HIGH-DENSITY HOUSING
ON AN URBAN ARTERY
by
LESLIE MATTHEW KLEIN
S.B.A.D.,
MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
1972
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE
AT THE
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
MASSACHUSETTS
MAY, 1974
Signature of Author
Department of Architecture
May 10, 1974
.4
A1
Certified by
Richard C. Tremaglio
Thesis Supervisor
Accepted by
Rt
.
Chairman, Departmental Committee
on Graduate Students
INSEc
UN 281974
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
page 3
Context
page 4
Intentions and Assumptions
page 6
Proposals
page 9
Bibliography
page 12
List of Illustrations
page 14
Illustrations
page 15
-2-
ABSTRACT
High-Density Housing on an Urban Artery
Leslie Matthew Klein
Submitted to the Department of Architecture on May 10, 1974 in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master
of Architecture.
The thesis is an exploration of the formal conditions required
by a high-density development which includes a combination of
residential and commercial space and occurs on an intensively
active major urban street. The project proposes an organization
for a site at 1000 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to accomodate 301 units of housing (made up of 247 new
units and 54 existing units), aprroximately 77,000 net square
feet of commercial and office space, and 379 parking spaces in
an underground garage. This organization is intended to add to
and improve the current fabric of intensive mixed use development occurring in the area of Massachusetts Avenue between
Harvard Square and Central Square. This goal is accomplished
primarily by including features which enhance the pedestrian
character of the area.
Thesis Supervisor: Richard C. Tremaglio
Title: Associate Professor of Architecture
-3-
CONTEXT
(Refer to illustration 'Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard
Square to Central Square', p. 15)
The section of Massachusetts Avenue between Harvard Square and
Central Square is at present experiencing more convulsive and
haphazard development than any other area in Cambridge. More
particularly, in that portion which is zoned for Business B
development,
no less than eight major new buildings have been
erected since 1965, ranging in height from six to nineteen
stories, providing housing or commercial and office space, and
in some cases, both. Several other parcels of land in this area
are being assembled for future development. The parcel at 1000
Massachusetts Avenue, which is the focus of this thesis, is one
such package. It is presently owned by M.I.T., and is slated for
use as housing, commercial and office space, and parking.
It is not certain whether the uses to which land has been put
(or economic and social pressures for such uses) leads to the
institution of appropriate zoning ordinances to enhance those
uses; or whether the zoning ordinance itself creates and
encourages appropriate activities. In the case of the Massachusetts Avenue area, the situation is probably a combination of
the two possibilities. And even though zoning has probably been
the primary influence behind the current surge of building
taking place in the area, other factors may also be partially
-4-
responsible for determining the nature of the development boom,
including:
(a) a dramatic increase in demand for commercial and office
space in the vicinity of Harvard Square;
(b) the proximity of the heavily residential neighboihoods of
Riverside and Mid-Cambridge, with their large populations
of youth and elderly providing a nearby (and largely
pedestrian) market for housing and appropriate commercial
services;
(c) the fact that the area is at the point between Central and
Harvard Squares closest to Harvard Square where Massachusetts Avenue becomes a two-way street for vehicular traffic,
increasing its accessibility by automobile and bus.
- 5-
INTENTIONS AND ASSUMPTIONS
The goal of the thesis was to design an organization for
housing, commercial and office space, and parking at the maximum allowable density which would create an extendable urban
fabric favorable to the varied activities and lifestyles which
occur in
that part of Cambridge.
The site, at 1000 Massachusetts
Avenue, forms an abrupt transition between the intensive
commercial development along Massachusetts Avenue and the much
less dense residential neighborhood of Riverside to the south.
To accomplish this, concern was focused on improving conditions
for the pedestrian. Pedestrians are separated from the
automobile, without banishing the latter, since the automobile
may be a major factor in making Massachusetts Avenue the
important street that it is today. To enhance the pedestrian
character of the development, three major physical criteria are
set down, and fulfilled in the proposal.
First, a pedestrian path connecting Massachusetts Avenue and
Green Street is provided at an interior location in the site.
This allows movement perpendicular to the direction of the main
street at points between cross streets. This is necessary
because the blocks which form the south side of Massachusetts
Avenue are very long and do not allow pedestrian movement
towards Green Street independently of automobile routes.
Second, the living units are organized into small zones or
-6-
regions of fifteen to thirty units, each with its own
distribution system connected with the more public ways of
moving vertically or horizontally through the site. The zones
are walk-up in nature, with the units located at most two
flights of stairs above a reference level, which itself
is
accessible either by stairs from the ground or by elevator.
Third, the major sidewalk at ground level shifts away from the
street and leads the pedestrian through the center of the site.
It is an assumption of this proposal that a bonus system can
be devised which would allow developers to build to the street
edge of the sidewalk in exchange for providing an interior
sidewalk which would conform to certain physical standards.
Developers could reasonably be expected to support the
establishment of such a system, since they could utilize it to
provide twice as much profitable commercial frontage on the
ground level as could be available now along a public sidewalk.
In addition, the lot on which they were building would be increased in size by the area of the adjacent sidewalk. This would
add to the total allowable square footage of their buildings,
under the existing maximum allowable floor area ratio regulations. In exchange for such benefits, the municipal government
will be able to dictate to developers minimum requirements for
the physical character of the interior sidewalks, including
height, width, protection from the elements, amounts of sunlight
and artificial lighting for safety at night, etc. This system
-7-.
could provide a comfortable pedestrian atmosphere for yearround use within the larger framework of mixed use development
along Massachusetts Avenue. It would avoid the situation which
occurs when a building built within traditional lot lines
offers an arcade or other pedestrian way at its edge. Generally
these arcades remain unused as sidewalks since they are redundant with the existing sidewalk, and are utilized only to enter
the building or occasionally to avoid a summer rain. Furthermore
when covered ways are provided, they do not continue from one
lot to the next. By contrast, with the large number of potential
development sites which are expected to be available along this
sector of Massachusetts Avenue, the potential exists for the
fabric of such interior covered sidewalks to extend along the
entire length of the street as new construction occurs. Indeed,
the development of the site across Bay Street from 1000
Massachusetts Avenue appears to be imminent, and the possibility
for such an extension across Bay Street is indicated in the
illustrations.
