Project Profile: Avenir Building Rises in Boston’s Bulfinch Triangle

Boston is undergoing a renaissance of sorts. With the construction for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, also known as the Big Dig, completed in 2007 and the subsequent dismantling of the surface artery and elevated subway tracks, noise is minimized and daylight abounds, ushering in the more pleasant ways to transform a neighborhood for new housing stock. This is most evident in the transitional neighborhood of the Bulfinch Triangle, located in downtown Boston between Canal, Market, Merrimac, and Causeway streets. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, the district features architecture by famed Boston-born architect Charles Bulfinch.

Avenir is the first building to rise in the historic Bulfinch Triangle since the overhead Central Artery was demolished. Avenir reclaims a full city block, re-knitting surrounding neighborhoods, and providing 241 apartments and 40,000 square feet of retail to bring new 24/7 life to the district. Existing building heights range from 3 to 10 stories and are reminiscent of the distinct building volumes in the historic West End in Boston. To acknowledge the massing of significant adjacent buildings (TD Garden and the high-rise office building and elevated Haymarket Parking Garage) the design incorporates taller building ends at the cross streets that rise to acknowledge the hulking neighbors— and “bookend” the varied projected volumes in the lower rise field of the building. The varied projected volumes between “the bookends” afford space for terraces and decks for most units. Vibrant retail and transportation links are created at Avenir’s street level. An internal, two-level garage is hidden from street view by a “wrap” of two-story lofts.