Location: Boston, MA

Completed: Fall 2015

Photos: Peter Vanderwarker

ACA was the architect of record for this 4,200 SF house in Boston's South End.  The project included the facade restoration of an existing rowhouse which was constructed in 1899, along with a complete reconstruction of the interior space as well as a substantial addition to the south side of the house.   

The resulting dwelling at first appears to be two contrasting houses standing side by side, and the plan configuration of the renovation project grew out of this dialogue. The existing house functions almost as a screen which conceals a modern interior within, while the southern addition continues this idea in the form of wood sunshading, providing privacy for the owners of the house while allowing views from the loftlike interior space to an adjcent park to the south.  

The interior of the house is more definitively modern, and the old & new portions of the house are joined together in a collage of spaces which are light, open, and layered.  Most notably, a void space between the old and new exterior volumes extends the full height of the house and marks the division point between the footprint of the existing house and the addition. The circulation in the house either crosses this line or runs parallel to it, providing layered views in both directions.

Throughout the house, each material is exposed and celebrated; drywall or plaster are not used at all, and the glass, steel, and wood are typically left exposed in a layered composition which is expressive of the house's means of construction.