing neighborhood. You can see the ways the module of triple-deckers in the neighborhood have translated into this design....

...I would like to add that this project should be used as a model for residential projects of this scale that come before the Commission.   / Anne-Marie Lubenau

The project will now work to secure approvals from the BPDA, and looks forward to breaking ground later in the year.

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The following interview was published on the Boston Society of Architects website in May 2019.

Eric and Kevin were recently interviewed for a firm profile with the BSA, and what followed was a great conversation that touched on RODE's perspective of the city and what it means to design for our community:

You’re rooted in Boston, right? How did your practice come together?

Yes, we've built our lives in the Dorchester community, although if you ask our long-time resident neighbors, they might still say we’re the new guys on the block (19 years, hardly new guys)! We do bring an outsider’s perspective – we met while pursuing our undergraduate degrees at NC State – that allows us to see the opportunities before our neighborhood. And so we joined together to form RODE (ROW-dee) out of an aspiration to do better for Dorchester. The firm’s early days were built off personal relationships, local visibility, and civic engagement - we were just two guys who wanted to improve our own community. Now we use those initial goals to improve every neighborhood of Boston.

What makes Boston a unique place for architecture/planning practices today?

This city is grounded in a rich, centuries-long history, and has reinvented itself many times over that history. Today the city’s global profile brings fortune 500 headquarters and international investment to the inner-core neighborhoods; it’s a great time for Boston! Meanwhile, the peripheral neighborhoods remain an underserved market for great design. This isn’t necessarily a problem unique to our city, but we do see the way Boston’s neighborhoods each hold distinct concerns, demographics, and values, and that can have a direct effect on the way projects move through the community review process.

We are particularly attuned to the strength neighborhoods hold in influencing the outcomes of development. Any hope for successfully navigating the approvals process requires seeing this strength an asset; in fact, some of our most successful partnerships have arisen out of community review. Gaining the support of local constituents while advocating for the interests of your client – all amid escalating construction costs – requires real imagination and vision. That is probably one of the reasons why we haven’t seen enough design richness and innovation in the city. But with the right partners and community insight, we are hopeful the city will rise to the challenge of bringing new design ideas to fruition.

Your work seems to elevate a community’s natural vibe. What’ve you learned about talking with clients, builders, and people in the community that helps you get the essence of a structure, space, or place just right? Why is it important to do that?

We love our role as architects, one that realizes tangible change that can improve people’s daily lives. To best achieve that goal, we have to instill each project with the values and character of the people that will be effected by them, both occupants and neighbors. RODE’s work is built on collaboration, and we find that everything we do depends on the energy that all members of the team brings to the process. Architects translate program and need into design opportunity, and we must be nimble enough to allow the idiosyncrasies that arise from a collaborative process to influence and enrich the design.

Another perspective that grounds our approach is the experience of sitting on the other side of the table, and being on the receiving end of new development in our neighborhood. Knowing your audience, and finding way to convey the goals of the project in a common language will ensure that all parties involved can share a sense of ownership and pride in the finished project.

Will you share an unexpectedly delightful experience you’ve encountered during the community engagement process here in Boston?

RODE has built an approachable process that lets us communicate in many different venues, but it is not a formulaic approach. Every time we are out talking to a community we have to find that shared language to effectively communicate a project’s goals. We held bi-lingual community meetings for our 3200 Washington St project, to make the process more accessible to Jamaica Plain’s diverse population, and the participation was enthusiastic. Projects like DOT Block get presented many times to nearly a dozen different community associations, and with good reason, as projects at that scale can have an impact far beyond their immediate abutters. In our own neighborhood, we were able to achieve true transit-oriented development at Savin Residences with no parking, by having honest and informed discussions with our neighbors.

You just announced news about working with The Community Builders and Pine Street Inn to develop permanent supportive housing for former Pine Street residents and others who may need it. Congratulations! What’s the big thinking behind this project and why was it appealing to you as people and as practicing design professionals?

Thank you! RODE thrives off the energy of our clients, and these two institutions bring a drive and a know-how for solving deeply-rooted social & urban problems that is infectious and inspiring. We believe in their mission, and know that our design and planning expertise can bring physical form to their aspirations. Architecture is routinely perceived as an unapproachable luxury, so we are on a mission to change this perception. We know that good design improves the daily existence of its users and enhances our overall lives no matter what the budget. With the right partners, this can be possible.

The housing crisis, grappling with a thriving economy that leaves some populations in its wake - these are themes that too often headline our news cycle. So there is enormous excitement among all team members to be engaged together on a project that directly addresses these issues.

What will it look like if the TCB/Pine Street project is successful? What might it inspire throughout Greater Boston or elsewhere?

Success means proving that supportive and affordable housing can be built within the constraints of today’s construction industry. A project of this scope and scale is impossible without a strong public-private partnership, and The Community Builders have cultivated a model that proves this can be a workable solution for other communities.

