Kenneth Boroson Architects is pleased to announce the promotion of four Team Members!

Joan Bartick-Gould and Erin Michaud have been named Firm Associates, Noel Lopez has been promoted to Production Manager, and Riya Sinha has been promoted to Job Captain.

We would like to digress from our usual subject matter to highlight a special event occurring in our office that has nothing to do with architecture. It is our great pleasure to welcome our employee, Noel Lopez, as a newly naturalized citizen of the United States.  Noel has been a loyal and trusted part of the team at Kenneth Boroson Architects for the past 19 years.  He began his career as a high school intern assisting with drafting.  Upon graduating, he became a full-time employee and has risen to the role of IT Manager, in addition to his many other duties.  The Naturalization Oath Ceremony took place this morning and many members of our team had the privilege of attending to cheer him on.  Below is a note we’ve written to Noel and would like to share.

Feeling the lack of representation of minority architects in Connecticut and realizing the importance of highlighting their work in the national architectural industry, energetic members of Connecticut’s architectural community gathered together to begin the process of establishing a Connecticut based chapter of the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).  For nearly five decades, NOMA has strived for its mission to “champion diversity within the design professions by promoting the excellence, community engagement, and professional development of its members.”  Prior to recent developments, the University of Hartford NOMA Students Chapter was home to the only nationally recognized NOMA chapter in the state of Connecticut, but thanks to the leading efforts of Omarys Vasquez of Svigals & Partners, Jose Hernandez of Newman Architects, as well as the collaborative efforts of Daniel T. King (Kenneth Boroson Architects), Maria Khan (Friar Architecture), Max Ballardo (Patriquin Architects), Brian Gonzalez (Patriquin Architects), Paolo Campos (Patriquin Architects), Linda Blaszka (Newman Architects), Ghalia Ajouz (Newman Architects), Melody Iannone (University of Hartford), Amy Ray (Newman Architects), and Alicia Washington (HRP Associates), NOMACT will join the growing list of professional groups representing minority architects in their state under the umbrella of NOMA.

It is rare as an architect, to be able to make such a significant impact on a City that you love.  We appreciate the opportunity of working alongside Northside Development Company in strengthening this significant urban block in New Haven.

Within the historic nine square grid in New Haven sits the 800 block of Chapel Street (just east of the New Haven Green).  The corner site, 808 Chapel Street, is surrounded by a blue tarp fence.  Two lots west, 848 Chapel Street, is a paved parking lot that extends a full city block to Center Street.  The two-story building in between these sites, 832 Chapel Street, has a vacated second floor space in need of occupancy and a façade in need of an updated urban design.  The combination of these three adjacent properties has led to a deterioration of the urban fabric as shown in the existing picture below.

Last week was an exciting and eventful week for Kenneth Boroson Architects and RMS Companies.  Two of the projects we have teamed together on, Parkside City Crossing in New Haven, CT and Stratus on Hudson in Yonkers, NY, celebrated ceremonial ribbon cuttings.  Ground was also informally broken on the next phase of the City Crossing project on Congress Avenue in New Haven.  These three projects combined create a total of 274 rental apartments in newly constructed buildings.

Hill to Downtown PlanAt the beginning of 2018, Kenneth Boroson Architects was retained by the NHP Foundation and the West River Self Help Investment Plan (WRSHIP-New Haven) to design a new multi-family development located within a transit-oriented development zone.  A proposed streetscape view along Legion Avenue is shown above.  This area was cleared in the 1950’s for a new highway that never ended up being built.  Since then, this cleared zone cut off the link between the West River, Dwight, and Hill neighborhoods spanning from Ella T. Grasso Boulevard all the way to the expressway.  In recent years, new development has gradually started to reconnect these neighborhoods, including the work currently being done as part of New Haven’s Downtown Crossing and Hill to Downtown Plan.

Earlier this year we had the privilege of conducting a program at our DISTRICT project on James Street in New Haven as part of an event being sponsored by AIA Connecticut.  We gave a presentation on the design and then led a tour through the building.  Project highlights, design features, and other interesting anecdotes were discussed with those in attendance. 

In early 2017, RMS Companies retained Kenneth Boroson Architects to design a new mixed-use building in Yonkers, New York.  The site overlooks the Hudson River in an area with other multi-family and mixed-use developments along Warburton Avenue.  The steep slope of the site makes the building appear to be only six stories tall from the street, when it is actually nine stories tall when viewed from the river.  The front and rear exterior elevations below show this condition.  In keeping with the prominence of the available views, the building is named Stratus on the Hudson.

Following up on the successful project at Riverfield School, the Town of Fairfield hired Kenneth Boroson Architects in 2016 to design an additions and alterations project for the Holland Hill Elementary School.  Our office was awarded the project after completing an RFQ and RFP process overseen by the Building Committee and the owner’s program manager Colliers International.

Kenneth Boroson Architects is excited to announce that construction has commenced on the new multi-family development we designed for the City of Meriden at 11 Crown Street.  Haynes Construction is hard at work at the former Record Journal Site.  Along with our team members The Michaels Organization and Torti Gallas and Partners, our office is delighted to see this project moving forward.