Project type: Adaptive Reuse, Renovation, or Historic Preservation
Honor
Project name: Coolidge Corner Theatre
Project overview: The Coolidge Corner Theatre is a renowned independent nonprofit cinema in the historic downtown of Brookline, Massachusetts. The 14,000sf addition to the original 1933 Art Deco building reconfigures and expands this community institution. The project turns the back of the theater into a new front, doubling the lobby’s square footage and adding two new theaters, a community room, and a film library. A gold accent wall with reinterpreted Art Deco details serves as a marquee for this new front of the theater.
The expansion connects to the historic theater with foundations that are spaced apart to not surcharge the existing foundations, and the structure cantilevers back to the historic theater to “kiss” the original structure. The new addition also maintains an egress from the original movie houses, during and after construction so the whole building functions as a single and better whole after the addition of discrete parts.
On the building’s exterior, the addition is articulated as a distinct volume clad in a “curtain” – a scalloped, hand-laid brick facade that evokes the interior motifs of the original art deco theater. The surface textures from the interior of the original theater are turned inside out, creating a unique textured facade.
Both on the interior and exterior design, the structure translates the original art deco vocabulary into a contemporary architectural expression in order to produce a new, very Coolidge, synthetic whole. The project’s goal was to preserve and expand the Coolidge’s unique atmosphere by strategically refreshing key elements.
Project location: Brookline, Massachusetts
Firm name: Höweler + Yoon Architecture
Architect of Record: Eric Howeler
Completion: 2024
Client: Coolidge Corner Theatre Foundation
Jury comments:An elegant renovation and addition that successfully addresses the challenge of integrating new and historic without imitation or caricature. The project expands without transforming the identity of the original, with a beautifully detailed new façade, thoughtful brick screen references, and rich interior materiality ranging from gold leaf effects to wonderfully resolved theaters. The textures and attention to user experience make every entrance an experience, resulting in a project with very powerful affect.
Images/Photographer(s): Anton Grassl; Benjamin Kou General Contractor: Groom Construction Project or Construction Manager: Mike Allan Construction Administration Services: McPhail Associates, Inc Civil Engineer:Hancock Associates Specifications:Kalin Associates Structural:Souza, True and Partners, Inc Mechanical:Wozny/Barbar & Associates Electrical:Wozny/Barbar & Associates Plumbing:Wozny/Barbar & Associates Acoustics:Acentech Audio Visual:Boston Light Sound Lighting:Arup Hardware: ArkaSpecs FP/IT Engineering Services: Wozny/Barbar & Associates, Inc Survey: Feldman Geospatial Traffic: The Engineering Corp
