Author: Caroline Dolan

HMFH Bus Tour 2022

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

HMFH Bus Tour 2022

HMFHers embarked on our 2022 bus tour, excited to experience the inspiring design work of our colleagues first-hand! This year we visited Chapman Middle School in Weymouth, MA, and Phase I of Arlington High School in Arlington, MA, which has been open to students since February while construction on the subsequent phases continues just 20 feet away.

Chapman Middle School

The new Chapman Middle School, which will open to students this coming fall, is the largest middle school in Massachusetts and supports a unique curriculum centered around exploratory labs that act as a feeder for the high school’s career technical programs. HMFHers James Liebman, Sara Rosenthal and Matt LaRue led a comprehensive a tour showcasing the school’s exciting new spaces including the Town Square, a central dining area shaped by the volumes of the school’s exploratory labs; the new auditorium, which will support Weymouth’s robust theater arts program; and neighborhood collaborative areas that serve as shared, flexible space for learning outside of the classroom.

Arlington High School

Our next stop was to visit Phase I of the new Arlington High School. Arlington team members Stephanie MacNeil and Alan Pemstein led tours of the new STEAM and performing arts wings, highlighting prominent features including an expansive lobby with bold graphic signage, light-filled classrooms with floor-to-ceiling windows, and a multi-story lightwell that draws natural light deep within the footprint of the STEAM wing. While students enjoy the state-of-the-art new spaces in the STEAM and performing arts wings, construction continues on the remaining phases, which include the central spine, cafeteria, library, courtyard, and athletics wing.

Design Thinking Bootcamp

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Design Thinking Bootcamp

As a part of a weeklong exploration of careers in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry, students from Boston Public Schools joined HMFH over February Break for an introduction to architecture and design thinking.

Great design is achieved through close collaboration between a diverse group of critical thinkers, and at HMFH, we are committed to advancing the profession by making it more accessible. Through community outreach and mentorship opportunities, we continually strive to inspire a passion for design in the next generation of architects.

Made possible by the collaborative efforts of the Boston Private Industry Council, Boston Society for Architecture, Finegold Alexander, Goody Clancy, and Sasaki, Design Thinking Bootcamp brings awareness and valuable insight into architecture as a career pathway by offering a comprehensive understanding of the design profession that includes programming and sustainability; concept design and model building; design development and interior design; and construction and documentation.

For our third year participating in Design Thinking Bootcamp, HMFH took BPS high school students through in-depth presentations of current HMFH projects including Fales Elementary School and Chapman Middle School to reveal all that goes into designing a school building, from detailed drawing sets to coordination with consultants and engagement with stakeholders.

The latter portion of the session was an interactive activity where students had the chance to work on a design project of their own. Tasked with designing a workspace, the activity encouraged students to think creatively and consider a variety of design elements such as materiality, function, use, and aesthetic. Using an array of mediums from sketching to collaging, each student produced impressive workspace designs.

Saugus Middle High School Achieves LEED Platinum Certification

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Saugus Middle High School Achieves LEED Platinum Certification

Saugus Middle High School is the first project publicly funded through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to reach the highest level of LEED certification. This significant milestone is a product of a holistic approach to sustainability that considers how each design decision will culminate in a facility that truly serves its environment and occupants.

Water Conservation

Three 30,000-gallon underground cisterns collect water for reuse while rain gardens throughout the school’s parking lots filter stormwater runoff from the site and mitigate heat island effects. Together with the use of low-flow fixtures, these measures reduce the building’s annual water consumption by 45 percent.

Air Quality and Ventilation

Located less than 300 feet from a busy six-lane highway, the new facility responds to the challenge of providing optimal air quality with rooftop mechanical air handling units positioned with their intakes facing away from the highway and prevailing winds. This enables displacement ventilation systems to distribute clean air throughout the interior, bringing 20 percent more fresh air into the spaces at low velocity without the typical costs and acoustical distractions associated with conventional mechanical systems.

Equity

The new school represents a transformation of Saugus Public Schools to reflect the town’s vision for innovative, equitable facilities. Creating a welcoming, accessible and inclusive environment for all was critical to the success of the design. All-gender toilet facilities are conveniently located and used by faculty and students alike. Special education spaces feature tunable LED fixtures, giving teachers flexibility to adjust light intensity and color temperature to help modulate behavior and respond to light sensitivity. A special classroom on the third floor provides a designated space for medically fragile community members with exceptional views and access to a rooftop classroom.

