Berklee College of Music Tower Receives National Housing Award

WILLIAM RAWN ASSOCIATES
Architects, Inc.
10 Post Office Square, Suite 1010
Boston, MA 02109 617.423.3470
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW BERKLEE COLLEGE OF MUSIC TOWER RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD:
American Institute of Architects National Housing Award
CONTACT:
Clifford V. Gayley, FAIA, LEED AP, Principal
William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc.
617-423-3470 [email protected]
www.rawnarch.com
Boston, MA – April 16, 2015 – The Berklee Tower at Berklee College of Music, designed by
William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc. of Boston, has received the 2015 National Housing
Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). A jury of five professionals selected
the project as one of only 10 buildings nationally to receive this award. In their comments, AIA
Housing Jury states that the project is “quite elegant,” and the Dining/Performance venue “adds a
lot of vibrancy to the street, enlivening the street above and beyond what anyone would expect.”
The 16-story, 167,000 square foot mixed-use building creates a center of gravity on Berklee’s
campus, and a new landmark for Boston. It includes a prominent 40-foot high, two-story, glassenclosed 400-seat performance venue for nightly student performances that doubles as a dining
space during the day, visible from busy Massachusetts Avenue. Above, 12 residential floors
house 370 students, and six, double-height lounges wrapped in floor-to-ceiling windows build
community for students who enter them from two adjoining floors. In support of Berklee’s
expanding programs in recording and production, a 14,000 square foot music technology space
two floors below grade, designed with Walters-Storyk Design Group, houses 10 facilities that
add to what is the largest music-recording complex in the United States. The project is the
college’s first free-standing, purpose-built building.
“Berklee’s engagement with Massachusetts Avenue gives that part of the street an incredibly
urban and even edgy quality. With President Roger Brown, we designed a 40 foot high glass
walled space overlooking the street. The stage at the edge of the glass wall makes the musicians
highly visible to the city, showcasing the deep talent and energy at Berklee,” notes William L.
Rawn, FAIA, Co-Principal for Design at William Rawn Associates. “President Roger Brown
led us in making a fascinating choice: to create a performance space that accommodates dining,
rather than the other way around – a choice that ensured that performance was fully integrated
into the new building,” points out Clifford V. Gayley, FAIA, Co-Principal for Design at
William Rawn Associates.
In addition to this award, the Berklee Tower has received a joint 2015 national American
Institute of Architects/Society for College and University Planning award and a 2014 Housing
Design Award from the Boston Society of Architects.
ABOUT WILLIAM RAWN ASSOCIATES, ARCHITECTS, INC.:
In addition to its college and university work, William Rawn Associates is best known for its
music, theatre and dance projects (e.g. Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood) and its civic projects
(including the Cambridge Public Library and Boston Public Library, Johnson Building
Improvements.)
ABOUT WALTERS-STORYK DESIGN GROUP:
Walters-Storyk Design Group is internationally acclaimed for its music studio and acoustical
engineering design. The firm also designed the award-winning studio at Berklee’s Valencia
campus. John Storyk is a Berklee visiting professor and lectures frequently to the college’s
production and engineering students.
Performance/Dining Venue Fronting Massachusetts Avenue
Berklee Tower From The North
Performance/Dining Venue From The South
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