Bruner/Cott Completes New Children’s Museum + Theatre of Maine

     

A Beloved Portland Venue Receives a New Home for Play and Exploration

Boston, MA (June 28, 2021) – Known for its museum design expertise, Bruner/Cott Architects recently completed a new 30,000-square-foot building for the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine. Formerly housed in the downtown Portland Arts District, the Museum & Theatre’s former physical limitations restricted its ability to expand programming and services for steadily growing visitation and educational offerings. Now, located on Thompson’s Point in Portland along the Fore River, the bold, new structure, which opened on June 24, is designed to support greater access and future growth.

The size, scale, and shape of the Museum & Theatre connect it to the industrial shipping and railroad heritage of its site. Its proportions, rhythm, and fenestration patterns are inspired by Thompson’s Point historic brick structures, and steel cross-bracing is a referential feature. The exterior is clad with colorful metal shingles arranged in a dynamic, playful pattern—inspired by patterns found in nature. Inside, the new building contains a 100-seat theatre, experiential exhibits, a STEM classroom and makerspace, meeting rooms and offices, and an outdoor play area adjacent to the waterfront landscape.

A spacious, 20-foot-high entry lobby surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass welcomes visitors of all ages. Connecting the indoors and outdoors, it brings in abundant natural light, setting the stage for a welcoming experience for caregivers and children. Easily navigable, the museum’s exhibit spaces incorporate visual and programmatic connections to Maine culture.

Sustainable strategies employed in the project included first addressing the challenges of a brownfield site (an old railway repair yard). Knowing that this highly visible and important building site was comprised of fill soil that would be expensive to remove and replace with structural soil, the project pre-loaded the building area to compact the soil and minimize off-site removal. Low wattage LED lighting was used throughout the building, and a VRF (variable refrigeration flow) system was installed for heating and cooling. These MEP measures save energy and operating costs because the entire system is more efficient than one that simply meets code. Additionally, the site is in close proximity to local, regional, and international public transportation.

“We began this project nearly six years ago, building on our firm’s long history of museum and gallery design,” said Bruner/Cott Principal Jason Forney. “A true collaboration between our firm and our client has produced a building that embodies the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine’s mission and goals for its new venue, certain to attract visitors from near and far.”

“There is so much joy in this building and visitor excitement about its opening,” said CMTM Executive Director Julie Butcher Pezzino. “The past year has been trying for everyone. As we move past the pandemic, we are enthusiastic about all the experiences our new building and its innovative, interactive exhibits and state-of-the-art theatre will bring to fans of our previous facility, as well as new visitors to Maine from across the nation and the world.””

 

Photos: https://bit.ly/3qnhPux

Photography Credit: Trent Bell Photography

Top Left Filmstrip Photo: Sean Alonzo Harris

 

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About Bruner/Cott

A two-time recipient of the AIA National Honor Award for Design, the firm’s work has been recognized for award-winning design in preservation, adaptive transformation, and new construction. The firm is dedicated to design excellence and the belief that thoughtful architecture and planning can make a positive difference in the quality of life, shared sense of purpose, and vitality of a community. Headquartered in Boston, MA, the firm is a 49-year young practice that bring a broad, integrated perspective to design, giving depth to each practice area.

The firm’s seminal projects include MASS MoCA (North Adams, MA), one of America’s largest contemporary art museums, the reimagined Boston University School of Law complex, recipient of a DOCOMOMO US Modernism in America Award; and the R.W. Kern Center at Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, a 2017 AIA COTE Top Ten Award winner and a Living Building certified by the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).

 

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Media release:

Debra Pickrel, Principal
Pickrel Communications, Inc.

Click to download.

Children’s Museum + Theatre of Maine Celebrates Grand Opening

The new Children’s Museum + Theatre of Maine celebrated the long-anticipated grand opening of its brand new building, yesterday.

Museum Director Julie Butcher Pezzino, Museum Board President Kristin Valdmanis, and Maine Governor Janet Mills were among those who spoke at the ribbon cutting ceremony.

