News & Updates

Ferdinand Meets the Future at the Bolling Building Press Tour

Feb 20, 2015

bolling-tour.jpgThe City of Boston, the Property and Construction Management Department, and the BRA, working jointly on behalf of Mayor Martin J. Walsh, recently hosted an architectural walkthrough of the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building in Dudley Square. Attendees were treated to an overview of the location’s history and guided tour of a facility rooted in brick tradition, and reinforced by modern innovation in alignment with the Mayor’s vision for the future.

The Bolling Building’s complex design was undertaken bybolling-tour-2-(1).jpg Netherlands-based Mecanoo and Watertown’s Sasaki Associates, in cooperation with Shawmut Design and Construction as the CM at-Risk contractor. Project management of the city’s first at-Risk site was overseen by the Property and Construction Department in collaboration with PMA Consultants. These groups, with guidance from the BRA, and community and historic preservationists, curated a space that truly honors the late Councilor Bolling’s vision of social change through collaboration.

The $123.9 million finished product serves as the centerpiece to Mayor Thomas M. Menino's Dudley Square Vision Project, intended to revitalize the once-thriving urban neighborhood. The Bolling building recalls this distinctive energy by incorporating Dudley Square’s iconic Ferdinand Furniture Building, an emblem of the square's historic commercial vitality. The Ferdinand, along with the Curtis Block and Waterman & Sons buildings, fully-integrate into Bolling’s interior and exterior design creating a familiar, inviting façade for the surrounding community.

bolling-tour-5.jpgAt 215,000 square feet, the Bolling building will become the spacious hub of Boston Public Schools central offices. Tour guides elaborated on specific design decisions meant to promote interactivity between tenant businesses. Bright colors, lots of open space, and conversation-starter touches throughout—like overhead tube lighting tracing the path of the old elevated MBTA tracks through Dudley—make the building warm and welcoming to the neighborhood. And the 18,000 square feet of mixed-use retail on the first floor, a first for a municipal site, will incentivize neighbors to enter and make use of the public space.

Each component of the Bolling building features into the overarching bolling-tour-3.jpgflexible work environment. An eco-friendly green roof, flexible technological infrastructure, and community meeting spaces establish multiple points of engagement. In addition, Mayor Walsh has dedicated space to house The 3,000 square foot Roxbury Innovation Center, a business incubator that will help fulfill the Mayor's vision and goal of creating an innovative City.

The Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building is expected to open this spring. The six-story structure will usher in improved organizational synergy and a renewed commitment to public service.

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