Energy Efficiency

Saugus Middle High School uses a combined heating and power system known as tri-generation. Generating electricity on-site significantly reduces operational carbon emissions and eliminates emissions associated with regional source generation, while utilizing waste heat for space heating, domestic hot water heating and space cooling. Continuously running generators improve resiliency by ensuring emergency systems will be operational when they are needed most.

HMFH Endows New Scholarship Program

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

HMFH Endows New Scholarship Program

Press Release

HMFH Architects and Boston Architectural College Announce New Scholarship Fostering Diversity in Design

Cambridge, MA – HMFH Architects, in partnership with the Boston Architectural College (BAC), today announced the establishment of the HMFH Scholarship Fund, created to expand academic opportunities for students underrepresented in the architecture and design professions. This new Scholarship aims to increase access to these professions for Black, Indigenous, people of color, first-generation college students, students with disabilities, and other underrepresented populations. Creation of the Scholarship continues a decades-long relationship between HMFH and the BAC.

“HMFH’s extraordinarily generous gift is a visible and inspiring message that will lead the way in furthering the BAC’s mission of diversifying the design professions and making design education accessible to all people,” said Dr. Mahesh Daas, Boston Architectural College President. “This generous investment, which continues HMFH’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion, will create sustainable and vital opportunities for underrepresented students.”

The Scholarship selection process will begin this spring, and the first recipients will be announced in the fall. The intent of the Scholarship is to advance diversity by providing critical financial support to encourage students not only to enroll in architecture studies, but also to achieve success in college and to graduate. Beyond their classroom experience, recipients will have opportunities to work on planning and design projects with HMFH team members.

“With this HMFH Scholarship, we are taking concrete steps to increase access to design education for minority students and thereby increase diversity within the architecture profession,” said Pip Lewis, AIA, HMFH Principal. “We knew as soon as the idea arose that partnering with the BAC was the ideal pathway to fulfill our aspiration for the Scholarship’s impact, while solidifying our longstanding relationship with the College.” HMFH President Lori Cowles, herself a graduate of the BAC, notes that “This Scholarship is a significant effort to bring greater equity and diversity to our profession, as we have been doing in our
own practice.”

HMFH Architects is a design firm known for its community-based approach, user-centric design, and healthy, sustainable buildings. A certified Women-Owned Business, HMFH designs for public school districts, independent schools, universities, and community and public-realm clients.

The Boston Architectural College is a recognized institution with a diverse student population representing 35 countries. Providing excellence in practice-integrated design education, the BAC offers bachelor and graduate degrees in architecture, interior architecture, landscape architecture, design studies as well as offering continuing education certificates and courses. The BAC upholds the importance of inclusive admission, diversity, innovation, dedicated faculty, and the intrinsic value of both academic and experiential education.

“I am deeply grateful for HMFH’s partnership with the BAC in recognition of our longstanding commitment to diversifying the design field. The establishment of the HMFH Scholarship will serve to advance our shared vision of a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive world for generations to come.”

Mahesh Daas | President, Boston Architectural College

Bristol Aggie Natural History Museum: Progressing Through Local Ecology

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Bristol Aggie Natural History Museum: Progressing Through Local Ecology

Housed in the new Center for Science and the Environment, Bristol Aggie’s Natural History Museum showcases student-curated exhibits and an extensive collection of native New England flora and fauna.

Designed with highly visible building systems and exposed structural elements, Bristol Aggie’s new Center for Science and the Environment functions as a teaching tool and fosters hands-on, experiential learning. Within the CSE is a state-of-the-art museum space, which fully embraces Bristol Aggie’s hands-on learning approach by allowing students to curate the exhibits on display.

For the past 25 years, Bristol Aggie’s Natural History Museum has been an important piece of the campus and curriculum. However, previously siloed in an 18th century barn, the museum was cut off from the heart of campus and separate from the greenhouse where Natural Resource Management students worked intensively with the collections. This left NRM students without essential resources needed to perform their lab work. It was important that the design of the new museum not only address these concerns but create an exciting environment on par with the caliber of the collections it showcases.

The design of the new museum addresses aspects such as ease of use, visibility on campus, and user experience. Located on the first floor of the CSE’s southern wing, the museum occupies a corridor; the linear architecture of the space guides students through the collection in a natural progression, making the museum easily accessible and understandable. Treating the space as a hallway gallery also encourages students who are not involved in the NRM program to regularly engage with the exhibits as they travel through the CSE. A neutral color palette and warm wood tones reflect the identity of a school rooted in nature and agriculture and allow the exhibits to be the focal point of the space.

