Unique Solutions: A Challenging Site Offers Opportunities for a New Beginning
/By John Rufo
The existing commercial development at One Wheeler Road in Burlington MA is a site familiar to many who drive by it on their way to the shopping, dining and business destinations in this rapidly evolving commercial hub. Lots of people think of it as the “Tweeter Building” though Tweeter Etc. hasn’t been a tenant there for quite some time. Sited adjacent to the north bound exit/entrance ramp at I-95 and the Middlesex Turnpike, the iconic blue-green corrugated metal siding clad building is still there, but not for long.
Existing building at One Wheeler Road, Burlington, MA
The new project that will take its place represents a unique approach to site development and building design, and it has cleared all of the local approval hurdles. The longtime owner of the site, Yu 66 Corporation, is redeveloping it to address today’s retail leasing realities, create an updated sense of curb appeal, and provide a contemporary architectural venue for a new roster of tenants. Not only does the parcel have terrific sight lines exiting and entering I-95, the potential views from the Middlesex Turnpike in both directions make it an obvious candidate for redevelopment to highly visible engaging retail activity.
View of proposed redevelopment traveling south on Middlesex Turnpike
When Form + Place was engaged by the owner to reimagine a building in this location, three design goals were established:
The Façade facing the Middlesex Turnpike would need to be scaled in such a way as to overcome its distance from the street.
The “bowl-shaped” topography of the site would need to be turned into an advantage for leasing yield.
An iconic tower or other element would be employed to give identity to tenants in less visible areas of the site.
What evolved from these goals was a combined site design strategy by Jim White of H.W. Moore Associates and a building design strategy by Form + Place that would work together to take advantage of topography, maximize tenant identity and create a welcoming engaging environment to shop and dine.
View of proposed redevelopment traveling north on Middlesex Turnpike
The entire site will be regraded to create a two-level project with a lower level façade addressing Wheeler Road at the main vehicular entrance and an upper level façade facing the Middlesex Turnpike. Stores facing the turnpike will sit at a higher grade level than the existing site affords today and there will be parking directly in front of those stores allowing for ease of access and increased activity.
The building itself has been designed to take advantage of the new site layout and overcome the topographic challenges in a variety of ways. Providing front field parking adjacent to the turnpike necessarily pushes the façade away from the street edge even as it brings the grade up out of the bowl. The building façade responds with a glass line that is taller than many retail venues and a roof height that is higher as well. The expanded glass storefronts and raised roof allow for the tenants to emphasize their identity and exploit the new at-grade site lines to feature store merchandise and branding opportunities.
Evolution of the façade facing Middlesex Turnpike
The tower, as one might imagine, was the subject of much discussion with the Burlington Zoning and Planning Boards. Ultimately a design was agreed upon that will provide an appropriately scaled iconic presence to the building while also giving tenant identity to the Wheeler Road tenants from the I-95 ramps and the Middlesex Turnpike.
Evolution of the corner tower at the Middlesex Turnpike and Wheeler Road
The smaller corner feature at the Middlesex Turnpike and Wheeler Road also evolved through the course of design and entitlements. Traveling north on the turnpike, the building only becomes visible as one gets close to Wheeler Road, clearing the visual obstruction of neighboring projects. The visibility of the corner of the building, straddling the two grade levels, thus becomes a critical moment in the success of the project as the two retail facades merge and establish the project’s new identity and curb appeal.
As the retail industry continually evolves, it renders certain buildings and sites antiquated and out of date both functionally and aesthetically. At One Wheeler Road in Burlington, the particular characteristics of the bowl-shaped site eventually made the existing development obsolete while creating the potential for a new development to move forward. One of the most important tasks of the design team is to identify creative solutions latent in these kinds of conditions and turn them into added value in the development process.