When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts. The factory’s production techniques were very advanced for the time, and business boomed.
In 1907 the company changed its name to the Waltham Watch Company, a name that became synonymous with precision movement and quality timepieces. Several of its watches reside in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection, including Model 1857, Serial No. 67613, a pocket watch gifted to President Abraham Lincoln to commemorate the Gettysburg Address.
As the brand grew in prominence, Waltham became known throughout the world as “Watch City.” Worker housing and supporting businesses sprang up around the factory, transforming the country town into an urban environment. Over the course of a century the factory grew to nearly 500,000 sf, making it one of the world’s largest brick buildings; its frontage along Crescent Street alone was a quarter mile in length.
Despite its massive size, the factory had exceptionally narrow floor plates, less than 25 feet wide from wall to wall in the work areas. The slender design and numerous oversized windows and skylights guaranteed that high levels of natural light flooded the workspaces and provided enough illumination for workers to manipulate tiny watch parts with precision—particularly important in those years before the factory was electrified.
Watchmaking at the factory was discontinued in 1957, but a number of tenants occupied parts of the building over the years, so it was never completely abandoned, nor was its Industrial Revolution architecture ever significantly altered.
That was good news for developer and new owner Berkeley Investments, which saw tremendous potential in the historic building with amazing river views and proximity to the Route 128 tech corridor and downtown Boston. The owner/developer assembled a Building Team that included Bruner/Cott & Associates (architect), Columbia Construction (GC), Epsilon Associates (historic consultant), and Pine & Swallow Associates (environmental consultant) to transform the property into a mixed-use complex with modern office space, retail, restaurants, and residential lofts.
The project was broken up into two phases: a 177,000-sf office component (phase one) and a retail/residential component (phase two, still under construction). The $25 million phase one rehab earned a Gold Award and praise from our judges. “Its reuse is to be celebrated,” said Reconstruction Awards judge Martha Bell, FAIA, LEED AP, principal at Tilton Kelly+Bell, Chicago.
Because the building was in decent shape, the Building Team was able to concentrate on reworking a 19th-century factory into a 21st-century office complex. The major focus: make the imposing structure more approachable and welcoming, create modern, user-friendly interior spaces, and provide a connection between the interior and the outdoors. The main entrances along Crescent Street were reconstructed, and a public exhibit space was installed in the lobby.
Additional access points open the building to the Riverwalk, a pedestrian walking/biking path along the Charles River developed in collaboration with the city’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, and to several courtyards within the complex. The landscaped courtyards serve as rain gardens to cool and clean the stormwater before it’s released into the river. Additional exterior work included brick repair and repointing, repairs to the slate roof, and stabilization of the central smokestack.
The factory’s interior was left largely intact, aside from the installation of the typical modern upgrades: HVAC, electrical, plumbing, telecom, life/safety, ADA compliance. Additional work focused on opening blocked freight passageways to improve interior circulation and views through the building, removing lead paint, and repairing exposed brick walls and timber ceilings. The window sashes, which had been replaced in the 1980s, were fitted with replicas of the originals. The window frames, however, remain original to the building. Thermal calculations and water-pressure testing proved the frames were still viable.
Almost three-quarters of the office space is leased, once again bringing jobs and activity to the South Side of Waltham. “They recreated the nerve center of the community,” said Reconstruction Awards judge David Callan, PE, SVP at Environmental Systems Design, Chicago. “The neighborhood surrounding it is there because of this factory, and bringing it back reenergizes the community.” BD+C
PROJECT SUMMARY
Building Team
Submitting firm: Bruner/Cott & Associates (architect)
Owner/developer: Berkeley Investments
Structural engineer: DM Berg Consultants
MEP engineer: Avid Engineers
GC: Columbia Construction
Historical consultant: Epsilon Associates
Environmental consultant: Pine and Swallow Associates
Landscape design: Richard Burch Associates
General Information
Size: 177,000 gsf
Construction cost: $25 million
Construction period: February 2008 to July 2009
Delivery method: Design-bid-build
Related Stories
| Feb 11, 2011
Four Products That Stand Up to Hurricanes
What do a panelized wall system, a newly developed roof hatch, spray polyurethane foam, and a custom-made curtain wall have in common? They’ve been extensively researched and tested for their ability to take abuse from the likes of Hurricane Katrina.
