Live/Work
With a focus on maintaining affordability for artists, the 214,000-square-foot adaptive reuse created 126 live/work units of affordable housing with a preference for artists. The team developed guidelines and a peer-review portfolio program to determine residents’ eligibility for these sought-after apartments. Current artist residents in the building range from fine artists and photographers to culinary artists, musicians and dancers.
The design team consulted with local artists to develop loft layouts. Unit types range from open lofts where a kitchen/ bathroom pod subdivides spaces to “Live/Sell” layouts at the ground level where residents can roll up wide garage-like doors to open their studios for view from a terrace that recalls the mill’s former loading dock. Oversized elevators, doorways and hallways allow for transportation of supplies and artwork. All lighting and appliances were selected for energy efficiency.
The building and courtyard engage an outdoor, contemporary mill yard interpretation, creating a community core on the central “island” of the HCD. The mill yard hosts resident events and provides a venue for an annual folk-music festival. In the landscape, angled walkways mark historic mill worker paths and tipped granite benches recall fallen buildings. Former canal-crossing bridges that brought millworkers into the mill have been restored and a remnant steel frame of a historic overhead bridge has been incorporated as a “ghosted” memory. A linear fountain traces the location of the historic canal raceway that drew water to the mill power system.
The building was fully occupied just a few months after completion. Its success re-establishes the historic mill’s legacy into the next century and acknowledges that it is more than just a building. It’s about relationships and an overall appreciation and pride of place, ensuring the character and connections of its past are preserved and renewed with new programs, new technology and new advocates to serve the future. Appleton Mills’ artist residents, visitors and the city of Lowell benefit from maintaining critical parts of this built context within the HCD and upholding the value of existing viable and historic structures. Appleton Mills has become a wonderful opportunity for those who make art and for those who truly appreciate it.
A commitment to optimizing value in existing building assets is clear in the environmentally conscious design and culturally conscious preservation of this historic mill. By reflecting on what works and responding to cultural forces, the RENEW team rethinks the current reality of each building. This socially responsible approach proudly sustains a collective story that is revealed and celebrated in the structure’s resiliency.
Relevance is restored as it is renewed.
Creation of the Hamilton Canal District
The city of Lowell, Mass., flourished in the 1880s, led by visionary merchants who harnessed the water power of Pawtucket Falls for manufacturing. Francis Cabot Lowell, the city’s namesake, built a leading-edge manufacturing complex woven among the world’s most extensive waterpower system at that time. Textile manufacturing brought entrepreneurs and immigrants, spawning development of a richly textured downtown. By the turn of the century, however, competition in other New England communities limited Lowell’s expansion, leading to a decline in business and prosperity that continued well into the 20th century.
The mills and canals, however, were built to last. In 1978, public entities established The Lowell Plan and Lowell National Historic Park, spurring economic vitality and transforming Lowell into a “living history” venue of worldwide renown. Historic mills have been adapted for new uses; the unique canal system has been preserved; and interpretive arts pop up throughout the city. Creation of the Downtown Lowell Arts District in 1998 spurred a renaissance of arts and cultural institutions; a minor league baseball team and park, new arena, professional regional theater company, and numerous restaurant and arts venues emerged. These days, Lowell attracts more than 650,000 visitors per year.
Situated amidst this unique historic canal system, the 15-acre Hamilton Canal District (HCD) is being revitalized as a new transit-oriented, mixed-use neighborhood engaging Massachusetts’ creative economy. Its visual centerpiece is a stunning waterfall, controlled by the Swamp Locks at the confluence of four canals. Located within a short walk to the MBTA Commuter Rail Gallagher Terminal and linked with an expanded historic Trolley system, the development engages LEED Neighborhood Development principles. The adaptive reuse of the HCD historic mills will combine with more than 1 million square feet of new construction to create public parks, 750 units of housing, 55,000 square feet of retail space and 425,000 square feet of commercial/office space. The multiphase development, envisioned via multiple community design charrettes, will be built out over 20 years.
With a focus on restoring Lowell’s preeminent position in Massachusetts’ “creative economy”, development is well underway with the completion of new canal-crossing bridges, which connect a pedestrian-oriented street network that capitalizes on views of the canals and historic locks. The former Freudenberg Wovens Mill (now known as 110 Canal) has become home to the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) Fabric Discovery Center, re-establishing Lowell as a center of textiles research and technology. The building also houses UML’s Innovation Hub, Massachusetts Medical Device Development Labs, and the New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation Center—all designed by ICON Architecture Inc., Boston.
Adjacent to the canal locks, construction is underway on a new leading-edge, highly sustainable, net-zero-energy courthouse. New construction for retail and additional housing is planned to begin in spring 2019.
Retrofit Team
ARCHITECT: ICON Architecture Inc., Boston
Nancy Ludwig, principal in charge
Kevin O’Neil, project manager
CIVIL ENGINEERS: Meridian Associates, Beverly, Mass.
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE: Copley Wolff Design Group, Boston
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Souza, True and Partners Inc., Waltham, Mass.
M/E/P ENGINEER: R.W. Sullivan Engineering, Boston
CONTRACTOR: CWC Builders, Newton, Mass., (617) 965-2800
HISTORIC: Epsilon Associates Inc., Maynard, Mass.
ART CONSULTANT: Kim Radochia, Boston
OWNER: Trinity Financial, Boston
Materials
WOOD FLOORING: Hardwoods from Shaw
RESILIENT FLOORING: Footnotes Sheet Vinyl from Tarkett
PAINT: EcoSpec from Benjamin Moore
WINDOWS: Series 9150 and 1900 from Peerless
SKYLIGHTS: Wasco
WOOD DOORS: Mohawk Flush Doors from Masonite
DOOR HARDWARE: Hager
APPLIANCES: GE
WINDOW BLINDS: Heritage 2-inch Aluminum Horizontal Blinds from Bali
GREEN ROOF: Carlisle SynTec
GARAGE DOORS: Overhead Door Co.
ZINC SHINGLES: VMZinc
CORRUGATED METAL: Morin
STOREFRONT WINDOWS: Vistawall
Photos: Trent Bell