PERSPECTIVES

By Madeline Nieter

I was given the opportunity to spend two rewarding days with interior designer Molly Randell at RODE Architects as part of my school’s “Career Exploration Program” (CEP). When I initially thought about places where I might want to job shadow, my mind was completely blank. After asking around, however, I realized that I had a fantastic connection to an artistic, design-based firm. This connection to RODE empowered me to gain considerable insight into what this profession is all about. I had no idea what to expect on my first day since I had never before completed a job shadow and/or been specifically interested in architecture or interior design. After this incredible experience, I can confidently say that is not the case anymore.

My first day started with a client meeting, which was followed by a tour of the stylistic office and a rundown of general information about the interiors department. I was also introduced to an engaging design project that I worked on over the course of my two-day stay. After lunch, I had the pleasure of helping the architecture interns with some of their projects for the firm.

By my second day, I already felt comfortable in the work environment, and I spent most of the morning completing my design project. The end result was a slideshow, which included my own mood board, concept imagery, and finish palette for a pretend fictional restaurant concept. As a whole, this project gave me first-hand insight into the kinds of skills that are often employed by interior designers, and it gave me a taste of what it would be like to start an interior project. During the second half of the day, I spent more time in the architecture department and tried to assist the interns one last time to the best of my ability. To finish off my experience, I got to attend an interior design trade show. This was a stimulating environment in which I was able to learn more about interiors, meet other designers and salespeople, and just to have an enjoyable afternoon interacting with creative minds and inspiring designers.

"Restaurant Nieter" Design Project

Going into architecture or interior design had not been on my radar before this experience, but that has most definitely changed. My time in such an engaging office with supportive staff has pointed me in the direction of potentially studying architecture and/or interior design. I gained a vast amount of professional knowledge and experience over the course of my two days, yet I wish that I could have stayed longer.

I can’t thank RODE enough for teaching me new skills and for empowering me with an opportunity to learn more about myself and my future!

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4/22/2024 | Happy Earth Day from everyone at RODE! Since our founding in 2006, we’ve made sustainability a priority in all of our projects, so it should come as no surprise that Earth Day is near and dear to our hearts.

This year, we volunteered with Mass DCR’s Park Serve Day, participating in a big cleanup at Carson Beach in Dorchester. Armed with work gloves and trash bags, we scoured that beach from end to end and lugged a truly massive pile of garbage out! You would not believe what kinds of strange and unexpected things wash up on an urban beach (much less what visitors just leave behind!).

Despite a gray and rainy day, it felt good to make such an impact volunteering with a group like the DCR (Department of Conservation & Recreation). If hearing about our experience has you charged up to make a difference in your community, you have so many great options!

1. Volunteer with a Group

It might be too late to jump onto an Earth Day-specific volunteering opportunity, but there are plenty of groups looking for help all year round (or at least seasonally). Here are just a handful of options local to the Boston area:

• Boston Harbor Now hosts Moakley Park cleanups the third or fourth Saturday of each month from March through September (except May) from 9:00 -11:00 AM. All necessary tools, including gloves, pickers, bags, sharps containers, and safety instructions will be provided.
• Clean up the Boston Harbor Islands on Stewardship Saturdays! Work alongside park staff clearing invasive species, improving trails, and protecting important habitat areas. Check the park calendar for regularly scheduled events offered year-round.
• MassAudubon has opportunities all across the state, with positions from A to Z: Advocacy, Building and construction, Conservation, Design, Education, Front desk and visitor services, Gardening ... and more! Check out their Volunteer Portal for what’s coming up next.
• The Esplanade Association has opportunities for individuals and organizations to keep the Esplanade clean and beautiful.

2. Plant a (Native) Tree

Trees (and other plantings) have so many benefits it’s hard to pick just a few to highlight! We incorporate them in as many of our projects as possible, often exceeding what is required by code so that we can do our part to improve the neighborhood around that particular development. (Did you see our blog article on Chelsea Point? A Northeastern research team has been studying the effects of the green infrastructure attached to that project!)

• Trees provide shade, reducing the heat island effect in urban areas.
• Trees are the single biggest contributor to improving air quality, which has been linked to cognitive function in multiple studies.
• Trees save lives! Check out this study about the impact of trees on mortality rates.

