Tree House Residence Hall, MassArt

Boston, Massachusetts

The new Mass Art Residence Hall is an exciting opportunity for Mass Art to re-craft its public identity, create a new center of student life, and reflect the expressive character of the college.

Fronting onto Huntington Avenue (the Avenue of the Arts), the landscape capitalizes on the public life of the street and college serving as a prominent landmark for MassArt. The design is based on the simple idea of providing places to sit. However, the seatwalls are no so simple as they undulate both in plan and in section to create unique seating for individuals, small groups, and class gatherings. Custom wood benches inset with glowing colored poly carbonate lights enhance the curves of the seatwalls.

Highly visible from the residence halls above, the paving pattern shadows the expressive form of the planters. The planting is primarily native with swaths of evergreen groundcovers and perennials beneath a canopy of Amelanchier trees.

LOCATION
Boston, MA

CLIENT
MSCBA/ MassArt

ARCHITECT
ADD Inc

FACILITY
University Residence Hall

SIZE
1.2 Acres

STATUS
Completed 2012

SCOPE
Landscape Architecture

PHOTO CREDITS
1-9 Chuck Choi
10-11 Hirotsugu Tsuchija
12-13 Christian Phillips