CUBE 3 Brings Design Style to Boston at LightView, Northeastern University's New Housing Development
BOSTON, October 16, 2019 (Newswire.com) - CUBE 3 was pleased to join American Campus Communities, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and the project design team including Copley Wolff Design Group, for the grand opening of LightView Student Housing at Northeastern University on September 10th, 2019.
CUBE 3 was named the architect of record for the new LightView Apartments student housing project at Northeastern University, a private research university, whose enrollment is approximately 18,000 undergraduate students and 8,000 graduate students. The expanding campus is situated in the vibrant city of Boston, Massachusetts.
CUBE 3 worked closely with American Campus Communities to take Northeastern University President, Joseph E. Aoun’s vision of the overall aesthetic of the project and seamlessly connect it to the existing urban campus. The 310,000 SF building boasts commercial space and student-related community amenities and services at the ground floor, and 207 modern student apartments (798 beds) housed in an assemblage of components: a low-rise portion of eight stories on Columbus Avenue, a mid-rise portion of 16 stories on Coventry Street, and a high-rise portion of 20 stories in the middle of the block, on Burke Street. A glazed narrow bridge connects the mid-rise and high-rise, which create transparency through these two component parts.
“As the very first developer-led, equity financed student housing project in the city of Boston, we are grateful to Northeastern and the City for choosing us to be their trusted partner to deliver on what we do best, providing a community where students love living,” said Bill Bayless, CEO of American Campus Communities. “This winning partnership between Northeastern, the City and ACC has resulted in providing this year’s incoming students and those for years to come with our best living-learning community to date.”
The property, conveniently located 400ft from Ruggles Station (Boston MBTA), features an advanced student security system, leasing office, modern fitness center, inviting café / lounge space, retail tenants, a large academic success center to accommodate quiet study spaces, laundry facilities large enough to support all residents, and both in-unit and general bike storage, including a maintenance shop for quick or complicated repairs. The buildings are LEED Gold with anticipation of achieving LEED Platinum status.
“Our building design approach required great sensitivity to the existing historical scale of Columbus Avenue,” said CUBE3 Founding Partner, Brian O’Connor. “It’s a critical campus street, which had strong influence over material changes, window patterning, and the glass pedestrian bridge that connects the buildings, yet provides a clear visual separation between the volumes. Our partnerships with American Campus Communities helped ensure that the building would integrate cleanly into the community and provide student housing options that would positively impact the neighborhood.”
Copley Wolff Design Group served as landscape architect for Northeastern University’s new LightView dormitory, located across the street from the school’s new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex, recreational fields and pedestrian bridge. Working in collaboration with the university, American Campus Communities and CUBE 3, Copley Wolff Design Group applied useful design elements to the front entrance of the building.
“Maximizing outdoor space is important given our dense urban fabric. We created an inviting enclave, where students can relax and enjoy the outdoors, that is designed to feel like a natural extension of the LightView lobby,” said Copley Wolff Design Group Principal James Heroux. “We are pleased to have partnered with American Campus Communities and CUBE 3 to deliver a place for students to spend time that seamlessly blends with the surrounding city environment.”
About CUBE 3
CUBE 3 is a nationally recognized design industry and innovation leader, providing advanced solutions in architecture, interior design, and planning. Headquartered in Lawrence, Massachusetts, with additional offices in Boston and Miami, the firm’s work can be seen in over 25 states across the United States. With over 110 employees, dominant projects include mixed-use and campus master planning, academic, health care, retail, residential and corporate office space. As of September 1, 2019, CUBE 3 Studio has designed / built over 50 student housing environments, including 8,000 units built, 70,000 beds designed, 17M sf master planned. For more information and digital portfolio, please visit http://www.cube3.com/
About American Campus Communities
American Campus Communities, Inc. is the largest owner, manager and developer of high-quality student housing communities in the United States. The company is a fully integrated, self-managed and self-administered equity real estate investment trust (REIT) with expertise in the design, finance, development, construction management and operational management of student housing properties. As of December 31, 2018, American Campus Communities owned 170 student housing properties containing approximately 109,100 beds. Including its owned and third-party managed properties, ACC’s total managed portfolio consisted of 204 properties with approximately 133,900 beds. Visit www.americancampus.com
About Copley Wolff Design Group
Copley Wolff Design Group is a landscape architecture and planning firm located in downtown Boston, MA. The creative team specializes in the planning and design of academic, housing, green roof, corporate, institutional, mixed-use, park, streetscape, and children's play and discovery projects throughout the country. A number of their projects focus on placemaking, integrating art into the landscape, cultural and historic interpretation, environmental education and community participation. Copley Wolff Design Group believes in the power of people and place and working together to create memorable places for our daily lives, celebrations and recreation.
Source: CUBE 3
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