In terms of its presence in the neighborhood, we hope that this project will blend in with the contemporary structures that are beginning to populate this corridor of Boston, and provide its residents with an armature to sustain a vibrant quality of life in this diverse community. RODE is approaching this project with the same care and diligence as any of our residential and mixed-use works, and will strive to guarantee it meets the same high standards as the rest of our portfolio.

What, if anything, can architecture/planning practices do to foster social equity among our communities?

Architects occupy a space at the crossroads of the private sector, government agencies, and the public realm. From this vantage point we can advocate on multiple fronts, and exert outsized influence on the way the built environment works for everyone. We do need to do a better job engaging the actual populations that are affected by our projects, and creating a venue where those voices can be heard. Admittedly, it can sometimes be tricky for architects to navigate that line, and to responsibly advocate for our client in an arena of sometimes competing interests. That is why we are excited by the unexpected alignments of some of our recent projects, where the collective benefits of the project are shared across many different constituencies.

What do you want to do next?

RODE has a unique perspective on design, by putting the communities we serve in the forefront of all that we do. We will continue to apply our creative skill as designers that empowers us to identify unexpected compatibilities among developers, institutions, and non-profits. RODE is currently engaged in mission-driven development on a number of fronts and in communities across the region. We are giving new form to two long standing religious institutions in Brighton, and helping the Boston Public Library envision a new, mixed-use typology. The institutions behind these projects are finding ways to leverage the current boom into opportunities to modernize, expand their reach and capability, and forge new connections across the urban landscape. We’ve only just begun to explore the possibilities that are unlocked by these types of collaborations, and look forward to many more unexpected ventures in the future.

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Many people know of acoustical design as it relates to concert halls, where it is vital to maintain the quality of the sound throughout the hall or, when desired, embellish the sound. Even on a smaller scale, like in a classroom, acoustics are important. Architects must design these spaces so there is no echo and a student in the back can hear as well as one in the front. Although this type of design is important, it is not the only role of acoustics in architecture. If you’ve ever worked in an office where you can hear every work spoken in a private conference room or lived in an apartment where you wondered if your upstairs neighbor was bowling every night just before you went to bed, you are familiar with the other side of acoustical design.

Acoustical separation is one of the biggest challenges of architecture and interior design. This problem is exacerbated in mixed-use buildings where very different program elements can be happening within the same building. In a recent RODE project, the fit-out of a commercial space for a new spin studio, we were tasked with providing acoustical separation between the studio and its neighbors. These neighbors included a spa on one side and apartments above, both of whom would be sensitive to potential noise intrusion.  Not ideal neighbors for a spin studio, especially one with loud music as a critical part of their brand and notes on their website that the “music will be bumping.”

Although there is a limit for any construction’s ability to block noise, it was our goal to do what we could to reduce it.  Working with Acentech, our acoustical consultant, we developed a ‘box-in-a-box’ strategy

for the cycling studio.  The two key elements of this strategy are mass and isolation. The isolation eliminates any pathway for the transference of sound and vibration, while the mass inhibits the transmission of sound from one area to another.  A different method is used to achieve isolation and mass at the floor, the walls, and the ceiling:

• At the floors, we employed a concrete floating floor system, the “Kinetics Noise Control RIM System”. This system consists of a 4” concrete slab on fiberglass isolators that prevent sound and vibration from transferring to the surrounding area through the base building floor slab.  A resilient interface and acoustical caulking is used to keep the topping slab from contacting any base building elements along the perimeter. On our project this was the surrounding party walls, but in some cases, it will be the base building floor slab. Often the floating floor system is set in a depressed floor slab for accessibility, the RIM System is typically over 6” thick, requiring a ramp.  

• Built on top of the floating floor are the acoustical walls, which consist of a 2” gap from any other building elements, cold-formed structural metal studs, and four layers of 5/8” gypsum wallboard with acoustical insulation packed tightly in to the stud layer. The cold-formed metal stud can support the walls vertically but must be braced laterally. With typical wall construction this is done by extending the wall up to the underside of the structure above. This cannot be done here because it would transfer sound and vibration to the adjacent spaces. Therefore, the walls are braced against the surrounding party walls using resilient sway braces which eliminate any transference of sound and vibration.

• The ceiling consists of a similar construction as the walls, with four layers of GWB on metal studs and acoustical insulation hung from above. Spring isolators are used at every hanger to keep sound or vibration from transferring. Hung from the GWB acoustical ceiling is an ACT ceiling to hide ductwork and allow for the installation of diffusers, sprinklers, and recessed light fixtures.

