CHICAGO – The Metal Construction Association (MCA) awarded the Residence at 877 Beacon in Boston its 2017 Chairman’s Award for the Residential category.
The need for renovation came after fire destroyed the interior office space at 877 Beacon Street in Boston, and left the beloved original facade in disrepair. The project was challenged to respect the historic neighborhood, Audubon Circle, in the front.
Plans included a historic renovation with a roof top and rear residential addition. An added penthouse emulates the historic curved masonry facade with a curved patterned copper skin derived from the existing design. New storefronts align with the masonry openings along Beacon Street.
The windows in the rear addition are directly placed to maximize the opening percentages allowable by code, and the beveled forms relate to the alternating bay windows in the back alley. The rear addition is lifted above the ground plane to accommodate for parking for the residents.
Copper was the appropriate choice for its historical character, durability, beauty and flexibility around curves. At the rear of the site, the challenge was to create a dynamic and textured facade that was less expensive than copper, but kept a similar aesthetic and quality. Coil sheet metal was used to create a dynamic facade that expresses the building’s geometry, floor levels, and as a way to break up the massive addition. The metal panel skin introduces a subtle champagne palette to balance against the neighboring red brick facades.
“I enjoyed the dichotomy of taking those overall brick forms and adding something. Changing up the material but echoing the rhythm and the scale. If you had used the same material you would have lost all the drama of what they were able to do here. I thought this was a beautiful project,” said MCA judge Brent Schipper, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, ASK Studio, Des Moines, Iowa.
The award was announced at a special ceremony during the MCA Winter Meeting, held in San Diego, California from January 22-24, 2018. The annual 3-day event fosters industry collaboration, networking and growth in the metal construction industry.
The Chairman’s Awards are given to the year’s most exceptional building projects involving MCA member companies based on overall appearance, significance of metal in the project, innovative use of metal, and the role of metal in achieving project objectives.
Recipients for these awards are selected each year from projects submitted by MCA members to Metal Architecture Magazine’s annual Design Awards Program. The honorees were chosen by a panel of professional architects, which included Mark Dewalt, AIA, Principal, Valerio Dewalt Train Associates, Chicago, Illinois; Mark Horton, FAIA, Principal, Mark Horton/Architecture, San Francisco, California; and Brent Schipper, AIA, LEED AP, Principal, ASK Studio, Des Moines, Iowa.
The 2017 MCA Chairman’s Awards were given in eight categories: overall excellence; residential; metal roofing; education, primary and secondary schools; education, colleges and universities; institutional; municipal; and commercial/industrial.
Project Recognition
Building Owner: SCG Property Management
MCA Member Manufacturer: Englert, Inc.
MCA Member Coating Manufacturer: PPG Industries
Other Manufacturer: Revere Copper Products, Inc.
Architect: Touloukian Touloukian Inc.
Contractor: Catamount Builders
Metal Installer: Modernized Architectural Sheet Metal
Metal Fabricator: Modernized Architectural Sheet Metal
The Metal Construction Association brings together a diverse industry for the purpose of expanding the use of metal in construction through marketing, research, technology, and education. Companies involved in MCA gain tremendous benefit from association activities that focus on research, codes and standards, market development, and technical programs. MCA’s market development efforts increase the use of metal materials in construction through the education of the building and design communities regarding the benefits of metal.