 

 

[stblockquote title=”” top_left=”” author=”Kristin Valdmanis, Museum Board President”]We built this amazing place for everyone, young and old, and our goal is to ensure belongingness and connection for all who walk through these giant yellow doors.

[/stblockquote]

 

A spacious, 20-foot-high entry lobby surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass welcomes visitors of all ages. Connecting the indoors and outdoors, it brings in abundant natural light, setting the stage for a welcoming and relaxing experience for caregivers and children.

 

Easily navigable, the museum and theatre’s exhibit spaces incorporate visual and programmatic connections to Maine culture.

 

Just shy of its 100th birthday, Maddy’s Theatre found a new home at Thompson’s Point where it can truly “unleash magic” and inspire joy and discovery. Equipped with a teaching tech booth, a soundproof viewing gallery, its own dedicated lobby, and a green room and workshop backstage, Maddy’s Theatre is a state-of-the-art facility designed with young, family audiences in mind.

 

Congratulations, Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine! Bruner/Cott is proud to have designed the new home for your beloved institution.

 

Construction Begins at Huntington Theatre

The Huntington Theatre is undergoing a major transformation along Boston’s “Avenue of the Arts.” On Thursday, March 25th, the Huntington Theatre Company held a virtual press conference to announce the start of an 18-month renovation period that will restore, revitalize, and modernize the historic performance venue. The Huntington’s Managing Director Michael Maso, Theater Manager Kat Herzig, and Board Chairman David Epstein each gave remarks.

Bruner/Cott Partner and Principal Jason Forney, FAIA, presented new renderings of the reimagined theatre, including a video flythrough.

Construction will be completed in two phases. Phase one will consist of theater renovations and upgrades to enhance the audience experience and create state-of-the-art backstage and technical facilities. Phase two will expand into the adjacent new construction project and will offer 14,000-sf of added amenity space, including ticketing, a café, balcony, bar, and event space.

The Huntington Theatre is expected to reopen for the start of its 2022 season.

For more information about the Huntington Theatre renovation and expansion, click here.

 

288 Harrison St. is PHIUS+ CORE Pre-Certified

Our project at 288 Harrison Street is PHIUS+ CORE Pre-Certified by Passive House Institute US!

This multifamily, new construction project will significantly add to the affordable housing stock in the Chinatown neighborhood of Boston, transforming a current parking lot into a building that is respectful of its surrounding context and is a gateway to the neighborhood. The sustainable design prioritizes measures that minimize the impact of energy consumption and high-temperature events, including high performance building envelope and windows, energy recovery, a light roof with high solar reflectance, high-efficiency HVAC equipment, and careful attention to mitigate against air pollution. Learn more.

The PHIUS+ Certification Program is the leading passive building certification program in North America. It combines a thorough passive house design verification protocol with a stringent Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) program performed onsite by highly skilled and specialized PHIUS+ Raters and Verifiers. In certain circumstances such as high unit density, it’s problematic to meet the PHIUS+ 2018 targets on-site. For these cases, PHIUS now offers PHIUS+ Core. PHIUS+ Core retains PHIUS+ 2018’s conservation target, but enables project teams to certify utilizing only on-site measures. Learn more.

808 Memorial Drive Project Receives $87m in Financing from Mass Housing

Congratulations to client Homeowner’s Rehab Inc. on receiving $87.2 million in financing for the renovation of the 808-812 Memorial Drive multifamily housing community in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This financing will enable HRI to extend affordability protections by at least 15 years and to make substantial property renovations.

Situated along the Charles River, the buildings house 300 mixed-income apartment units of varying sizes, approximately 38,000 sf of commercial space, and five levels of parking. The project aims to improve tenant comfort and sense of security, while also strengthening the residential community and identity.

MassHousing provided HRI with a $61.5 million tax-exempt construction loan and permanent loan, $24.9 million in taxable and tax-exempt credit equity bridge financing and a $787,763 interest reduction payment (IRP) loan. The project will also use $8.9 million of income during the construction period for development costs. The transaction also involved $36.9 million in equity financing from an allocation of Low-Income Housing Tax Credit tax credits by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development. The LIHTC tax credits were syndicated by RBC.¹

Bruner/Cott is performing an occupied renovation of two 1970s-era apartment buildings with construction expected to be completed by 2022.

