The Housing Symposium

Thursday, November 20

Architects, building industry professionals, and housing advocates gather for a day of discussions addressing housing in urban centers, the conversion of an historic mill building, transit-oriented development and student housing at Boston University. Sponsored by the BSA Housing Committee.

C17 Urban revitalization
8:30 – 10:00 am

The revitalization of older urban centers is a major challenge for New England. Many cities have suffered urban decay due to sprawl. How do you revitalize these cities and develop a vibrant mix of housing (worker, affordable, and high-end), roadways, and workspace while retaining the city’s character and existing residents? What are the challenges of retaining the city core while updating the city into a vibrant place to live? We discuss how the Commonwealth has successfully met this challenge and allow participants to discuss their own experiences in urban revitalization.

C36 Boston University’s Student Village
10:30 am – noon

Boston University’s Student Village is a three-phase project comprised of five high-rise dormitories located on a constrained urban setting. Student rooms are made up of suites, dining halls on the lower levels, and a fitness center and sports arena attached to the dorms. These buildings, designed to mirror the Boston University campus’ style, are part of an integrated campus that brings together design, living, dining, recreation, and education in an urban setting constrained by the Charles River and an urban rail line. Our panel addresses the challenges of creating a large number of residential/recreational student spaces on a constrained site while following the University’s masterplan and being subject to extensive community review.

C45 Washington Mills redevelopment
1:00 – 2:30 pm

We discuss the redevelopment of an historic mill building into a mixed-income (affordable and market rate) rental housing complex. This tightly budgeted, large-scale project was developed by the Architectural Heritage Foundation with the intention of jump-starting development in Lawrence, Massachusetts. The innovative design balances the historic and industrial character of the building with the contemporary needs of its tenants. Financing was a mix of developer equity, a Commonwealth economic development grant, and Federal and Commonwealth tax credits.

C74 Public/private partnerships for transit-oriented development
3:15 – 4:45 pm

This workshop offers insights for architects and developers into the intricacies of concurrently designing and constructing a new mixed-use and mixed-income structure and a new transit hub on the Red Line at Ashmont Station in Dorchester, Massachusetts, while continuing to serve the transportation needs of a densely populated neighborhood throughout the process of construction. Specific topics addressed include: how to best reorganize a site that must remain active to serve the specific design needs of both projects; the logistical impact on the respective designs of maintaining full operation of the station during construction; and integration of the neighborhood’s vision of the projects and desires relative to pedestrian and vehicular traffic. We also discuss the design requirements of the myriad lending agencies, specifically MassHousing, which plays key roles in ensuring that the vision of this complex urban design becomes reality.

The package cost for the symposium is $260 if you register before October 24 and $300 if you register after that date (this is a significant savings over the individual workshop costs). However, you may choose to register for one or more individual sessions by selecting the individual workshops in the a la carte section of the online registration site or under section 3 on the paper registration form.