Project overview: As the first affordable Passive House building in Massachusetts, Finch Cambridge provides 98 rental units and amenities designed to amplify environmental and social resilience. Inspired in form and materiality by the urban wild across the street, the playful façade employs tree-like columns and roof lines like spreading wings.
Project location: Cambridge, Massachusetts
Firm name: ICON Architecture
Project type: Multi-unit Housing; Mixed-use
Project information: New construction
Jury comments: An all-electric, large-scale residential Passive House project with a heart and a conscience. The building was designed with longevity, health, and wellness in mind. The public amenities are thoughtful and offer dignity as well as practicality: community space that serves as a resilience center in the event of a power outage, generous bicycle storage, onsite solar, etc.—and a strong resilience plan to boot. It’s really great to see this level of performance at the price point of affordable housing.
Consultants: Building Enclosure Associates; JSR Adaptive Energy Solutions; Linnean Solutions; New Ecology; Petersen Engineering; Sustainable Engineering Solutions; Waypoint and Andrea Vilanova
AIA Framework for Design Excellence: Integration | Equitable Communities | Ecosystems | Water | Economy | Energy | Well-being | Change | Discovery
