Boston, MA, January 18, 2006 – CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares Inc.’s Master Plan for NorthPoint, a new 21st-century transit-oriented, urban neighborhood uniting Cambridge, Boston and Somerville, MA, has received national recognition with The 2006 American Institute of Architects’ Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design, the architectural profession’s highest award for excellence in urban design. The project has also received the 2005 Boston Society of Architects’ Willo Von Moltke Award for Urban Design. CBT is Master Planner for the project with Greenberg Consultants, Inc. (Toronto, Canada). Spaulding & Slye, a member of the Jones Lang LaSalle group (Boston, MA) representing Pan Am Systems, Inc., is the Development Manager, and also serves as the Leasing Agent, Property Manager, and Construction Manager.
Commenting on NorthPoint’s award-winning Master Plan, CBT Principal David Nagahiro, AIA, LEED, and CBT Urban Designer Kishore Varanasi remarked, “NorthPoint reflects a new direction in urban design with a philosophy that the ‘public realm’ is a pivotal organizational element that structures both urban relationships and individual buildings. Further, it enables these elements to interact creatively, rather than having the master plan prescriptively control them. This gives rise to a neighborhood that is rich with both social and architectural diversity and will make NorthPoint a true 21 st-century neighborhood.”
"We are thrilled to be recognized for the exceptional work of our design team," said Lisa S. Serafin, Vice President at Spaulding & Slye and Project Director for NorthPoint. "NorthPoint is reincorporating an underutilized industrial site into the urban neighborhoods that surround it in a dynamic way by strengthening functional and visual connections. The public response to the NorthPoint residential and open space components currently under construction demonstrates that quality planning that emphasizes smart growth, transit-orientation and the public realm leads directly to quality development."
NorthPoint is a new 5.2 million square foot urban community on a 45-acre parcel in Cambridge, Boston and Somerville. The NorthPoint site is located across from the Museum of Science and the CambridgeSide Galleria on McGrath O’Brien Highway, and is adjacent to the Lechmere MBTA Station. The Master Plan includes approximately 2.2 million square feet of commercial space spanning 19 city blocks, retail that supports a 24/7 city life style, a residential neighborhood, a new commuter rail station, hotel, multi-use trails that run from the Charles River to Bedford, MA, and parking. Multimodal public transportation improvements including the reconstruction of the O’Brien Highway, as well as improved pedestrian access to the MBTA Community College Orange Line Station, are key components. Phase 1 construction on two residential buildings totaling 329 condominiums, and half of the 10-acre Central Park green space is underway with completion scheduled for 2007.
“Taking full advantage of its size and ‘keystone location’, the emerging NorthPoint neighborhood is in the process of transforming the geography around it,” stated Ken Greenberg, Greenberg Consultants, Inc. “NorthPoint is combining all the ingredients that produce the energy and vitality of living and working in a real urban neighborhood in a truly walkable 21 st century city.
Award Description and Jurors’ Comments
The American Institute of Architects’ Honor Awards for Regional and Urban Design recognizes distinguished achievements that involve the expanding role of the architect in urban design, city planning, and community development. The awards identify projects and programs that contribute to the quality of the urban environment, and are judged for the success with which the project has met its individual requirements. Design achievement can be evidenced by the exploration of new approaches to urban form or by the sensitive reinforcement of successful historical development patterns.
The jurors commented that NorthPoint…Represents a beautiful plan and incorporates three jurisdictions combining a range of housing types, public transportation, and commercial development on a brown field site…Exemplar of how good density through high quality urban development will remake 21st century American cities.
The Boston Society of Architects/ Willo Van Moltke Award for Urban Design honors work that reflects a high level of urban design excellence. The jury was empowered to determine the extent to which design excellence is informed by aesthetic, functional, contextual, social, economic, or other characteristics and whether the work is programmatically and architecturally successful, socially important, and could be implemented. In recent years, jurors have considered issues such as technical feasibility, cost, operations and maintenance issues, authenticity of the plan/design, the presence of a ‘big idea’, political acceptability, economic advice from the private sector, whether or not phasing of the project is possible, and similar issues.
We ( jurors) first admired the succinct and powerful description of the regional context…This really is transit-oriented design that acknowledges the importance of walkability…There is clear and appropriate attention to sustainable design issues and the appropriate use of wetlands; the designers have integrated wetlands and woodlands into a very nice wild park, including a great central park, in the midst of very dense development — it is reminiscent of many northern European/Russian urban parks…The proposed zoning and phasing are quite good…This is handsome, powerful urban design.
MEDIA CONTACTS
High resolution architectural renderings of NorthPoint’s Master Plan are available to the media for publication by contacting either Brien McDaniel or Steve Steinberg with your request.
Brien McDaniel, Public Relations Manager, CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc. 617/646-5153 mcdaniel@cbtarchitects.com www.cbtarchitects.com
CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares, Inc. is a professional design firm providing services in architecture, interior architecture and urban design. Founded in Boston in 1967, CBT employs over 200 professional and support personnel. The practice includes the design of office, residential, academic, civic, and hospitality buildings, and a variety of interior spaces. Over 140 design awards recognize excellence and creativity in the design of new buildings and the preservation of existing structures. CBT’s current urban design work includes projects in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Hartford, CT; and Boston, MA.
Steve Steinberg, Vice President, Marketing, Spaulding & Slye
617/531-4122 ssteinberg@spauldslye.com www.spauldslye.com
Spaulding & Slye is a commercial real estate services and investment company delivering full-scale development, leasing, management, investment sales, construction, and structured finance services worldwide. From offices in Boston and Washington, DC, the firm serves corporate, institutional, and investor clients. Spaulding & Slye has serviced several billion dollars in commercial real estate properties, and has assisted numerous local, national, and international companies with planning and implementing successful real estate strategies.