the design process. This began with several large-scale charrettes (retreats) where our youth, staff and Board members met with the architect, sharing creative concepts on how the building could be used. Some of my favorite ideas from our youth included a pool on the roof, and "an escalator like the one in the Cambridge Galleria mall, to whisk us all from floor to floor."
With a $6.000 planning grant from CEDAC we hired Mostue & Associates, an architectural firm specializing in process-oriented design. They worked with four of our youth-staff (Glendy Rodriguez, Jennifer Aldana, Pablo Navarette and Renee Marrone) to develop a set of interior design recommendations for the firehouse renovation. It turned out that Sharon MacNulty, the project architect, happened to be a resident of East Boston. She was wonderful! Over an eight week period this team visited numerous youth arts spaces in and around Boston, including Artists for Humanity, Cloud Place, The Revolving Museum and Raw Arts. Their task was to research specific flooring, lighting, signage, storage and furnishing concepts and to weigh their findings against the criteria of durability, acoustics, aesthetics, sustainability and safety. Here are our youth staff in front of Cloud Place in Copley Square.
We are thrilled to be working with an amazing development team that meets every Wednesday morning from 10am-12pm. Our group includes Lead Architect: Mimi Love from Utile, Inc.; General Contractors: Mike Small, Ben Joyce, and Connor McGuire from Landmark Structures; LEED Consultant: Lauren Bauman from New Ecology, Inc.; Project Partners: Sal Colombo and Frank Lento from the East Boston CDC; ZUMIX Business Manager, Nancy Lagro; Volunteer, Jane Poncia - and of course, yours truly. It is incredible to be part of such a fun project and to be working with such a committed and capable group of people.
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