Because any weak areas in the system will allow for sound transmission, penetrations must be limited, and all joints and penetrations should be properly sealed using acoustical caulking. This is particularly critical because penetration can greatly reduce and, in some cases, eliminate the acoustical benefit of the construction. Another obvious weak point in the system is the door. There are many acoustical doors on the market but like anything else installing the right one is key. Acoustical doors, such as “Noise Barriers QuietSwing Door”, come fully assembled from the factory, which ensures the door properly seals in the noise. Kit-of-part doors are more susceptible to assembly errors which can, again, reduce or eliminate the acoustical benefit of the system.

As noted above this box-in-a-box system provides the mass (4 layers of GWB or 4” of concrete) and isolation (fiberglass isolators, sway braces, or spring isolators) to allow for our clients to create the music driven experience they desire while still being respectful of their neighbors. These similar strategies can be used throughout different projects.

Even if the system doesn’t need to be as robust the principles still apply. In an office where you need privacy between offices, or the shared walls of a multi-family residence, adding mass to the walls and sealing penetrations can create the needed privacy. Isolating mechanical equipment from the building structure avoids the transference of the noise and vibration to the rest of the building. Just as architects want the aesthetics of our projects to respond to their surroundings and we design the layout to work for the function of each space, acoustical design should be considered with the same specificity and care.

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RODE knows that our clients depend on our experience, innovation, and creativity to find practical, inspired solutions for their program. We also love pizza.

Associate Jessica Haley highlighted RODE's expertise in a piece published in Pizza Today titled "Updating Seating: Creating a Beautiful Space". The piece focused on the many considerations that drive the design of seating arrangements and selection of materials in food service establishments.

A restaurant can thrive off more than just the menu. These venues are hospitality-driven and customer focused, and excellent design ensures that the full experience of the place contributes to the success of the food and beverage program. Ergonomics, economics, and acoustics all factor into the selection of a restaurant's seating and furniture, and under the careful eye of an experienced designer, can contribute to a cohesive, comfortable space.

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This story ran in the Boston Globe on March 13th, 2019

RODE Architects is excited to announce our partnership with The Community Builders (TCB), a leading nonprofit developer of mixed-income housing, and the Pine Street Inn (PSI), New England’s largest homeless services agency, to build a mixed-use building at 3368 Washington Street, Jamaica Plain, the most significant project of its kind in Boston to date.

The new building will replace the existing PSI warehouse/office building and proposes to create 225 income-restricted apartment homes, 140 of which would be housing units with support services for men and women moving out of homelessness. RODE's design includes an estimated 18,000 square feet of PSI office space on the ground floor and community space and amenities for residents. In addition, the plan offers approximately 60 vehicle parking spaces, 85 bicycle storage spaces, and 13,400 square feet of outdoor space.

RODE co-founder Eric Robinson commented, “Far too often architecture is perceived as an unapproachable luxury. RODE is on a mission to change this perception - we believe that good design improves quality of life and enhances the daily experience no matter the budget or the income level of its residents. For this reason we’re excited to partner with Pine Street Inn and The Community Builders on this important initiative. Working within our neighborhoods gives us the opportunity and responsibility to work in collaboration with abutters, community civic groups and stakeholders, with the ultimate goal of creating buildings that are good civic neighbors and enhance the overall quality of the community.”

The development team is currently meeting with neighborhood associations, community leaders and city and state officials to share details of the proposed project and engage them in the community process. Additional public meetings will be announced after the project is formally filed with the City of Boston.  

“This project represents a major step forward in our efforts to solve homelessness in Boston,” said Pine Street President Lyndia Downie. “The number of units in this building will allow us to scale up our housing to a new level, bringing us close to 1,000 units of supportive housing throughout Boston and in Brookline. With the average age of our tenants at 55, this will provide a safe, secure community as they grow older,” she added.

"Our goal in Boston is simple: end chronic homelessness throughout our city,” said Mayor Martin J. Walsh. “This proposal has the potential to get us even further to that goal, and Pine Street's expertise and history of success in supportive housing means that these facilities would create opportunity for so many who need a helping hand. We're looking forward to this project and its possibilities as we work together to make sure every Bostonian has a safe, supportive home."  

“TCB is a responsible neighbor that’s committed to Jamaica Plain,” said neighborhood resident and TCB Regional Vice President of Development in New England, Andy Waxman.

“We are honored to work with Pine Street Inn to develop this level of permanent supportive housing. In addition to serving formerly homeless individuals, this building will also create a place where people who work in Boston as teachers, firefighters and hairdressers struggle to find apartments they can afford. This development helps ensure more people who help our city run can afford to live here too.”

TCB is a nonprofit organization founded in Boston over 50 years ago. Today, TCB works in 30 cities and is on track to provide rental homes for more than 800 families of all incomes in Jamaica Plain in the coming years.

PSI owns or operates 40 residences throughout Boston and Brookline with over 850 tenants, and has been part of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood for nearly 30 years. Currently, PSI manages 115 units in the neighborhood.

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