Reserved Channel - Reconnect, Revitalize, Regenerate

Reconnect, Revitalize, Regenerate is an ambitious mixed use neighborhood proposal at the head of South Boston's Reserved Channel which expands on the City of Boston's Climate Ready South Boston initiative by integrating working landscapes which mitigate flooding and rehabilitate soil while providing recreational and community-building opportunities into the existing network of Boston's open spaces. It is bolstered by a series of public amenities, transportation infrastructure and economic development which provide for a historically underserved and isolated area and reconnect it both physically and socially to the greater Boston community.

Site Analysis and Project Overview

Our site is on almost entirely infilled land, meaning that its soil is highly impermeable, poorly drained, and flat. If sea level rise continues at its current rate, it will be entirely submerged.

Even before climate change, existing flood patterns already cause water to pool on our site. Climate change will only exasperate this.

In addition to flooding the site also contends with lead contamination in the soil, especially on the southern side of the site.

The City of Boston is aware of these issues and is proposing, in dialogue with residents, natural flood mitigation and green infrastructure spaces such as living shorelines and boardwalks that also serve community and recreation functions.

The site sits at a point of transition and of tension - between old and new urban fabrics, between residential, industrial and commercial-dominated uses, and between different demographics and cultures.

Three-Pronged Planning Approach

1. Reconnect the site to the greater area of South Boston, both physically and culturally.

2. Revitalize lost community and social infrastructure.

3. Regenerate the environment and economic opportunities.

This approach begins with circulation as a foundation, creating street and pathways which facilitate community building and environmental resilience in addition to connecting it back to the rest of South Boston.

A series of open spaces connect the site to the existing network of green infrastructure around the city while creating accessible and ecologically valuable recreation spaces.

Buildings respect the existing fabric, provide social spaces by emphasizing shared courtyards and terraces and create development opportunities for various uses and demographics.

Community amenities provide critical public services to an underserved area and provide opportunities for local businesses to thrive.

Design Proposal

A few main gestures - extending the culturally and economically critical Dorchester Street and the up-and-coming F street, and redirecting the underutilized car road of Pappa's Way to replace it with a car-free plaza - connect the disparate sections of South Boston.

Inspiration for this project comes from the Superblocks of Barcelona and the curved sidewalks of the Fenway in Boston, specifically their emphasis on privacy and traffic direction.

Three major block types intended to help the site transition between the different architectural languages of the Seaport and residential South Boston.

The main block type utilizes a walk-up housing module from a previous design project.

Secondary circulation network comes from the green spaces, which draw one into the waterfront from surrounding roads.

Civic and critical public amenity buildings serve as anchors, guides and meeting points.

Holistic transportation development plan.

This development has various commercial and public buildings which target the area's isolation and the residents' specific needs. The commercial district brings in economic development from Broadway further south and ties the site to the traditional center of South Boston.

Main streets with only two car lanes discourage car use and allow for a much more vibrant, pedestrian-focused street condition with opportunities for commercial uses spilling out onto the street.

All open spaces have a dual function, as both recreational and working landscapes.

The site's most important ecological purpose is to funnel stormwater to specific drainage basins, both hardscape and softscape, and to protect the shore against flooding and erosion.

A biofiltration basin is a seasonally flooded planted area which captures stormwater to help it either penetrate into the soil or be transpired by plants and which has the potential to hold contaminating heavy metals, such as the lead on our site, in place through a process called phytostabilization.

Hardscape interventions include curb bulbouts which can catch and filter stormwater and two sunken plazas with permeable pavers to funnel water.