Four Tenets of Engagement: Collaborating with Developers and Communities to Make Great Places

By John Rufo

At Form + Place we recently went through a brainstorming exercise as part of our brand evolution to confirm for ourselves why we work, how we work and how this should serve our clients and the communities we design in.  As a result, we identified four tenets of engagement that we believe each design effort should embrace as part of the process.  We refer to them as 1) Collaborative Visioning 2) Community Building 3) Integrated Form-making and 4) Experiential Place-making.

In a daily way we approach the complexities of design by staying true to the belief that great places are made through a collaborative process that builds community connections, integrates multiple points of view and results in authentic experiences of place. The “complexities of design” can include almost anything from challenging site constraints to detailing sophisticated façade systems to negotiating a public vetting process to fitting a design within a tight budget without losing the impactful details of the project.

Our work is primarily driven by the development world as we design mixed-use commercial projects in contexts that range from urban to rural and everything in between.  Regardless of the physical context and project program, we believe the four main tenets of engagement are critical to the project’s ability to situate itself in the community and take part in the ongoing conversation of civic development. More than that, we believe the developers and communities that are our clients will always benefit from embracing these tenets and integrating them into the development and entitlement process in any community.

Collaborative Visioning

Whether form-making or place-making, good design stems from listening to our client’s goals and collaborating with them to articulate a vision. People expect architects to design, developers to develop and builders to build, but community stakeholders don’t always expect the development team to listen deeply to their goals and concerns. As we enter the community review process the same deep listening and creative visioning applies. Whether executing a complex mixed-use building on a key urban infill site or re-imagining the future of an 80-acre rural campus, working directly with all stakeholders to catalyze an engaging design is important for successful project fruition. 

Community Building 

At Form + Place we thrive on what we call “the seam” between the private development world and communities that are continually seeking to reshape their vision for the future. Whether contemplating a new master plan for a Center Business District or helping to frame design guidelines for a large-scale mixed-use development, an approach to community building should emphasize creatively engaging all voices in an effort to find the optimal balance between certainty and flexibility. Stitching “the seam” together to achieve a shared vision can be a long process but it will ultimately build community trust and engagement as the project is realized.

On both sides of the seam, certainty that the entitlement process will yield the desired results, and flexibility for the project to evolve with changing economic trends are critical to a process that builds community trust. The more the development team and community stakeholders are engaged in open dialogue about the realities of development and its impact, the more likely it is for a project to fit into its context. Once the project is executed it furthers the community building process through its programming and design, providing venues for retailing, working, living and hosting daily civic life.

Integrated Form-Making 

Whether in the adaptive reuse of an existing structure or ground-up development, designing and constructing a building is a complex undertaking that requires an integrated approach from initial vision to final execution. Once the design direction is established, owner, architect and builder all have roles to play in continuing to shape the project. In any context a new or renovated project should look to its immediate surroundings for initial programming and design cues. All aspects of building design, from conceptual site design to architectural detailing to the integration of complex building systems should synthesize to reinforce a building’s form and help it become an integral part of its neighborhood.

Experiential Place-making

When done well, place-making can define the essence of a community, integrating its historical context and cultural identity to reinforce its current identity and future aspirations. Great places often facilitate a wide range of social activities including gathering, contemplation and recreation. Thoughtfully designed places are integrally defined by the buildings that frame them and draw on influences from the natural environment, but it is the experiential piece of the equation, including purposeful programming, that brings them to life.

Engagement in public civic life means something different to everyone. For one person it might be regularly attending community planning or zoning meetings, for another it might mean making sure to get out for a walk, check in on a neighbor or attend a public concert. The places that we occupy as participants in public life have equal variety; some are intimate and quiet, some expansive, some are centered in the community while some might be out at the edges. Understanding the many levels that people engage in public life is the first step in creating the potential for experiences that fulfill the role of our public spaces as places that meet the needs of people in the communities where they work, live and play.

Synergy and Context – Examity Completes the Placemaking Picture at Newton Nexus

By John Rufo

When one thinks of a great second floor office lease to complete the picture of a vibrant retail center, you couldn’t really ask for better than the Examity space at Newton Nexus. The existing second floor shell, recently retrofitted by Form + Place and Construction Coordinators Inc (CCI), spans the entire second level of the endcap building above Boston Ballet and Boston Ski & Tennis and now serves as a catalyst of visual interest and light to and from Newton Nexus. The space itself is long and very narrow in plan and the strip windows perched above the retail center show it off from the ground as well as provide a panoramic view of Nexus and ample natural light for Examity employees.

The long proportions and potential for significant natural lighting of the space informed the character and design resolution of the project.  In some places, however, the existing shell posed challenges that required team decision making on the fly.  Some days we were literally designing as we stood in the space with Examity, CCI and Crosspoint Associates - the landlord and developer of Newton Nexus. It was quite a collaborative effort!

From the start Examity conveyed that they wanted a very open environment with a central focus on food offerings throughout the day for employees. Michael London, CEO of Examity asked for a “great café feel” when you enter the space; something welcoming with a hospitality focus. This presented the opportunity to create real synergy with Newton Nexus as the feel of wide open and inviting experience continues up and into the Examity space.

A critical piece to creating an airy and dynamic environment was to design an open ceiling in as much of the space as possible. The existing hung ceiling was 8’-5” above the floor and made for a pretty oppressive environment, but demolishing the ceiling wasn’t possible until the lease was completed, and by the time it was finally executed, the schedule was tight in order to be open for Examity’s busy season. Once the ceiling was opened, the design changed radically to accommodate the existing HVAC and cable trays, gain more headroom and highlight other “latent features” such as the unique grid of concrete beams supporting the roof. Despite the tight timeline, Examity asked us to continue to explore the potential in exposing more and more of the ceiling, which in the end, makes for an edgy and fun space to be in.

