NorthPoint, Cambridge
Boston/Cambridge/Somerville
Spaulding and Slye and Guildford Transportation commissioned a Master Plan for the creation of a new mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhood on 52 acres of former railway yard lands on the borders of East Cambridge, Boston and Somerville, Mass. The plan includes a significant new parks network and creation of a new T stop at Lechmere Square. Greenberg Consultants led a multi-disciplinary team including CBT Architects and Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Landscape Architects in preparing the Master Plan. A pattern of 21 small urban blocks frames a central green space consisting of a central park of over 6 acres in size and a linear Boulevard with a central landscaped median. Up to 2700 new dwelling units, 2.2 million square feet of employment space, a hotel and local retail and neighborhood amenities will be created on the NorthPoint site. Trail systems extending to Davisville Square and the Charles River will be featured in the Plan. The plan is now fully approved and the first in a series of invited competitions for individual blocks has been completed. The central park and the first buildings have been completed and subsequent phases are in the planning stages. The NorthPoint Master Plan has been awarded the 2005 Willo von Moltke Award for Design Excellence by the Boston Society of Architects and Co-Sponsored by AIA New York Chapter and the 2006 National AIA (American Institute of Architects) Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design.