A Beacon House
Marketplace, Art Gallery, and Dormitory
...The program of A Beacon House not only includes a marketplace, art gallery, and multistory dormitory, but also the building serves as a symbol for the growing art community in the area. The architecture will act as a beacon to attract the surrounding community into this new hybrid space. A grocery store will be located on the lower level to solve the food scarcity in the south Boston neighborhood. Being accessible from both Founders and the 4th St bridge allows more of the community to easily access this grocery store. Above this will be the art galleries and market. In these spaces, the residents of the building will be able to showcase and sell their artwork to the community.
...The form of the building comes from the simple idea of overlapping two opposing grids to create three unique spaces. The residence tower features simple and compact geometry and structure to emphasize privacy and comfortability for the residents. To juxtapose this, the marketplace utilizes massive and complex glulam beams and columns to showcase the capabilities of mass timber to the community. These two structures are folded into one another to create a seamless, delaminating affect throughout the entire architecture. This allows the architecture to become a symbol and beacon for this new community to unify in and around.
*Project selected as the 2019 Portman Prize Competition Honorable Mention