| Feb 11, 2011
RS Means Cost Comparison Chart: Office Buildings
This month's RS Means Cost Comparison Chart focuses on office building construction.
| Feb 11, 2011
Sustainable features on the bill for dual-building performing arts center at Soka University of America
The $73 million Soka University of America’s new performing arts center and academic complex recently opened on the school’s Aliso Viejo, Calif., campus. McCarthy Building Companies and Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects collaborated on the two-building project. One is a three-story, 47,836-sf facility with a grand reception lobby, a 1,200-seat auditorium, and supports spaces. The other is a four-story, 48,974-sf facility with 11 classrooms, 29 faculty offices, a 150-seat black box theater, rehearsal/dance studio, and support spaces. The project, which has a green roof, solar panels, operable windows, and sun-shading devices, is going for LEED Silver.
| Feb 11, 2011
BIM-enabled Texas church complex can broadcast services in high-def
After two years of design and construction, members of the Gateway Church in Southland, Texas, were able to attend services in their new 4,000-seat facility in late 2010. Located on a 180-acre site, the 205,000-sf complex has six auditoriums, including a massive 200,000-sf Worship Center, complete with catwalks, top-end audio and video system, and high-definition broadcast capabilities. BIM played a significant role in the building’s design and construction. Balfour Beatty Construction and Beck Architecture formed the nucleus of the Building Team.
| Feb 11, 2011
Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum
(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.
| Feb 11, 2011
Former Richardson Romanesque hotel now houses books, not beds
The Piqua (Ohio) Public Library was once a late 19th-century hotel that sat vacant and deteriorating for years before a $12.3 million adaptive reuse project revitalized the 1891 building. The design team of PSA-Dewberry, MKC Associates, and historic preservation specialist Jeff Wray Associates collaborated on the restoration of the 80,000-sf Richardson Romanesque building, once known as the Fort Piqua Hotel. The team restored a mezzanine above the lobby and repaired historic windows, skylight, massive fireplace, and other historic details. The basement, with its low ceiling and stacked stone walls, was turned into a castle-like children’s center. The Piqua Historical Museum is also located within the building.
| Feb 11, 2011
Justice center on Fall River harbor serves up daylight, sustainable elements, including eucalyptus millwork
Located on historic South Main Street in Fall River, Mass., the Fall River Justice Center opened last fall to serve as the city’s Superior and District Courts building. The $85 million facility was designed by Boston-based Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc., with Dimeo Construction as CM and Arup as MEP. The 154,000-sf courthouse contains nine courtrooms, a law library, and a detention area. Most of the floors have the same ceiling height, which will makes them easier to reconfigure in the future as space needs change. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, the facility’s elliptical design offers abundant natural daylight and views of the harbor. Renewable eucalyptus millwork is one of the sustainable features.
| Feb 11, 2011
Research facility separates but also connects lab spaces
California State University, Northridge, consolidated its graduate and undergraduate biology and mathematics programs into one 90,000-sf research facility. Architect of record Cannon Design worked on the new Chaparral Hall, creating a four-story facility with two distinct spaces that separate research and teaching areas; these are linked by faculty offices to create collaborative spaces. The building houses wet research, teaching, and computational research labs, a 5,000-sf vivarium, classrooms, and administrative offices. A four-story outdoor lobby and plaza and an outdoor staircase provide orientation. A covered walkway links the new facility with the existing science complex. Saiful/Bouquet served as structural engineer, Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers served as MEP, and Research Facilities Design was laboratory consultant.
| Feb 11, 2011
A feast of dining options at University of Colorado community center, but hold the buffalo stew
The University of Colorado, Boulder, cooked up something different with its new $84.4 million Center for Community building, whose 900-seat foodservice area consists of 12 micro-restaurants, each with its own food options and décor. Centerbrook Architects of Connecticut collaborated with Denver’s Davis Partnership Architects and foodservice designer Baker Group of Grand Rapids, Mich., on the 323,000-sf facility, which also includes space for a career center, international education, and counseling and psychological services. Exterior walls of rough-hewn, variegated sandstone and a terra cotta roof help the new facility blend with existing campus buildings. Target: LEED Gold.
