Project

Redesigning a Former Church to Resurrect Community

Gothic to glassy modern, merging two styles builds a new relationship

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In Progress
Adaptive Reuse
Civic
Cultural
Development
Higher Ed
K-12

The Lucas at 136 Shawmut Avenue

Client - New Boston Ventures
Boston, MA

Rising in Boston’s South End, this church turned condominium mixes the craftsmanship of the past with modern amenities for a new style of urban living. Our design stabilized the historic façade, removed the roof, and fit eight stories of units with a variety of interesting floor plans into the Gothic shell. The structure of bold steel and glass rises out of massive stone walls, respecting the architectural and tectonic qualities of the original edifice while breathing new life into the neighborhood.

Click here to read more about The Lucas in the Boston Sunday Globe.

Size
82,877 SF
Scope
Renovation, Addition, Adaptive Reuse
Program
Renovation, Addition, Adaptive Reuse
Sustainability
Awards
2018 AIA New England, Merit Award for Design Excellence
2018 Engineering News Record, Best Projects Award of Merit Residential/Hospitality
In the news
Reviving History: Exploring Adaptive Reuse Through Finegold Alexander's Video Series
Reviving History: Transforming Churches into Luxury Residences
Finegold Alexander’s The Lucas – a Church-Turned Condominium Project – Featured on WBZ CBS Boston
Project EUI
Front facade of The Lucas at night, lit from the interior and by the car lights passing on the street in front of the former church.
Modern steel and glass rising out of a former stone church building at dusk, lit from the interior.
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“This is a confident, legible, individual chunk of architecture. By banging together two eras and two kinds of construction, it subtly celebrates the diversity of the neighborhood and the city.”
Robert Campbell, FAIA in Architectural Record, March 2018
Front of The Lucas, viewed from across the street, with the steel and glass addition poking out behind the impressive Gothic stone structure.
Steel buttresses and arches of the modern extension meeting the existing stone buttresses, forming a walkway underneath the modern arches, with views onto the Boston skyline.
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The badly deteriorated roof and interiors of the 1874 German Trinity Catholic Church were removed, while the granite and puddingstone masonry shell was stabilized and restored.

View looking up at the new steel and glass addition from under the arches that join the stone buttresses.
Steel triangular truces, with arches underneath them form a walkway, with a person walking underneath them, with unobstructed views to the city.
Central kitchen island, with cabinets and countertops to the left, and a dark metal detail of the original church windows, preserved and brought to prominence in the white plaster walls.
The Lucas' entrance foyer with a low octagonal ceiling over fanning, marbled staircase leading up.
The back end of the addition to The Lucas, with individual balconies in the angle of the steel and glass structure where it joins a metal clad rectangular structure.
Two people seen through a window on a balcony at dusk, with the existing Gothic church structure on the left and the city lit up in the background.
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Transformative design connects steel buttresses to stone ones below.
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In Progress
Adaptive Reuse
Civic
Cultural
Higher Ed
K-12
Development