DESIGN GUIDELINE FOR
NEW GILLETTE SQUARE
GILLETTE SQUARE
OVERVIEW 1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Major Characteristics of Gillette Square • Area : 1,360,618 sqft • Location : Fort Point Channel
1 Storm Water Inlet
St
Do
rc h
3 es
te rA ve
Bleak View Along the A Street
4
A
1 4
2
3
Artistic Facade of the HQ
5
Historic Wharf Bulidings
Large Surface Parking Lot
2 5 6
Broadway St.
6
3-Min Walk from Broadway St.
Gillette Has Been Here For More than 100 Years
1905
present
• In 1905, the P&G Gillette Safety Razor Company opened its South Boston plant • The company relied on the Channel as both its direct shipping route and a natural resource in the form of process cooling
water for its manufacturing needs
• Later, as its shipping modes shifted to container shipping and relied increasingly on vehicular
2020
transportation, truck routes were designated in South Boston to keep these industrial uses viable.
1,300
3,000,000
• P&G/Gillette is the single largest in New England.
largest manufacturing employer in Boston, and one of the
• Currently maintain approximately 1,500
2011
employees
• P&G/Gillette pays the City of Boston over $3,000,000 in real business machinery taxes to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
• P&G/Gillette has invested approximately $1 possible its current manufacturing capacity
estate taxes and also pays significant
2005
billion over the last decade in updating the factory to make
1977
Recent Changes in the South Boston Waterfront HIGH-END COMMERCIAL & CUTTING-EDGE INDUSTRY
MIXED-USE
(RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL, INSTITUTIONAL)
Image Source : Boston.com
GE
LIFE SCIENCE
Assumptions and Goals As a Municipal Neighborhood Planner
THIS SITE IS LIKELY TO BE DEVELOPED WITH
High-End Commercial, Office, and Research
Less Investment on Climate Infrastructure
Less Space for Communal Use Less Concern about the Public Character of Waterfront
Prefer Demolishing over Refurbishing
GOALS
Community Needs Preservation of Heritage Increased Public Access to Waterfront
Space for Public Use
Climate Resilient
What Can A Site-Specific Design Guideline Do?
DESIGN GUIDELINE
Predictability
Priority
Directionality
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
45-DAYS PUBLIC CONSULTATION
NEGOTIATION PDA BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT SCENE PLAN
Contextuality
APPROVAL OF PDA
DESIGN REVIEW & OTHER REPORTING PROCESS
<Expected Timeline of the Development Process>
BUILDING PERMIT
1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Six Guiding Principles
Flood Path 3
ABSORB
1
4
5
REMAIN
BUILD
CONNECT
6
OPEN 2
PRESERVE
Land Use & Urban Design
GILLETTE SQUARE GILLETTE SQUARE
Industrial Surface Parking Lot Street Mixed Commercial/Residential Commercial/Office Public Facilities & Institutuions Open Space Pedestrian Only Street / Plaza
CONCEPTUAL LAND USE
Land Use & Urban Design INDUSTRIAL
Gillette Remains Significant portion of the current function of Gillette remains mainly with Headquarter and offices
Use Adaptively Celebrate the industrial legacy through the adaptive reuse of historically significant buildings along the West 2nd Street
Land Use & Urban Design PUBLIC & INSTITUTIONAL
Community Facilities
Dedication of at least one (1) building along the A Street as a community facilities including non-profit uses, house of worship uses, social services center uses, childcare, day care center, learning or tutoring center, community center, arts studio and exhibit space, and historical exhibit etc.
Artist Live/Work Space At least twenty percent (20%) of the new office units proposed in the development plan on site should be live/work space for artist.
Land Use & Urban Design MIXED COMMERCIAL COMMERCIAL &RESIDENTIAL &OFFICE
Affordable Housing • At least 30% of the new dwelling units proposed in the mixed-used buildings are affordable or • the Applicant causes the creation, rehabilitation, or preservation of affordable dwelling units off site by making a dollor contribution to the Neighborhood Housing Trust
Ground Floor Use • A minimum of 75% of the square footage of ground floor storefronts, along the pedestrian rights-of-way shall be for space occupied by Commercial and Retail Corridor Uses
Land Use & Urban Design • Max building height : 155 Feet Maximum Building Height • Building elements shall generally step down in height towards the water's edge
Maximum FAR
Limit to the Horizontal Building Wall Max Building Coverage
• Three (3)
• Avoid continuous, uninterrupted horizontal facade massing to the waterfront • Less than 50%
Public Realm
1
3
At least 50% of the site should be dedicated as an “publicly OPEN SPACE accessible open space”
TYPE1 A new publicly owned, permanetly protected waterfront park TYPE2 A new privately owned park with various community uses TYPE3 A new privately owned park, next to active retail uses
having seating areas and landscaping, and can be utilized for community events
2
Create a cohesive network of streets, walking paths, bicySTREETSCAPE, cle and bike stations, and encourage the use of adjacent TRANSPORTATION MBTA Red line as well as the Broadway MBTA Red Line & ACCESS Station located adjacent to the site.
