WORK: Commercial
60 Commercial Wharf
Boston, MA
Blue Front Technologies, located at 60 Commercial Wharf, is a dynamic and growing telecommunications office located in Boston’s Historic North End. The street level of Commercial Wharf overlooking Boston Harbor had a lot of potential, but the long and narrow configuration of the space, with a total of three windows, made for a drab interior with scarcely any natural sunlight. By incorporating sliding glass doors and office partitions we established a clear view from the front to back of the 1,400 sf space. Decades of paint were stripped from the ceiling joists and brick walls to expose raw finishes that were splashed with cove lighting and wall washers. Applying mirrored-surfaces at window jambs helped to bounce light into the interior from the waterfront, to achieve a bright, crisp and colorful place to work.
The Black Dog
Plymouth, MA
Black Dog Plymouth will be a new concept for the Martha’s Vineyard-based brand, and for the first time incorporating a rum bar, showcasing their distilled offerings alongside their popular restaurant cafe, and ever-expanding retail shop. JSD will help transform 5,000 sf of street-level retail space in a proposed condominium development at the head of Plymouth Harbor, in what is anticipated to be part of a revitalized harbor walk.
Western Front Dispensary
Plymouth, MA
Marijuana dispensaries are opening throughout Boston and its neighboring communities, and JSD has experience in programming the highly specific retail and back-of-house spaces that this project type requires. A non-descript commercial storefront in a light commercial/residential neighborhood required specific space planning to over 5,000 sf of interior space and adjacent work bar to manage customer overflow. It also required thoughtful treatment to the exterior: A well-lit storefront and parking area, landscape buffer and dressed up exterior that enhanced the streetscape but created a modest presence as an abutter to a densely settled residential neighborhood.
Ironwood Investments
Boston, MA
Ironwood Investments wanted to emphasize the proximity of its new office space to the Rose Kennedy Greenway and Boston Harbor, and so the office fit-up became driven by the goal of translucence through the use of sliding panel systems. The resulting “portal to the outside” was achieved using DIIRT Wall, configured to provide views from every vantage point within the office, all against the backdrop of a serine finish palette.
Maverick Street
East Boston, MA
173-177 Maverick Street is an extensive renovation and addition to three existing 3-family buildings in Maverick Square, into a mixed-use development of 9-residential units and retail. The exterior walls are just about the only things that will remain of the three buildings, having suffered prolonged disrepair and the haphazard removal of many of the interior structural components.
The new design aspires to honor the old neighborhood by restoring many of the buildings’ historic architectural elements such as the bay windows, cornices and ground level retail space, while turning an eye toward the contemporary with the addition of a penthouse level, recessed from the roof line, with angled volumes and a warm materials palette.
Aileron: Artist Housing and Studios
East Boston, MA
Together with East-Boston-based NOAH (Neighborhood of Affordable Housing), Joy Street Design submitted a proposal to the City of Boston and was awarded the parcel on which Aileron Artist Housing and Studios will be located, at 127-159 Condor Street in East Boston. Our design for 41-units of affordable and market-rate housing, artist studios, gallery, sculpture courtyard, and work bar combines the traditional massing and rhythm of East Boston’s Eagle Hill neighborhood with a modern interpretation consistent with the programming needs of many artists working in wide-ranging styles of media in this specialized mixed-use development.
The Joy Street Design and NOAH team worked closely with the Eagle Hill neighborhood, local artists and DND (Department of Neighborhood Design) during the City’s zoning and Article 80 small project review processes to address programming, sustainability and accessibility needs, and to ensure that the project concept serves artist-residents as well as the community at large.
Read more about the progress of Aileron on our BLOG.
Carlo's Catering & Delicatessen
East Boston, MA
This family-owned deli has been in East Boston for over 50 years. Prominently located on busy Bennington Street, it was ready for a storefront renewal to reflect the revitalization of the neighborhood as a whole and to invite new customers. Our proposed renovation opens previously blocked windows and restores the historic storefront to celebrate both the past and the future of this cornerstone of the community.
Maverick Barbershop
East Boston, MA
One of our earliest projects was the construction of this tiny barbershop in Maverick Square.
Despite its small dimensions, it is a thriving and busy spot at all hours of the day.