Brook House Condominium Expansion/Renovation

Working in a very small office in South Boston Office meant taking more responsibilities and learning to not only produce design documents but take an active role in research, construction administration, client relations all while midway through design school.

Practice: Architects + Associated Designers, A+AD Inc. South Boston, MA Working Independently meant many road trips.....

To meet the client, pick up the client, run the construction meeting, do the site visit, do a presentation to the Town of Brookline, research for an upcoming project at the Inspections Service Department, go to the Building Department, go to the Boston Society of Architects, drop off the drawings for the client......the adventures on the road....

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Brook House Master Plan Development Condominium Renovation + Expansion Brookline, MA

Design Mission: renovating, expanding and modernizing a high end condominium in Brookline, MA composed of four primary buildings (see site plan). Design Involves Renovating Main Lobbies of 4 Buildings: A, B, C, D. Renovating Health club Center and Designing a Lap Pool covered by an aluminum frame glass solarium. Total Expansion of project: 12,456 sf.

Building Background: The association of four buildings houses 760 condominiums many of which have balconies with wonderful area views including the Brookline and Boston skylines. The most unique condition is an elevated courtyard at Building D where there are planters to provide owners with landscaped sanctuary (see image 4).

Building Type: concrete frame construction high rise buildings cladded with a masonry window wall Role: Produced existing condition drawings, design development and construction documents of new work. Did extensive 3D modelling exploring design options. Involved in working with the Brook House project manager in verifying that mechanical systems coordinated with design intent. Presented new design schemes to the Brookline Building Department for comments and review. The Brookline Building Department interpreted that the project would be expanding the residential space which would in turn require additional parking spaces.

Increasing FAR (Floor Area Ration) within a condominium complex requires per code additional parking spaces. We updated the drawings to reflect this change and systemically added parking spaces within the site. However our firm took the opportunity of doing a tour with our client, our lawyer and a member of Brookline Building Department to articulate clearly that this design was simply expanding commercial space. Although we had figured out a way to add more parking per FAR requirements, this intervention was simply a commercial expansion and not a residential one.

Site Plan

Image 1: Building B

Image 2: Building D + C

Image 3: Building B + A

Image 4: Courtyard at Building D

Why was the Firm Engaged to do such a Project?

The Interiors were quite outdated stylistically and our firm was hired to give a more contemporary look. One of the major design as you may see further was incorporating water features into the design to add a sense of tranquility.

Although the interiors had a poor color palette and rather dull look, the exterior of the building had a timeless and elegant quality.

Typical Interior

Building A: Communicating the Expansions A major part of the design was to clearly define where the new expansions would occur (represented in yellow) . This exercise was carried in Building B, C and D.

Elevation 1

Plan: Building A

Elevation 2

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Laying the Groundwork: Building B Design and Construction Drawings

Civil and Glazing Details

Proposed Floor Plan: Building B

Door Details: Automatic sliding, aluminum frame doors

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After

Developing Interiors Building C

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1 1: Hallway 3

Building C: Floor Plan

Building C Entrance

2: View of Space from Elevator Lobby

3: View of New Management Office

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Building D: Gym, Outdoor Patio, Lap Pool

New Outdoor Patio Basement Level: New Gym and Locker rooms

Ground Level View

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Building D: Lap Pool The lap pool was based on the Faneuil Hall Glass Solarium designed by Sir Ben Thompson. The building has garage roll-up doors and a roofing system composed of steel purlins holding up glass sheathing. A set of sketches reflect the detailing. They show the mechanics of the garage roll-up doors as well as the roofing details.

Elevation of Lap Pool.

Sketches of the Faneuil Hall Glass Solarium: Applied these technical mechanics to this design.

Building D: Interior, 6 Story Waterfall An Indoor Waterfall was developed in the main lobby of Building D.

Views of Waterfall

Building D: Floor Plan

Building D: Front Entry

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