Another existing condition that turned into an opportunity was a hidden structural wall with a long window opening that was tucked into the middle of the space. When the first addition was added to the building several decades ago, this piece of exterior wall was simply framed over and left concealed in drywall partitions. Since we couldn’t just remove it without causing structural issues, the project team decided to keep the wall, open the old window, and capitalize on the condition by creating a bar area for gathering and socializing. Examity celebrated this idea further by displaying vintage liquor and wine bottles at the sides of the bar to increase the sense of placemaking and respite from the work day.

As previously stated, the parti for the plan solution is mostly driven by the existing building context. Because of the high clerestory-like windows on the “back side” of the space overlooking the Boston Ballet roof, the logical space planning diagram was to gang offices, conference rooms and other enclosed spaces primarily along the back edge and allow the larger windows overlooking Nexus to flood the open office areas with light. The larger context of the retail center and activity of Needham Street, seen from these strip windows, further sets the mood of a vibrant and active setting for Examity. Mixed-use synergy across the continuum of placemaking is a great plus for any working environment, be it office or retail. Not too long ago these kinds of stories did not exist along Needham Street and the N-Squared Innovation District, but now, with thoughtful panning and programming, we are beginning to see a variety of placemaking efforts and a synergistic mix of uses that make this regional node a desirable place to live, work and play.

Rewriting Newton’s Zoning: Can it be Contextual and Aspirational?

By Michael A. Wang

The City of Newton, Massachusetts is going through an extensive process to rewrite its Zoning Ordinance. This is a major undertaking for a City in which 85%-95% of the parcels have a non-conforming aspect. That may seem like a surprisingly large percentage, but many long-established communities have considerable building stock that pre-date their current bylaws. In Newton, nearly three-quarters of the City was built before the establishment of the 1953 Zoning Ordinance. Many see zoning as an impediment to forward-thinking development, while others believe that it is a helpful tool for preserving the unique qualities of a place. Perhaps it is not so black and white.

One of the challenges for any city attempting a comprehensive rewrite of its zoning is to convince its constituency that the new ordinance will ensure that future development will be contextual. Outspoken community members know what they don’t like and often default to a NIMBY platform. As such, it is a smart approach for a city to say that new regulations governing both residential and village contexts will increase the likelihood that new development will complement the scale and spirit of the existing context. However, it is also important to consider the aspirational side of the equation.

Building consensus through contextual design

In a recent two-part forum for architects and designers held by the Newton Planning and Development Department and facilitated by Form + Place, a Newton-based architecture and planning firm, participants explored the ramifications of proposed site and building design dimensional criteria. In introductory remarks, the City reiterated one of its guiding principles, that what matters is a building’s relationship to its neighborhood, not to its lot. This underscores Newton’s desire to move away from Floor Area Ratio [F.A.R. dictates that the square footage of a building be directly proportional to the size of the lot on which it is being developed] as a key determining factor for what one can build on a specific parcel. One of the biggest issues that the City is trying to address with this approach is to prevent developers from purchasing oversized lots or assembling contiguous parcels in order to build “monster” houses or commercial buildings that are not appropriately-scaled for their immediate context. While it is easy for community members to say that a building is too tall or that having a drive-through in a village context ruins the feeling of a well-defined shopping street, the question of how prescriptive a zoning bylaw should be with respect to building and site design criteria remains a source of much debate.

The Newton Centre “triangle”

During the forum, designers looked at a range of sites, including a couple of key parcels in Newton Centre. While the reuse of the City-owned triangle [parking lot] at the core of Newton Centre has often been the focus of redevelopment speculation, participants explored the surrounding blocks, asking questions such as whether one-story retail blocks are adequate to define a village center with significant open space, and how does one find the right balance between the pedestrian and the automobile in a location where there is multi-modal transit access.

What is the appropriate balance of development and open space?

The question remains, how aspirational should a zoning bylaw be? Rewriting a regulation so that a great deal more of a community’s existing buildings and sites are conforming is a good starting point but, when a developer with significant land holdings puts forward a vision that will impact a substantial part of a city, there must be additional mechanisms available to define an approvals process that is adequate to vet the design. The City of Newton currently has numerous large-scale projects in the works, including along the Washington Street corridor, at the Riverside Station and on the Newton-Needham line. While projects of this scale need to be addressed on an individual basis through specific mechanisms that are outside of an overall zoning regulation rewrite, they should be considered holistically by a community.

In Watertown, Form + Place recently helped write a new Regional Mixed-Use District for industrial lands along Arsenal Street to help facilitate the development of Arsenal Yards. This project came to fruition because the Town had a Comprehensive Plan in place that outlined aspirations for the redevelopment of this area, and a development team – Boylston Properties and The Wilder Companies – came forward and was willing to work with the Town to help execute a shared vision.

Reshaping Watertown’s Arsenal Street Corridor

The Newton community should be open to a similar process and should position itself to take advantage of the visionary opportunities that public–private partnerships can bring. Whether defining new overlay districts or utilizing a master plan special permit approach, there are many mechanisms available to allow for adequate oversight through a well-defined approvals process. Most of the large-scale development currently happening is proposed along major commercial corridors but residents of village centers such as Newtonville and West Newton are certainly feeling change.

The challenge for a community such as Newton is to be proactive and aspirational. There are many successful models for Smart Growth that are currently being implemented in similar communities throughout the northeast. So, instead of being fearful of large-scale development, stakeholders should ask themselves how they can help shape proposed development so that it can be both contextual and forward-thinking.