“Having our new museum right here, with all of our facilities in one location will allow for easier logistics, for maintaining all of this, and for having the museum available to all of the students every day, because this is also a hallway… Whatever our students do in a particular day is visible to the entire school community.”

Brian Bastarache | NRM Program Director, Bristol Aggie

Adjacent to the exhibits are adaptable labs for students to engage in project work and curate exhibits. The proximity and flexibility of the lab spaces are a much-needed upgrade from the singular isolated lab students were previously working in. The design of the museum puts academics on display, using glass walls to create uninterrupted views into the lab spaces and showcase the exciting, hands-on project work happening inside.

Massachusetts’ First Net-Positive Energy Public School Opens

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Massachusetts’ First Net-Positive Energy Public School Opens

Article

The town of Westborough, Mass., opened the 70,242-sf Annie E. Fales Elementary School, which is the state’s first net-positive energy public school.

The two-story building replaces the original school—also named after a beloved school teacher who spent most of her 50-year career in Westborough—that’s on the same premises and which closed its doors after the town determined that new construction was a better option than trying to upgrade and remodel a 58-year-old building for a growing local population.

HMFH Architects designed the new school, which accommodates 400 kindergarten-through-3rd grade students, with five classrooms per grade plus one float classroom. It was built by Gilbane Building Company. The project cost was $56.8 million, of which $45 million was for construction.

This all-electric school consumes less than two-thirds of the energy used by a comparable code-compliant building. Its sustainable features include triple-glazed windows, roof and wall insulation that’s 40 percent above code requirements, 40 660-ft-deep geothermal close-loop wells, a 25,000-sf 508-kW solar PV array that’s integrated into the exterior architecture, LED lighting, high-efficiency mechanical systems designed to improve air quality, and a building management system that monitors and controls the mechanicals and lighting.

The ground-floor public spaces—including the cafeteria, gym, and administrative offices—are built into the hillside to reduce heat loss and gain through exterior walls. The second-floor teaching spaces have a north-south orientation that allows for windows and skylights to provide natural light and views to the outdoors.

An ambitious CO2 reduction goal

The school is expected to generate 10 percent more energy than it uses, which the town will return to the electric grid. Westborough has set a goal to be carbon emissions free by 2035. The town’s environmental stewardship “encouraged the design and construction management team to aim high and go beyond a net-zero energy goal and create a school that will inspire other communities to do the same,” said Julia Nugent, AIA, Principal and Project Leader with HMFH Architects.

The school, which is shooting for LEED Gold and LEED Zero certifications, is a learning tool itself, with exhibits and visuals to educate students and visitors about the natural environment and sustainable practices.

The Vertex Companies was the town’s project manager for the new school, which is the second K-12 school that Gilbane has constructed for Westborough, the first being a 110,000-sf Sarah Gibbons Middle School, completed in 2017.

Architectural Graphics: Enhancing the Educational Experience

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

Architectural Graphics:
Enhancing the Educational Experience

Whether spanning from floor to ceiling in multi-story public atriums or situated along a central corridor, bold and dynamic custom-made graphics have become a signature of HMFH schools, helping to connect students to their academics, the natural environment, and their surrounding community.

Designing facilities that inspire a passion for learning is the core of our practice and, understanding that learning styles are not one-size-fits-all, the learning environments we create cultivate an immersive experience for students where all architectural elements culminate in a space that engages intellectual curiosity and prioritizes student wellbeing. Our in-house, custom-made graphics play a central role in what sets an HMFH school apart from others. Tailored to reflect the unique identity, culture and educational values of each client, these graphics support the student experience by transforming the space with bold colors and dynamic compositions that engage young minds.

Fales Elementary School

In this elementary school setting, our graphics take on a new life as whimsical, storybook-style art pieces designed to create a warm and playful environment for young K-3 students. Inspired by the school’s surrounding landscape, academic spaces at Fales are organized into four different zones, each represented by a different ecosystem–forest, meadow, marshland, and pond–and a corresponding color palette.

Depicted in these large-scale wall graphics, the four ecosystems each feature the beloved Fales mascot, Annie the Hedgehog. Students can follow her adventures through the various landscapes as she interacts with different native creatures along the way. Situated in the project area of each academic zone, as well as along the main cafeteria wall, these graphics work to captivate the student’s imaginations while familiarizing them with their own natural environment. They strengthen students’ connection with nature and in doing so, promote environmental stewardship.

