PERSPECTIVES

Our principal, Eric Robinson, sat down with The Bates Real Estate Report  to discuss the forces behind RODE's community-driven work and architectural inspiration.

Read the article below or check out the original post here.

----------------------------------

Are These Architects Shaping Boston or Is Boston Shaping Them?

By David Bates, The Bates Real Estate Report

“I never did a project in Boston. Not one,” recalls Eric Robinson, 46, about the 10 years he worked at a Harvard Square architectural firm. Robinson managed exciting projects, but apparently never walked, took a bike, or jumped on the MBTA to get to any of them. Then, instead of being an on-the-road architect, Robinson (“RO”) teamed up with his former classmate, Kevin Deabler (“DE”), and became a principal at RODE Architects.

Frankly, their entrepreneurial timing wasn’t so great: 2007. And their initial projects weren’t so big: bathroom renovations. But one thing the pair of architects had going for them was that they were part of a community, which – by the way – is something completely different than an area where people just live. A community is where people know and care about their neighbors.

For 13 years, Robinson and Deabler lived a two-family apart from each other in Savin Hill. It was in Deabler’s two-family that they started the firm. Dorchester is where they found their first niche: “There are a ton of families that want to raise their kids, that want to live in the city,” Robinson says.

Speaking about the firm’s early days, he says, “We just started putting our names out there and we were so active in the neighborhood.”

Their names got around. “These are two good guys,” they would hear as one neighbor would introduce them to another who needed their services. It took a while, but hard work, talent, and community connectedness eventually snowballed and the firm’s opportunities grew.

RODE’s first larger project happened when Robinson and Deabler went to the blast-from-the-past part of Boston known as Allston and got a Glenville Avenue site approved for four contemporary townhomes. The venture helped build a foundation for their feelings about design. “We are architects that are building for this day,” Robinson says, “so we don’t want to build and design work that looks like something in the past.” People live differently now than they did in the past, notes Robinson. So, although RODE is sensitive to the historical and contextual aspects of a building’s surroundings, designing the architecture – even on the outside – to reflect these lifestyle changes ultimately drives their more contemporary approach to the project. RODE was the lead architect for the interiors of Radian, the curved 26-story apartment development in Chinatown. It was a challenging project, even for a firm committed to design that doesn’t look like something in the past.

RODE also designed restaurants in Somerville, Cambridge, and Boston.

Today, instead of logging frequent flyer miles, Robinson is accruing Uber charges, the preferred method of transportation for the 20-person firm located on Albany Street in the South End.

Not long ago, Robinson and Deabler were invited to speak to architecture students at their North Carolina State alma mater; their talk was titled “Shaping Boston.” But because they are working on so many projects in so many different Boston neighborhoods, they had to ask, “Are we shaping Boston or is Boston shaping us?”

Currently, they’re the architects on a 40-unit building in Mission Hill, a 73-unit in Jamaica Plain, and a boutique hotel and condos at 14 West Broadway in South Boston. In Brighton, RODE is designing a new synagogue, a new Mikvah, and a new 70-unit residential building. There’s no cookie-cutter approach to these residential buildings, as developers look to cater to the values and routines of residents in each neighborhood.

Their strong suit, however, is Dorchester. In Dorchester, they are the architects for 14 units in Savin Hill, a sizable Port Norfolk development, and DOTBLOCK, the game changing mixed-use development that includes 362 residential units. Robinson says one of the firm’s strengths is navigating Boston’s challenging appeal process and getting projects approved. What makes them so good at it? Matching the goals of the client with the neighborhood helps, but it’s really their understanding of how community works that wins the day. Robinson describes an approach that is clearly the exact opposite of walking into a meeting, dropping a plan for a building, and telling neighborhood attendees, “Here you go.”

“We work extremely hard in the first part of the process with both the client group and the neighborhood association,” he says. He wants the neighborhood to understand what they’re doing and why, even early on. Clearly, caring about others in the neighborhood can pay off. Where does the Virginia native get that civic sensitivity? “I think it comes clearly out of being Dorchester residents, being in a neighborhood and understanding,” he says.

