Hood Park Bike Pavilion

This project was selected as a Merit winner in ARCHITECT's 2024 Architecture & Interiors Awards, Architecture: Landscape Architecture category.

“I liked the way it embraced context, and then to bring in the activity that’s going to invite the neighborhood into the interaction with the architecture. That was interesting.” –Juror Ben Crawford

Boston, known for its parks and public spaces, also has a rich industrial past. As the city's population grows faster than anticipated, according to the Boston 2030 plan commissioned by Mayor Michelle Wu, there is a need to repurpose industrial sites for housing. Hood Park is one such site, set to transform the historic Hood Dairy Company’s production facility into a vibrant mixed-use district with offices, labs, residences, retail space, and a hotel. This ambitious plan will revitalize the area, turning the currently nondescript Rutherford Avenue into an appealing pedestrian street with bike paths and landscaped sidewalks. The development will enhance the site's and its neighbors' long-term resilience by raising a significant portion of the 20-acre campus, including streets, sidewalks, and building entries, by up to four feet to address climate change and sea-level rise, reducing weather-related damage.

A highlight of the future Hood Park complex is the new Hood Bike Park, envisioned as a neighborhood destination and an early gem of the development. Spanning 22,000 square feet, it exemplifies excellent place-making, attracting not only Hood Park tenants and residents but also people from across Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown. It will serve as a venue for concerts, festivals, farmers' markets, and other community events.

The park is designed to buffer the adjacent elevated interstate highway, rail corridor, recycling center, and other industrial sites. Its landscape is elevated and tilted to face away from these areas, with a grove of trees at the top, known as "the perch," shielding the park visually from the highway and rail lines. The perch, with seating, tables, and a view of the landmark Hood smokestack, overlooks a lawn that slopes gently to a flat stage area. Native plants were chosen for their ability to capture air pollution, and the site is designed to filter and reuse stormwater. A wood-clad pavilion under the perch houses bicycle facilities, including storage, a repair shop, public restrooms, showers, and lockers. The entire park is accessible, with gently sloping ramps.

Currently, with the broader Hood Park development still in progress, Hood Bike Park might seem out of place. However, it is set to become the neighborhood's village green, community amphitheater, and central gathering spot.

PROJECT CREDITS:
Project: Hood Bike Park
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Client/Owner: Catamount Management
Architect: Elkus Manfredi Architects
Construction Start Date: April 2019
Construction End Date: Fall 2021
Mechanical Engineer: WSP Engineers
Structural Engineer: McNamara Salvia
Electrical Engineer: WSP Engineers
Civil Engineer: SMMA
General Contractor: Lee Kennedy & Co.
Landscape Architect: Offshoots, Inc.
Lighting Designer: Castelli Design
Other Consultants:
Building Enclosure: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger
Hardware: Robbie McCabe Consulting
Specifications: Kalin Associates
Geotechnical Engineer: Haley & Aldrich
Code Consultant: Jensen Hughes
Size: 22,000 GSF

MATERIALS AND SOURCES:
Adhesives, Coatings and Sealants: Hot Asphalt Membrane Waterproofing
Bathroom Fixtures: American Standard
Ceilings: Cumaru wood soffits
Concrete: Architectural Concrete
Exterior Wall Systems: Reinforced Concrete
Flooring: Precast Pavers, Polished Concrete
Furniture: Wausau Precast Site Benches, Huntco Site Furnishings
Glass: Saint Gobain, Low-Iron tempered storefront glass
HVAC: Electric Unit Heaters
Insulation: Geofoam, Planting Soils
Lighting Control Systems: Legrand
Lighting: LED light fixtures
Masonry and Stone: Wasau Precast Pavers, riverbed landscape stone
Metal: Stainless Steel Guardrails, Corten Steel Fascia
Paints and Finishes: Penofin Oil (Cumaru Wood)
Photovoltaics or other Renewables: Storm Water Retention and Detention
Plumbing and Water System: Electric Water Heaters
Roofing: Green Roof, extensive planting, Cumaru wood deck
Site and Landscape Products: Wausau Precast Pavers
Structural System: Reinforced Concrete
Wallcoverings: Cumaru Wood
Walls: Concrete, Cumaru Wood
Windows and Doors: SkyFrame Sliding Glass Storefront

Photography is Peter Vanderwarker for all photos uploaded apart from the sustainability diagram which is by Elkus Manfredi Architects.