Bristol County Agricultural High School

At Bristol Aggie–a unique agricultural high school that promotes a hands-on, exploratory approach to learning–the entire campus is designed to function as a teaching tool for its students. Custom-made graphics support this vision by illustrating scientific concepts from Bristol Aggie’s curriculum and breaking them down in a way that is easily understandable and visually compelling.

Mounted on walls, windows and stairwells, the graphics are present all throughout the Bristol Aggie campus, putting science and sustainability on display while strengthening the school culture. Whether illustrating the complex process of the fast and slow carbon cycles, breaking down the different components of a vegetative roof garden, or comparing the makeup of plant and animal cells, academics are informally reinforced enabling students to gain a deeper understanding on their own terms.

Saugus Middle High School

The new combined Middle High School celebrates Saugus’ history and culture with original wall graphics honoring some of the town’s iconic landmarks, industries, and people. Vibrant colors are interwoven with historic imagery and illustrated elements to create compelling compositions that visually communicate the story of Saugus and help students appreciate the richness of their community.

As students move through three academic pods with distinct identities, they encounter some of these dynamic, multi-story supergraphics along monumental lightwells, depicting Saugus’ pioneering industries in ice, iron and lobstering. The graphics establish a unique identity for each pod that fosters a sense of belonging among students and assists in wayfinding throughout the large complex.

HMFH Presents at Massachusetts Historic Preservation Conference

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HMFH Presents at Massachusetts Historic Preservation Conference

With extensive knowledge and experience with sustainable design and renovations, HMFHers Gary Brock and Peter Rust shared a designer’s perspective on the economic, environmental and social benefits of historic preservation and how to make adaptive reuse a feasible option for design projects.

The Massachusetts Historic Preservation Conference is a biennial, statewide event where professionals and local advocates interested in preservation share preservation successes, challenges and lessons learned. Alongside Cambridge Historical Commission Executive Director Charles Sullivan, HMFH presented a case study of the recently completed Renae’s Place, providing valuable insight into the process of restoring a historic structure while making it more resilient and energy efficient for optimal performance and community benefit.

A small project with a large impact, Renae’s Place was originally an 1885 residence in Cambridge, Massachusetts that had fallen into disrepair through decades of commercial use. The renovation and addition transformed the property from its underutilized state into 10 units of emergency housing, while successfully achieving seemingly disparate goals: restoring the building’s original historic character, designing for climate resiliency, and creating a safe environment for vulnerable populations.

Pictured below (left) is HMFH’s renovation of Renae’s Place, as well as the building pre-renovation (bottom right) and a historic image of the building from Massachusetts Avenue (top right).

Exploratory Labs: Paving the Way for Experiential Learning

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Exploratory Labs: Paving the Way for Experiential Learning

In support of Weymouth’s mission to engage and empower students through interdisciplinary, project-based learning, the educational program for the new Chapman Middle School is centered around unique “exploratories”—introductory classes to elective tracks that focus on modern, STEAM-driven paths in career technical education.

Located at the threshold between the school’s academic wings and central hub for student activity, the exploratory labs bridge the transition from shared public space to academic zones. The labs are housed within three distinct tower-like, top-lit structures, or pods, that utilize their unique and expressive architectural forms to represent the flexible and collaborative nature of the interior program spaces. Each positioned at the entrance to one of the three academic wings extending off the cafeteria, the exploratory labs shape the organic layout of this central space. Distinct cladding materials define a unique identity for each space: a metal pod, a wood pod, and a glass pod.

Culinary Lab

Chapman Middle School’s culinary lab occupies the first floor of the metal pod and provides a unique opportunity for students to incorporate cooking, cultural awareness, and nutrition in their curriculum at the middle school level. The spacious layout of the lab positions a teaching room for lecture-based learning adjacent to cooking stations for hands-on lessons.

Notable features:

  • Flexible classroom furniture for lecture-based lessons on culinary practices, world food cultures and healthy nutrition
  • Universally designed cooking stations used for hands-on lessons include 4-burner stoves, convection ovens, char broilers and microwaves
  • Mobile teaching demonstration station with cooktop induction units
  • Large openings to convenient transportation of materials
  • Solid surface counters and washable walls and ceilings for simplified maintenance
Expeditionary Learning Lab

Located directly above the culinary lab, the expeditionary learning lab provides a flexible learning space geared towards self-directed, collaborative and project-based activities. Varied seating and table types can be re-arranged to outfit the space for a wide range of lessons from presentations, to class discussions, to small group projects.

