One of the first steps in Harvard University’s expansion into the Allston neighborhood was the development of a number of facilities sandwiched between Travis Street and the future School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.  Our overall approach to the complex was to adaptively reuse 28 Travis Street, close off the commercial parking area to protect the residential neighbors with a new vehicle maintenance building, and create a U shaped area to contain the traffic and noise associated with the university’s buses, maintenance vehicles, and mail trucks.

Circulation for larger vehicles is directed away from the residences on Travis Street, while smaller and quieter domestic vehicles are brought to the opposite side of 28 Travis Street, where they have access to the university’s IT, mail, and recycling services.  Numerous trees were also added to soften the transition to the commercial property.