‍

RODE Architects are working alongside Traggorth Companies to convert vacant, historic buildings into mixed-use buildings. These projects serve as a catalyst for the revitalization of the city’s historic downtown, support the expansion of investment in local businesses, and fit into the overall revival of downtown as a gateway city.

RODE was excited by the opportunity to renovate JM Lofts at 37 Washington, a vacant building originally erected in 1882 as part of an industrial expansion. That project was completed last year and now they begin 87 Washington, which contains many of the same features. 87 Washington stands as the next endeavor, to be another step in the Downtown Haverhill Smart Growth redevelopment. In both of these boutique developments, RODE is working with Traggorth to preserve historic context, while constructing residential apartments on upper floors and renovating the street level as retail space. As their portfolio grows, RODE has seen the compounding benefits of re-claiming vacant buildings as well as a focus on distressed neighborhoods. At 18 and 24 units, these small projects suggest a slight momentum shift, where the historic scale is being stitched back together in successive steps.

“We are very excited to be doing this work in Haverhill,” said Kevin Deabler, principal and co-founder, RODE Architects. “We know that transformations do not happen overnight; rather they are realized when successive, small improvements aggregate over a contained area and broader positive changes are able to be seen. The energy that accompanies each successive renovation feeds into the vitality of the streets and sidewalks, which, in turn, fuel interest in downtown living.”

RODE and Traggorth have followed this approach on multiple projects, beginning with the Off-Centre Lofts in Jamaica Plain, to utilize good design and a mix of functions to support urban revitalization. The mixed-use aspect is essential to encourage both the street front and the upper stories to become inhabited and allow continued growth. These historic projects are rare because renovating these old, vacant buildings can be challenging and dispels the interest of many developers or land owners, causing them to further deteriorate over the years and compounding the necessary improvements.

“In order for us to attract businesses and residents to Haverhill, it’s critical to have distinctive, well-thought design that sends the right message,” said Noah Koretz, a transformative development fellow at MassDevelopment. “Rode’s work on the revitalization of JM Lofts is a critical piece of design work in Haverhill, as it honors the history of the building and its surroundings while pushing the envelope in terms of style and functionality offered in downtown apartments here. Those of us working on downtown investment in Haverhill are thrilled that the firm will be working on Traggorth Companies’ next project as well.”

The projects were funded through Mass. Historic Commission (MHC) tax credit rewards and, while adapted to another use, are intended to replicate the original condition as much as possible. The state of Massachusetts has also supported these redevelopments with investment through the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Housing Development Incentive Program. The planned redevelopments include necessary structural upgrades to resist seismic and wind-loads and visual renovations that align with the Historic Preservation guidelines and include the replacement of windows with new historically accurate ones that are high-performance and the repair and replacement of historic brick, stone and cast-iron facade elements. RODE’s approach to interior design is in-keeping with this focus, allowing the building to reveal itself through the execution of the project, with textures unearthed as the old layers are exposed. Mayor James Fiorentini and planning director William Pillsbury have expressed their support for this transit-oriented development and the opportunity for continued economic growth it brings to the city.

Photo Credit: Christian Borger

‍

Tom English’s bar and the adjacent Dorchester Market— two longtime businesses on a prominent Dot Ave corner in Columbia-Savin Hill— are under agreement to be sold this summer with the next owner eyeing a mixed-use project for the site.

RODE architects, which is working on several other nearby projects, is attached to the Tom English redevelopment plan. The site location — near the JFK/UMass T stop with solid foot traffic passing through the area — means “it falls into this category of transit-oriented development,” said Kevin Deabler with RODE Architects.

The site abuts College Bound’s property at The Little House on East Cottage Street, which is also where the Columbia-Savin Hill group meets monthly during general session.

