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Massachusetts changes direction for reuse of Paul Rudolph's brutalist Government Service Center

2024-07-29T12:34:00-04:00

The planned reuse of Paul Rudolph’s oft-reviled Boston Government Service Center has taken on a new direction with a housing-focused proposal from the administration of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. The updated plan replaced a previously announced NBBJ overhaul that would have remade both the Erich Lindemann and Charles F. Hurley buildings into an office block with labs for scientific research. Now, with the demand for each shrinking, the state is poised to reroute the redevelopment to match its previous benchmarked demand for over 69,000 new homes by 2030.

The newly released press statement noted: “The site remains architecturally significant due to its unique mid-century design, and the Administration will prioritize historic preservation in the renewed redevelopment process.” A formal RFP for the new plan could come as soon as this year.

NBBJ will lead the redevelopment of Paul Rudolph’s Hurley Building at Boston Government Center

2022-08-31T11:13:00-04:00

NBBJ has been selected by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to lead the redevelopment of Paul Rudolph’s iconic Charles F. Hurley Building at the Boston Government Service Center.

The move was announced last week after years of speculation as to the fate of Rudolph’s endangered Brutalist follow-up to his Yale School of Art & Architecture building from 1963. NBBJ will add two glazed towers to the site directly on top of Rudolph’s Hurley Building, while Beyer Blinder Belle is on tap for the interior renovations of the extant structure.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker called it a “transformative redevelopment” that would “add much-needed housing, and boost the Commonwealth’s world-class life sciences sector.”

Image courtesy Leggat McCall Properties/NBBJ

As part of the deal, developers Leggat McCall says the remade site will include some 350,000-square-feet of government offices at no cost. The existing central plaza area will be transformed by the local landscaping firm Mikyoung Ki...

Paul Rudolph's Boston Government Service Center is in danger

2019-10-31T11:32:00-04:00

According to a recent article from The Boston Globe, due to city's "hot" real estate market, which has "prompted a number of developers to tear down and build up," the Governor's office now wants to get in on the action.

On Wednesday, the Baker administration unveiled plans to redevelop the state-owned Charles F. Hurley Building, reports the Globe. The efforts will open up a 3.25 acre site with a deal earning the state tens of millions of dollars, "at a minimum." The administration is moving quickly, hoping to identify a developer within 18 to 24 months after putting the project out to bid. Plans are reported to include a new office complex, new ground floor retail, and possible restaurant spaces.

Paul Rudolph began the design process of the brutalist building in 1962 and construction began in 1966, lasting 5 years. Yesterday, The Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation posted a call-to-action on its website and twitter feed. In a blog post titled, S.O.S: - Save Rudolph's Boston Governmen...