SOUTH END STATION MARKET
redesigning the former Boston Elevated Railway Central Power Station using repurposed subway materials
by vanessa nowack
A HISTORY OF THE SOUTH END
In the 1850s wealthy merchants invested in Boston's South End, building handsome brownstones along the edges of quaint and quiet tree-lined streets. A few decades later many of the buildings remained empty as a result of a recession, and this beautiful neighborhood and fallen to one of the poorest in the city.
Over the next century, homes were divided into tenements, some neglected to the point of being uninhabitable. In the 1960s the City of Boston actually began giving away buildings in the South End with hopes that people would invest in renovating and repurposing these once elegant structures. Slowly but surely, a new community started to form, and today the South End is thriving. Most of the once vacant brownstones are livable again, many rehabilitated to the level of luxury their original investors had intended. The South End is now known for it's diverse culture, artistic community and the city's best restaurants.
THE REUSE PROJECT: STATION MARKET
Even with a strong, growing community gentrifying the South End, there are still vacant buildings waiting for a purpose – one of them being the former Boston Elevated Railway Central Power Station. When constructed in the late 19th century it was the largest electric generating plant in the world. The station provided power to the elevated subway line that ran along Washington Street. Today this former industrial building is used as a parking lot. The structure itself is magnificent – built in the style of Romanesque and Gothic Revival – and the interior is one large, open space.
The proposed reuse project is to renovate the interior of the former Boston Elevated Railway Central Power Station located in Boston's South End neighborhood using repurposed materials from railroads and retired trains to create a marketplace for SoWa Open Market vendors to operate year round.
The need for such a building is already in place: In 2003, the SoWa Open Market was just a small gathering of a few dozen local vendors and artisans. They set up shop every Sunday for six months out of the year in the parking lot of 540 Harrison Avenue, just in front of the empty Power Station. Over the years the event expanded into the building and eventually moved down the block to a larger lot. The SoWa Open Market is now one of the largest in Boston, and attracts hundreds of vendors selling everything from original art to locally grown zucchinis, with thousands of visitors coming from all over to shop. However the SoWa Open Market currently opens just one day a week from May through October. An interior space would allow vendors to operate year round, and give them a more permanent presence in the neighborhood.
DESIGN PLANS FOR THE BUILDING
Historic Boston Incorporated is a non profit organization dedicated to preserving historical buildings in the city by investing in their rehabilitation and reuse in a way that benefits the local community. Their preservation strategy for the former Boston Elevated Railway Central Power Station insists that that the “monumental landmark is re-used in a way that revitalizes its neighborhood.” Design plans for the building – from the “raw” (repurposed) materials that make up the interior to the layout and so far as the tactile aesthetics – are all carefully considered to reflect the attitudes, design ideals and architecture of Boston's South End.
Materials & Aesthetics
There are two basic concepts that are intrinsic to the redesign interior of the Boston Elevated Railway Central Power Station. One: the new design must work with the buildings existing aesthetic as well as the unique architecture of Boston's South End. Two: the interior should be created using repurposed materials that draw reference to the history of the building.
The original structure is mainly brick with steel beam supports on the interior. The building exterior remains unaltered to preserve it's historic facade. The plans for interior design respect the original industrial aesthetic and draw upon simple contemporary elegance found in many of the South End's renovated buildings. Exposed brick is a common characteristic in homes all over Boston, and in keeping with local architecture the interior plan preserves this major part of the design. As a nod to the original purpose of the building (a former power plant for public transit) the major interior renovations are built from reused train and railroad materials. The floors are designed using upside down railway tracks, with repurposed wood filling the gaps between railway sleepers; this design is the can be seen from the lower level, as the metal rails will be a major detail to the ceiling. Stairs are created from metal train exterior walls, cut to shape. The second floor of the redesign interior features railings created from subway train windows. The idea is to use the repurposed materials in a way that makes them blend with the interior, but still stand out as original elements.
Layout
The biggest challenge for redesigning the interior is the layout: the space should have the same feeling as an open air market, so that people may interact with the vendors as they would in an outdoor space. The first element of the original design that lends itself to this is the large window openings that break up three of the four exterior walls, as well as skylights down the center of the middle section roof. The redesign adds two more skylights on either flank roof to bring even more natural light in, and adds glass to the full length of the north and south windows without any added separate supports. This lessens the need for artificial light and connects the interior to the outside by exposing the elements while still protecting from them.
In order to create more square footage a second level would be added to the perimeters of the building as well as around the steel beams between sections. The layout of the second floor accommodates three atria which serve two major purposes: 1) to allow natural light from skylights and upper windows to reach the lower level 2) to keep the “open-air” outdoor market feel. The height of the second level is strategic as well: different parts of the floor are at different heights – depending on the current features of the building – to allow for maximum natural light and to create an a-symmetrical element that is intrinsic to the original design.
STATION MARKET: VENDORS, PURPOSE & FUTURE OF THE BUILDING
The redesigned interior of the former Boston Elevated Railway Central Power Station draws reference to the European central markets found in Spain, Italy and France. This particular project draws reference to the Mercato Centrale in Florence, Italy. The first level of the Italian market is composed of small, individual shops: butchers, bakeries, dry goods and dairy – and the second level is dedicated to local farm stands featuring fruits, vegetables and other grown products. There are also several osterias, where locals would go for lunch or coffee, around the perimeter of the ground floor.
The design of Station Market shows reference to this: the intention is for the first floor to be more permanent vendors and the second to be lent to farmer's and local vendors according to season. For this reason no dividing walls are put into the original design to allow for individual vendor development. A contract should be drawn up to ensure that vendors building more permanent markets follow strict sustainable building guidelines, and make use of repurposed materials whenever possible.
As for it's place on the South End neighborhood, Station Market would also serve as a meeting place for the local community. Like the Florence market, Station Market would house several cafes and restaurants dedicated to serving food provided through the market's local vendors. The second level of the building is divided into two sub-levels. Most of the second level 19 feet above ground level and dedicated to vendors. Another part of the second level, on the south wall of the building, is a few feet higher, and this particular space would be dedicated to “osterias” of the building. This space is slightly higher to set it apart from the market as more of a meeting space and to allow people on this level to see all other levels of the building.
While there is already a place for Station Market in the South End, the hope is that the building will not only serve the existing community but attract more like-minded people to the area, further developing and enhancing this once crumbling neighborhood.
http://www.historicboston.org/casebook/99cb/bostonelev.htm
http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:Power_System_of_Boston%27s_Rapid_Transit,_1889
http://www.library.neu.edu/archives/collect/findaids/m150find.htm
http://www.sowaopenmarket.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ecale80/4654611490/in/photostream/
Status: School Project
Location: Boston, MA, US
My Role: designer
