Around Boston Harbor, talk about sea level rise and future flooding has moved from hypotheticals to official design guidance. All of this is great progress however very few adaptation projects have been realized.
Designs of an $87 million flood barrier protecting downtown Boston will proceed to the next step after receiving state funding for additional engineering studies.
Protecting downtown Boston from sea level rise will require a unified barrier between the North End and Atlantic Wharf, and waterfront property owners say time is running short to choose the most effective coastal defense strategy.
After organizing hurricane relief efforts in Puerto Rico, Yanel de Angel brings a problem-solving approach to Massachusetts’ resiliency and housing crises in her new position leading architects Perkins & Will’s Boston studio.
CBT’s Maren Reepmeyer played a key role in designing Fidelity Investments’ Seaport World Trade Center at Commonwealth Pier, redesigning office space for collaboration, eliminating the aging meeting hall and adding new retail on Seaport Boulevard and outdoor public spaces on the Boston Harborwalk.
As the need for more housing and mixed-use spaces and the demand for a waterfront lifestyle continues to grow, the real estate and design industry must broaden their scope when it comes to sustainability and resiliency.
Greater Boston’s booming real estate industry continues to reshape the local landscape as the real estate cycle passes the decade mark, and 2020 is likely to generate more headlines about how developers are responding to the region’s job growth and housing needs.
Resilient designs and skyline views are attracting the first wave of residents to the 478-unit Clippership Wharf condominium and apartment complex in East Boston.
Addressing climate change through mitigation and adaptation will require massive amounts of funding and collaboration between federal, state, local, private and philanthropic entities.
Rather than walling off the site in the face of climate change risks, waterfront developers should consider how the neighborhood and residents alike can interact with the waterfront, and how the site fits in with the broader neighborhood.
As resiliency and mobility issues approach crisis proportions in Greater Boston, Amy Korte is using technology to optimize designs and operations of new developments. Korte was named president of Arrowstreet, the Boston-based architecture firm that she joined in 2008, in May.
Even though there is much to fix in the world we are leaving to our children and our grandchildren, I remain optimistic. If there ever were a time in history for the design professions to step up, it is now.
Changing climate conditions and extreme weather events are presenting new challenges for real estate and development professionals to design, permit and build projects that will endure the short- and long-term risks associated with the flooding that results from rising seas and super storms. Short of raising all sites above the flood elevation, what can property owners do to combat flood risks?