Read the full article on Multi-Housing News.

Charles River Speedway Celebrates Groundbreaking

The Charles River Speedway celebrated its official groundbreaking on Thursday, October 24th!

 

Bruner/Cott joined the Architectural Heritage Foundation (AHF), Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation (DCR), DCAMM, and local leaders and members of the community to break ground at the historic Charles River Speedway.

AHF President Sean McDowell, 18th Suffolk District Representative Michael Moran, DCR Interim Commissioner Jim Montgomery, and DCAMM Commissioner Carl Gladstone gave speeches at the ceremony, followed by drinks from Notch Brewing, the Speedway’s anchor tenant.

The Speedway was constructed in 1899 by the Metropolitan Park Commission (MPC) as a headquarters to support the new parkway along the Charles River, a park that turned a stretch of tidal mudflats into an interconnected series of public parks. Since 2005, the facility has been largely abandoned.

Bruner/Cott is working alongside Architectural Heritage Foundation to revitalize and preserve the historic complex. The Speedway will support a diverse tenant mix that will include small retail shops and maker spaces, a restaurant, café, brewery (Notch Brewing), shared offices, and a publicly-accessible community courtyard.

We were thrilled to celebrate this project milestone! Congratulations to all involved!

Children’s Museum Project Receives Federal Grant

The Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine has been awarded a $500,000 Brownfields Grant to clean up the development site at Thompson’s Point in Portland, Maine!

The site for the new museum building was originally a rail yard for the Marine Central Railroad in the late 1800s, and was later home to a variety of industrial and commercial buildings Currently, the site is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs, arsenic, and metals commingled with residual petroleum contamination. This grant will allow for the removal of these hazardous materials at the 1.12 acre site.

The Children’s Museum project was one of fourteen sites selected by the EPA throughout the state of Maine to share in a $6 million allocation of federal funding.

“The Museum is the recipient of a $500,000 brownfield remediation grant, and we’re thrilled… The EPA grant and other brownfield support from the City of Portland and Greater Portland Council of Governments will help us convert the post-industrial site into a healthy, vital space for children and families to learn and play together.”

— Suzanne Olson, Executive Director, Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine

Read more here.

47 Bishop Allen Achieves LEED Gold Certification

47 Bishop Allen Drive has achieved LEED Gold certification from the USGBC!

This Bruner/Cott project replaces an under-utilized parking garage in the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA with a four-story residential wood frame building. The building includes 23 rental apartments, consisting of both family and one-bedroom units.

The development is transit-oriented and includes no onsite parking, encouraging its tenants to utilize alternate means of transportation. It does, however, include ample bicycle storage for tenants. Other sustainable elements include 100% efficient lighting, ENERGY STAR certified appliances, WaterSense labeled products, and individual fresh air ventilation systems in each apartment. The apartments are projected to use 30% less energy than standard new homes.

Keeping Up With The R.W. Kern Center: Part 1

It has almost been a full year since the R.W. Kern Center became a certified Living-Building, allowing us to observe and analyze its performance. Over the next month, architect Christopher Nielson, AIA, LEED AP will be analyzing the % wood moisture data from the R.W. Kern Center to see what lessons we can learn.

He and his team have been tracking the % moisture content of the wood framing in the walls to understand if and how moisture moves through a double-stud assembly. The wall assembly contains a permeable moisture barrier on the outside and relies upon the paint and caulk layer as the an interior moisture barrier. The idea is that the wall will get wetter in the winter seasons, but dry back out in the summer months.

Check back soon for updates!

 

Pink hues are exterior plywood and blue hues are interior wall framing.

Take a 360° Tour of the McIntyre Project

Bruner/Cott is working with developer Redgate-Kane to revitalize the historic McIntyre Federal Building and the heart of Portsmouth, NH.

The project will feature a variety of public space and lifestyle amenities to complement and enhance downtown Portsmouth, including gathering spaces, a market for local food and beverage vendors, retail space, a co-working space, and more.

You can take a 360° tour of the proposed space here.

Click here to visit the project website for more information.