Additionally, native trees are a key part of the ecosystem. These plants have spent millions of years evolving alongside native wildlife, and now exist in a symbiotic relationship. Keystone species are especially important: this term refers to the 14% of native plant species which support 90% of butterfly and moth species, as well as other essential insect species that 96% of terrestrial birds rely on for food sources. Remove these keystone species, and the ecosystem collapses (yes, like an ancient Roman arch!). (Learn more about keystone species via the National Wildlife Federation.)

3. Remove Invasive Species

All the benefits that native species provide, invasive species lack - they don’t host wildlife and they spread aggressively, taking up resources and crowding out those critical native species. Check out MassWildlife’s or MassAudubon’s guide to invasive plants for more information on identification and removal.

Many of these plants are used ornamentally by gardeners who don’t realize the negative impacts they have - luckily, there are great native options for everything out there! Check out the U.S. Forest Service’s Native Plant Alternatives or Blue Stem Native’s What to Plant guide.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Earth Day!

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Isabella is RODE’s high school intern, part of our long time partnership with Cristo Rey High School in Dorchester. The intern program is designed to give students access to and understanding of a wide range of career options.

There are a lot of things high schoolers don’t know about. When I came to RODE as a high school intern back in October, I was excited—but nervous, since I knew absolutely nothing about architecture. But I’ve always known I had an interest. During my time here, I’ve taken on many tasks, and embarked on many journeys, one of my favorites being visiting the Pine Street Inn construction site. I could never have guessed how much fun you could have at a construction site—classrooms can only teach so much!

Site Visit 1

My first site visit was in early December. I went with Eric [Robinson] and Nick [Ruggeri], and they were helpful to me the entire time. There was so much to take in. I remember the first thing I did was stare at the exterior. It was mostly finished in the front, but the sides and back were still under construction.

Eric showed me to the garage, which was also still in progress at this point. We walked up and down a lot of stairs as we traveled around the site, eventually reaching the lobby. Looking around the lobby, it looked like it was barely begun. The walls weren’t even built yet, but you could sort of figure out how the design was going to look. There was a lot of construction dust on the floor and many workers were focused in front of the building.

We headed down the hall and reached a room that Eric told me was going to be a kitchen. I honestly couldn’t picture it at this early stage, but it was a pretty big space that would host room for a lot of residents.

We walked up the stairs, and Eric told me that the first floor would be used for assisting formerly homeless in retaining housing.

As we advanced up the stairs, we saw larger units meant for multiple residents. These units were not far along yet—most every room I peeked into was just a bare room with maybe a plastic sheet on the floor.

We went up to the roof, which I noticed was slightly angled. Eric told me it was so all the rainfall can go straight into the drains ingrained into the roof so the water doesn’t have to sit at the top of the building.

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One thing I love is the garden they’re going to make available to the residents. People who live there can admire the plants while relaxing or taking a walk around in case they want to get fresh air.

I wasn't sure how far along the construction was, but at the time I went, my guess was about 40-50% complete.

Pine Street Inn is a huge project and has been underway for years, but one or two site visits can’t really fully comprehend the amount of effort that has been put into this building. I love how everyone works together as a team, no matter what their role is.

Site Visit 2

Here’s where you start to see the project. After wanting to for so long, I was finally able to go back to the Pine Street Inn on Valentine’s Day—2 months after my last visit. From the outside, there weren't any big, noticeable changes—just more noise. It was also very cold that day, so we headed inside quickly!

Nick, Eric, and I met with Rashmi [Ramaswamy] again; she has been doing a great job at leading the project. The lobby was still mostly as I remembered it, with small changes. Eric told me it’s because the plan was to work from the top down to the bottom, which makes sense to me.

I was curious about the garage, but we didn’t go inside this time. It looked nearly the same, just more developed since it was finally completed.

Something that surprised me was the progress in the first floor units. I walked around in amazement, looking at the countertops, microwaves, and cabinets. Some of these rooms were almost finished!

As a high school student with an affinity for architectural concepts, I really took note this time of how everything was structured. On both of my visits, I drew out things I found interesting in my notebook, and I took photos as well on my second visit. I took a picture of the roof (unfortunately we couldn’t go out this time) and the amenities inside each unit.

We spent a little more time outside, and I was mesmerized by the workers building a staircase on top of some large rocks. I took more notes about things I found interesting. The scenes were fascinating to me and I couldn’t help but admire the fact that this project alone would help so many people who were in need, and so many people would be able to appreciate the work everyone involved has put into this building.