“We know that’s a special building, and it’s been a special building for the whole community,” Deabler said. “So the fact that this is one of their key abutters right here, we’re just working hand in hand with them, but we’re just not at a point right now to sit down and say what it is."

Stay tuned for more information!

For more information, check out the original article by Jennifer Smith at the Dorchester Report, here.

‍

A shift in social behaviors is drawing people back into cities and our brightest urban centers are rushing to accommodate the influx with a surge in new housing construction. These residential buildings comprise a significant portion of the built environment; they represent the architectural vernacular of our neighborhoods. Within this sector, the extruded rectangle – the double loaded corridor – is the most ubiquitous of the multi-family building typologies, offering a model familiar to construction methods and pro formas alike. The price of land acquisition and the cost of construction make it difficult to deliver affordable middle-income housing, adding to the appeal of a typology that maximizes every available square foot of rentable real estate.

The challenge to designers lies in how to suitably apply the ‘extruded-rectangle’ in our cities. The typology is inherently monolithic. As urban planners, our daily experience on the streets of Boston tells us that there is strength in the continuous street wall. It helps to define the 'urban room' of the street, defining the margins of urban life and giving structure to our cities. But within this structure, are there opportunities to vary from a strict rigidity, and add richness to the built environment?

What happens when you fold a wall?

• Enrich the senses  – Much as the spires of cathedrals lift the spirit of the observer towards the heavens, or the long horizon lines of Wright’s country houses instill a sense of grounded domesticity, so should our urban housing reflect the dynamic neighborhood setting in which it is found.
   
• Respect and Enhance the Surroundings – The visual lines of a building can elegantly resolve irregular lot conditions, transition around a street corner, and acknowledge prominent neighbors or important view corridors; these gestures help a building become integrated with its environment.
   
• Reduce the visual bulk of the building – Breaking the continuous edge of the building can reduce the overall impact of a building’s mass. A larger building can be made to feel contextual among smaller neighbors.
   
• Delineate entry – From the igloo to the skyscraper, a visual indication of a building’s entry orients the user, grounds the building, and instills a sense of balance.
   
• Expand the public realm – The bustling activity of our urban thoroughfares benefit greatly from even the slightest occasional relief. A bench tucked among landscaped planters adjacent to – but apart from – a busy sidewalk offers just the needed respite to foster a vibrant mix of activities.
   

Architects are responsible for creating buildings and spaces that both satisfy the client and enhance the lives of all who experience them. We are the arbiters of the inherent conflict between richness of form and economy of means.

‍

When it comes to the many details involved in designing a building, smaller  elements like branding can often fall by the wayside. This is not the case at RODE, however, where creating a unique brand image is  a core aspect of the design process. We believe that incorporating interesting graphics into a design attracts people to the space and allows a building to stand out from the crowd in a world where new buildings seem to be going up on every corner. A client’s overall brand image is also a great source of inspiration during the initial design process and can be integrated in elements like signage, which showcase the style of the client’s company long after the building is completed.

For us, it is important to focus on how our clients want their brands represented and to apply our knowledge of the latest industry trends  in graphics. Bright colors, bold typography, and hand drawn graphics are just a few of the latest “big things.” We have also noticed that the average consumer is seeking something more eclectic and creative  inspring our clients to  add some vibrancy to their projects. Interesting “duo-tones,” authentic images, and Google fonts are a few other trends rounding out our predictions for 2017.

Duo-tones create a more dynamic look in signage by using one vibrant color alongside its deeper neutral partner. Graphics companies are also showcasing new digital printing techniques that can turn any image into a vibrant and unique wall graphic. We are seeing these types of graphics frequently used as wall features in in commercial and hospitality spaces.  Google fonts, which have grown to include more than 800 font types, work across a number of platforms, making it easier to create individualized aesthetics for interior design, exterior signage, and marketing.

Staying up-to-date in graphic design trends and incorporating them in other aspects of architecture and interior design is essential to our process and we have seen the positive impact this approach has on our client’s projects and in creating spaces with their own unique flare.

‍