Notable features:

  • Designated presentation space and teaching wall with large LCD monitor
  • Small group collaboration spaces with individual touch screen monitors
  • Flexible and varied furniture for a variety of hands-on activities including research, writing, reading, math and science
Theater Arts Classroom

To accommodate Weymouth’s robust theater programs, the first floor of the wood pod provides teaching space outside of the auditorium and a black box theater for students to study, rehearse and put on small-scale performances. This flexible space is not only a valuable resource for the emerging middle school theater program, but also for the high school theater program and local drama groups. Co-locating theater arts and the broadcasting lab within the same pod enables the programs to share a control center.

Notable features:

  • An overhead tension wire grid – a fall-safe technical level space where students learn the behind-the-scenes ins and outs of theatrical lighting and rigging
  • Motorized blackout shades block any light penetrating the space for Blackbox performances and let light in during lessons and rehearsals
  • Moveable furniture in the performance room can be used for audiences, lectures or removed entirely
Broadcast Lab

The broadcast lab overlooks the theater arts space below and offers students state-of-the-art equipment and spaces to explore the technical aspects of video and audio production. The lab will also be utilized for student organizations and a large after-school program.

Notable features:

  • State-of-the-art broadcasting equipment including a soundproof control center, recording studio with green screen and mounted LED studio light fixtures
  • Windows from the control center to both the adjacent recording studio and to the theater arts space below to allow both programs to utilize the high-tech control and recording equipment
  • Ability to broadcast throughout the school or town-wide
Media Center

Chapman Middle School’s new media center, which resides on the first level of the glass pod, introduces contemporary design elements typically seen in higher education spaces without compromising the function of a traditional school library. A double-height open plan layout combined with tall openings in the frosted resin cladding establish a visual connection between the media center and the Town Square, while a variety of seating types and breakout spaces make the space fully accessible.

Notable features:

  • Flexible and varied seating conducive to a wide variety of learning styles
  • Designated spaces for casual study, small group learning, and large group meetings
  • Operable glass wall enables the meeting room to open up into the flexible learning space for larger assemblies
  • Circulation desk centrally located to monitor media center activity
  • Located near the main entrance for after-hours community use
  • Skylights and tall openings introduce daylight into this space at the heart of the school
Makerspace

Overlooking the media center below, the makerspace lab encourages collaborative, hands-on learning as students begin to explore the engineering, design and fabrication process. Centered around student discovery, the flexible makerspace accommodates a wide range of large-scale projects and fosters teamwork among students.

Notable features:

  • Robotics focused equipment
  • Flexible work benches with durable tabletops for a wide variety of projects
  • Spray paint booth, vent booth for soldering, 3D printers, a plotter and laser cutter
  • A built-in storage wall for student projects, raw materials, parts, and kits

HMFH Bus Tour 2021

Posted on by Caroline Dolan

HMFH Bus Tour 2021

HMFHers gathered for our 2021 bus tour to explore current HMFH construction projects and learn more about the exciting work of fellow project teams. This year, the tour took us through Bristol County Agricultural High School and Fales Elementary School.

After more than a year apart, HMFHers were thrilled to spend a day together for our annual bus tour, where we learned about the work of our colleagues and were able to experience these spectacular spaces first-hand!

The bus tour provides a perfect opportunity for project teams to share their creative work with one another and inspire future innovative designs. The tour brought the firm through Bristol County Agricultural High School and Fales Elementary School, both of which are currently under construction and set to open later this year.

Bristol County Agricultural High School

HMFH’s designs and renovations for six buildings on the Bristol Aggie campus will establish a sense of connectivity throughout and accommodate the school’s wide range of unique and high-level vocational programs centered around agriculture. Beyond the specialty spaces that will provide students with the resources necessary to excel in their academic and vocational endeavors, the entire campus functions as a teaching tool with its exposed heavy timber structural elements, highly visible sustainable mechanical and electrical systems, recycled and renewable materials, composting systems, and water conservation systems.

Fales Elementary School

As the first net-positive energy public school in Massachusetts, the Annie E. Fales elementary school is breaking new ground in the design of energy efficient schools. Sawtooth roof shapes provide optimal positioning for PV panels on the south side, while on the north face skylights draw daylight into the learning spaces. Stunning light conditions and views of the surrounding environment, including woodlands, meadows, and a pond, characterize the new elementary school, while staggered window heights and child-scaled details demonstrate how a breakthrough design can also be a welcoming and engaging environment for both its young learners and teachers.