Another thing I love is how the people involved not only had those in need in mind, but also the residents surrounding the Jamaica Plain area. The original plan was to have an additional level, but comments from the residents reduced the scale. I think it’s great to have a project that can not only help new inhabitants, but also the ones who already live around there.

Overall, my experience has been exciting and my curiosity has been tested to the limit. I love exploring new places, so this project was a great opportunity for me to see how things work around a construction site.

Pine Street Inn’s goal of helping people in need acquire a permanent home and community inspires me to help those around me, as well. And who knows, maybe someday I’ll be able to help out on such a huge project like this!

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RODE's Caroline Jones recently gave the below speech  on site at 1515 Commonwealth Ave alongside our teammates Davis, Tocci, and more in celebration of Women in Construction Week. Pictured above, left to right: Caroline Jones, Amanda Sanders, Amanda Dexter.

Hi everyone, my name is Caroline Jones. I am an Interior Designer at RODE Architects and have been working on the 1515 project over the last two and a half years.

The first person to introduce me to the world of architecture and design was my father, a self-proclaimed architecture school dropout who had his own contracting business when I was a kid. He went on to have an entirely different second career, but much of his free time was spent working on our rambling old house. I would get pulled into helping, though not with design - my duties were largely limited to sweeping, peeling wallpaper, and (if I was lucky!) some painting. So before I was a woman in design and construction, I was a kid in construction.

I very much prefer to be outdoors, but growing up in New England it's unavoidable that we spend much of the winter months indoors. In part that's what drew me to interior design – if I have to spend so much time indoors, then it should feel good to be there! While I was in grad school I learned that the average person spends about 86% of their day indoors. Interior design certainly has a reputation of being somewhat frivolous, but this statistic helped me reframe the importance of the work I do. I want the space I am designing to be a comfortable, safe, and healthy environment for people to live, work, or simply have their lunch break. I want the end user’s experience to be as pleasant as it possibly can - and I feel grateful to work in an industry that involves so much cross-discipline collaboration with other women to make that happen.

As a designer I spend only a small amount of my time on job sites. Over the years I have relied heavily on subcontractors and installers to help educate me on how to improve as a designer: how to better communicate my designs and how to design more realistically and more economically. Since I'm not in the field building and installing what I have drawn, learning from those who are is important for my professional growth. To know that some of those doing that work are women is humbling.

Just as I have gained so much through collaborating with all of you, I also take my role as a mentor seriously. The interior design industry is majority female, making us the outliers in the building industry - but giving me the ability to provide an encouraging space for other women to explore the variety of opportunities that historically might not have been available to them.

I want to thank everyone in this room for being a part of today’s event and for supporting women in construction, both the ones in this room and those yet to come. And big thank you to Tocci and Davis for organizing today’s event!

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Principal Kevin Deabler attended this year's meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture's conference in Vancouver to discuss RODE's partnership with a Northeastern University research team led by Michelle Laboy.

The research team is sharing preliminary findings studying RODE's work at Chelsea Point, a large-scale industrial facility currently under construction in Chelsea, MA. The pilot site is funded by the 2022 Latrobe Prize of the AIA College of Fellows.

Chelsea Point - RODE

Researchers are collaborating with the City of Chelsea to test how sensor data and models can measure health hazards and the before / after effects of green infrastructure in architectural developments, and how to use those findings to support design.

Chelsea Point is intended to cater to large-scale distribution and logistics tenants, eager for locations with good access to urban centers and transit hubs. The project abuts a dense urban residential neighborhood, and incorporates a variety of green infrastructure improvements and interventions to modernize the neighborhood's industrial heritage:

• the design arranges the industrial program to leverage site topography and existing traffic patterns, minimizing the impact of the new use on the residential neighborhood
• the building far exceeds the required setbacks where it faces the residential neighborhoods, allowing for generous landscaped streetscapes with native plantings, shade trees, and site furnishings.
• new shade trees visually screen the loading docks from residential areas, and reduce the heat island effect
• the development significantly reduces impervious cover, with new native landscaping that requires no irrigation, and an improved stormwater management approach
• the finished floor is elevated to provide 2' of freeboard to address potential coastal flooding

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