PERSPECTIVES
Dot Block Named One of "Seven Boston Developments Everyone Should Be Watching"
‘Tis no secret that Boston is in the mist of a historic building boom. Some projects planned or under way are particularly portentous because of their sheer size, the prices-slash-rents they’re bringing, or the specifics of either their locations or what they are to contain. One of the projects featured on Curbed Boston’s list of ‘Seven Boston Developments Everyone Should Be Watching’ is RODE’s Dot Block.
As it now stands, Dot Block will include three residential and two mixed use buildings. All totaled, we’re talking around 360 apartments as well as 37,000 square feet of retail and an accessory parking garage of some 450 spaces.
Learn more at Curbed Boston.
Transforming West Broadway
There are few areas of the city that are changing more rapidly than the section of South Boston near the Broadway T station. For some visitors, it seems like the landscape looks different every time they amble off the Red Line escalator.
And there are few firms more involved right now in this transformation than RODE Architects, the South End firm run by Eric Robinson and Kevin Deabler.
“We’re seeing the movement of pulling the density toward the train stations [all over the city] and we think that’s a good thing,” Robinson says. “West Broadway, in our minds, is an interesting case study of that happening and it’s been successful so far.”
Read the full article at the Boston Globe.
RODE Featured in Architect Magazine
In our recent interview with Christine Cipriani, from Architect Magazine, we share our design philosophies and diverse portfolio of work, including large-scale industrial projects in Boston and New York City.
We discuss how we seek out projects with the potential to transform a space or an entire neighborhood, bringing buildings into the foreground with strong formal moves. According to Eric, one of RODE’s principles, “Many of our projects have a commercial or retail component that serves the community, and a way to talk about the project to neighbors who otherwise get turned off by development.”
Read the full interview at Architects Magazine.
RODE Puts Its Neighborhood First
Starting off in the basement of a Savin Hill home, tackling tiny remodels and revamps, RODE has grown into a crew of 16 working in a bright, open South End office. Along the way, we have been entrusted with some of Dorchester’s most innovative renovations, which always involve impassioned community feedback. By merging our work with our love for Boston, we want to foster deeper connections to the environment.
“We see them as a partner,” said Matt Malloy of the Dorchester Brewing Company. “They are part of the team, and when we have a challenge, it’s about, ‘great, how do we solve this?’ ”
Learn more in our interview with Jennifer Smith at the Dorchester Reporter.
Dot Block Receives BCDC Approval
Dot Block has received unanimous approval from the Boston Civic Design Commission. This milestone in the city review process focuses on the project’s public merits and overall design strategy. Dot Block is aimed at being the biggest single development in Dorchester history, covering four acres of land adjacent to Dorchester Avenue and minutes from the Savin Hill T Station. The pedestrian-oriented public spaces will invigorate the heart of the site by fostering an active street life, with the introduction of cafes, restaurant, and other retail spaces. We are now working towards BRA board approval, onward and upward.
