Glen Rd Co-op

A 100-year-old triple-decker, now cooperatively owned by friends in Jamaica Plain is going through a deep energy retrofit and decarbonization process. All gas infrastructure has been replaced by electric heat pump systems, new cavity insulation, and targeted air sealing. A new ‘core wall’ forms the basis for a 21st century hearth of custom millwork closets, bookshelves, and backdrops to the colorfully adorned interior. 

Boston, MA

Built

1 Unit
2025






The Glen Rd Co-op is a renovation of the ground floor unit of a 100 year old triple decker. The adaptation included full electrification, HVAC upgrades, air-sealing, new insulation, and a reconstruction of the closets and kitchens. 













Unit No. 1 Floor Plan
The concept of the home revolves around a new central ‘core wall’. This birch clad volume replaces a series of ineffecient closets and wardrobes into a modern hearth for books, clothes, utilities, shoes, coats, brooms, and a wet bar. 


The core wall opens to both sides, changing orientation to suit the needs of the room, and allowing it to be seen as a warm orientating device throughout the compact home. 


Existing walls were strategically widened in order to create a consistent enfilade for the private rooms, and a series of cascading wider openenings in the public side of the plan. New trimwork connects these openeings to the core wall with contemporary lines across a consistent datum.


Existing & Demo Plan
Core Wall Parti Diagram
Anchoring Walls









Bands of pink and washes of sage green tone the kitchen and primary bedroom, while clean white walls are left to contrast with the wooden core wall.


Playful moments of colors, datums, and intersecting geometries are used to create complexity within a compact home.










Some remnants of the existing non-bearing walls were removed, while others were stripped to the studs and left bare as a both an architectural memory and functional room divider.









Within the building wood stud sizes vary in dimension and grain density. Working within the old balloon framing and re-using studs became a design/build constraint in order to save carbon and build spatial character.








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