1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Climate Resilience
1 ABSORB
1
Programmed Waterfront Park
2 MITIGATE
2
Resilient Building Strategy
Flood Path
1 ABSORB
Waterfront Park
Green Space • Rain Garden • Vegetated Swales • Detention Ponds • Bioretention
Terrace
+ All porous material
Berm Pedestrian/Bikeway Vertical Bulkhead Harborwalk
Waterfront Park Programming Component Example
2 MITIGATE
STRATEGY EXAMPLE FOR RETROFITTED BUILDINGS
Establish Resilient Building Strategies by Building Types
1 Protect Critical Systems
2 Enhanced Envelop
Retrofitted Pre-war Mixed-Use
Newly Constructed Multifamily Mixed-Use & Commercial 3
Backup Systems
4
5 Dry Floodproofing
Elevate Lowest Interior Floor + Provide Interior Circulation to DFE
Source : Boston Coastal Flood Resilience Design Guidelines
1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Accessibility and Walkability
Pedestrians and bikers should have more choices for routing than drivers
Potential Pedestrian Route to Waterfront Potential Driver Route to Waterfront
3 2
Traffic Calming
Enhance Pedestrian Experience
1
Add Vibrancy along the A St
Current Condition
Add Vibrancy Along the A St B
ght i e h g uildin
ing p p e t s
nt o r f r e wa t d r a w wn to
do
g facade in d il u b t n te is s n o c Visually
Commercial
and
loor
ound F r G r o f s e s U Retail
Gateway to the waterfront Visually noticeable bikelane (5’) Pedestrian Walkway (12’)
Greenscape and Furnishing Zone
Permeable and Green Sidewalk
Enhance Pedestrian Experience Use materials, landscaping, public art, signage, lighting, and furniture that enhance the pedestrian environment and connectivity with waterfront
Enable Informal Surveillance
Permeable Ground Material Ground-Floor Retails
Encourage Activities
Public Art Landscaping
Lighting for Safety
Adopt Multiple Traffic Calming Strategies
Lane Narrowing
Buildings and Trees
Pinchpoints
Speed Humps
Pavement Materials and Appearance
Shared Streets
Locations where pedestrians may pop up or jaywalk Streets where cars can go
Source : Global Designing Cities Initiative
1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Heritage Preservation
Use the Wharf Buildings adaptively
Key Points • Abandon complete demolishing scenario • Preserve the existing patterns of the facade • Add layers and height to the existing buildings • Integrate the history of the building into programming
120 ft
76 ft
How to • Life-cycle costing • Create a collaborative and multi-disciplinary design team
117 ft
35 ft
Current Height
Adaptive re-use gives new life to a site, rather than seeking to freeze it at a particular moment in time, it explores the options that lie between the extremes of demolition or turning a site into a museum. Adding a new layer without erasing earlier layers, an adaptive reuse project becomes part of the long history of the site. It is another outcome. - Justine Clarke, Adaptive Re-use of Industrial Heritage, Heritage Council Victoria, 2013
Heritage Preservation
Preserve the facade of the Gillette HQ
X Significant facade elements have been demolished and the alterations are not respectful of the assessed cultural significance of the the heritage.
O Alternations to non-contributory building do not detract from the assessed significance of the heritage precinct.
Facade of Gillette HQ at Night
Facade of Gillette HQ in the Daytime
1. RECAP OF SITE CHARACTERISTICS AND GOALS 2. DESIGN GUIDELINES - LAND USE & URBAN DESIGN - CLIMATE RESILIENCE - ACCESSIBILITY AND WALKABILITY - HERITAGE PRESERVATION 3. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Challenges
How can a municipal neighborhood planner properly understand community needs for a specific site? Does the community envision this area to be a residential area? Is community engagement essential for the site-specific design guidelines?
IT IS LIKELY High-End Commercial, Office, and Research
Less Investment on Climate Infrastructure
Less Space for Communal Use Less Concern about the Public Character of Waterfront
Prefer Demolishing over Refurbishing
GOALS Community Needs Preservation of Heritage Increased Public Access to Waterfront
Space for Public Use
Climate Resilient
Looking Ahead : Community Engagement
INVOLVE
Visioning Workshop Goal Setting Workshop Focus Area Deep Dive1 - Affordability Focus Area Deep Dive2 - Open Space
DESIGN
Develop Guideline Drafts
CONSULT
Public Meetings Public Comments
THANK YOU!
GILLETTE SQUARE