Intercontinental needed less than 25,000 square feet of space to comfortably house the firm’s headquarters operations.
With over $3 billion in real estate ownership and management transactions, however, this group is used to thinking big.
The designers’ challenge: create a large presence in a small structure.
For the dramatic site, the design team proposed classical architectural details combined with unexpected modern materials, evoking stability and permanence married to innovative thinking.
While the building’s site presented wonderful opportunities and views, these came with a price: limited surface area and a high water table.
A zoning variance allowed the building’s footprint to expand into the rear setback area. Parking requirements were met by supplementing surface spaces with additional parking below the main entry area of the building.
Small-scale louvers at the detailed window openings mitigate the visual impact of parked cars at grade level under the building. To provide for additional parking capacity in the future, the garage was also designed to accommodate car lifts.
The high water table, simply a fact of life for buildings sited in a floodplain, was controlled with a system of underslab drains serviced by sump pumps.
MPA sought and received the support of many entities throughout the design and construction process, including the Allston-Brighton Civic Association, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the MA Department of Conservation and Recreation, the Boston Parks Department and the Boston Zoning Board of Appeals.
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