Opened in 1928, the 1M-square-foot Sears Roebuck & Co. warehouse and distribution center was a retail powerhouse until Sears abandoned the building in 1988. It re-opened in 2000 with a movie theater, office spaces, and retail. But with underused offices and big-box stores unresponsive to a neighborhood transformation, the developer knew the official Boston Landmark would benefit from repositioning.
Challenge
Envisioned as a mixed-use hub linking Boston’s Fenway and Longwood Medical neighborhoods, the first part of this phased project needed to forge ground-level connections between the community and a diverse retail/restaurant program. Designers were challenged with reinventing common areas on the garage level, ground-floor lobby, and second-floor atria and lobby as well as activating the exterior realm.
Design Solutions
Breathing new life into the old space -now called 401 Park - was not only more sustainable than building new, it honors the rich history of this neighborhood cornerstone.
Solutions include:
•Stripping interiors to their structural bones, revealing the building’s industrial character
•Celebrating architectural elements, such as the soaring concrete columns, to recall the original building and create a sense of scale
•Custom designing a railing with Boston-centric names/places to honor the city’s rich history within the historical context
•Creating space for the 25,000-square-foot Time Out Market food hall, featuring massive windows that open to the outdoors
•Converting a parking lot into a public park.
Today, 401 Park is once again a neighborhood cornerstone, paying homage to the Fenway’s legacy while serving as a dynamic day/night destination for visitors, workers, and residents.
All the information about how to enter the 2020 WAN Awards is here.
We are very happy to offer support so please don’t hesitate to email Georgia, WAN Awards Event Coordinator with any questions at Georgia.Baily@haymarket.com.
Last year more than 40 countries took part in the WAN Awards with strong showings from Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific. And we saw some truly outstanding projects, take a look at the winners from last year here.