-8-
PROPOSALS
The thesis proposes to retain on the site the existing six
story apartment building at 1010 Massachusetts Avenue known as
'The Cantabrigiat. By doing this, the proposed new construction
can be accomplished with no necessity for tenant relocation. The
building is in satisfactory condition, and contains a total of
54 apartments --
26 one bedroom, 27 two bedroom, and one four
bedroom.
The proposed new development contains 247 residential
units --
28 efficiency, 85 one bedroom, 84 two bedroom, 34 three
bedroom, and 16 four bedroom apartments. Most of the units are
on a single level, with some duplex arrangements available.
However,
the organization of the units into zones allows many
other arrangements to occur, such as communal living spaces,
and units of three levels, for example. The ranges of sizes for
the units in this project are:
efficiency
400-500 square feet
one bedroom
600-800 square feet
two bedroom
750-950 square feet
three bedroom
900-1100 square feet
four bedroom
1200 +
square feet
Furthermore, approximately 77,000 rentable square feet of
commercial and office space are included in the proposal.
The gross square footage of the above (areas of parking garages
are not included in the calculation of floor area ratios) brings
the floor area ratio for the entire site to approximately 4.0,
-9-
which is
the maximum allowable under the Cambridge Zoning Ordi-
nance in a Business B zone. In addition, 379 parking spaces are
provided in an underground garage, which is one space per
residential unit and one space per 1000 square feet of net
commercial and office space, as required by the Cambridge
Zoning Ordinance. Also provided is a loading dock sufficient to
accomodate two 55 foot trucks, which are the maximum length
permitted in Massachusetts.
The structural system for the development is a framework of
cast-in-place reinforced concrete columns at regular bays which
measure either 20'x20' or 20'x40'. The columns in
the five rows
closest to Massachusetts Avenue are 2'xl' in plan, while the
rest measure l'xl'.
Beams spanning in all four directions from
the columns complete the framework.
Precast concrete planks
8
"
deep are employed to span between beams and form the floors at
each level. The garage has spans of 40' and 60' which are
carried by beams 30" deep. The proposed projection of the built
form in the thesis does not have plaks spanning between all
available beams. The exposed framework does allow significant
addition to the present form by either the developer or the
user without the need for additional structural strength. The
infill which is proposed consists on the whole of unit masonry
(concrete block, bricks) and glass, though other materials and
even.prefabricated curtain walls could be used as well. Interior
partitions can be constructed with steel studs and sheetrock, or
-10-
any other suitable method. Partitions between units and between
different use spaces (e.g. an apartment sharing a wall with an
office) ought to be of sufficiently heavy construction to avoid
transmission of significant amounts of noise between units. A
40 dB noise reduction ought to be the minimum standard.
To conform to the-requirements for maximum allowable length of
travel to fire exits listed below, all spaces, residential,
commercial, and the garage, are assumed to be supplied with
automatic sprikler systems.
type of unit
maximum allowable length of travel
residential
200 feet
business
300 feet
parking garage
150 feet
Generally at least two means of egress are provided to the
ground. In the towers, scissor stairs may provide the required
means of exit, while the low-rise conditions which occur along
the Green Street edge may require access to only one stairwell.
Most mechanical systems (HVAC) are assumed to be provided by
units within each of the residential and commercial spaces,
and plumbing and electrical conduits are assumed to be conveyed
via central mechanical shafts, which are not shown in the plans.
-11-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
City of Boston,
Massachusetts,
Boston Building Code,
1972.
City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge Zoning Ordinance,
revised June, 1973.
Chermayeff, Sergius and Alexander, Christopher, Community and
Privacy,
DeCarlo,
Doubleday and Company,
Giancarlo,
Urbino:
New York,
1963.
The History of a City and Plans for
Its Development, M.I.T. Press, Cambridge, Mass, and London,
1970 (translated by Loretta Schaeffer Guarda).
L'Architecture D'Aujourd'hui, No. 130, February-March, 1967,
'Habitat'.
L'Architecture
D'Aujourd'hui,
No. 161 April-May, 1972,
'Habitat
Collectif'.
Moller, Clifford B., Cluster of Court Houses for Cambridge,
Massachusetts, B.Arch. thesis, M.I.T., January, 1964.
Ramsey, Charles G., and Sleeper, Harold R.,
Architectural
Graphic Standards, 6th edition, John Wiley and Sons, New
York, London, Sydney, Toronto, 1970.
Safdie, Moshe, Beyond Habitat, M.I.T.
and London, 1970.
Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Rudolfsky, Bernard, Architecture Without Architects,
Doubleday and Company, Inc., Garden City, N.Y., 1964.
Rudolfsky, Bernard, Streets for People, Doubleday and Company,
New York, 1969.
Sanborn Map Company,
Inc. , Sanborn Maps of Cambridge,
Massachu-
setts, Volumes I and II, 1972.
United States Gypsum Company, Sound Control Construction:
Principles and Performance, 2nd edition, 1972.
Woods,Shadrach, Candilis-Josic-Woods: A decade of architecture
and urban design, Karl Kramer Verlag, Stuttgart and Bern,
1968.
Zevin,
Barry,
High-Density Housing at an Urban Edge: A Built-
form Projection, B. Arch. thesis, M.I.T., June, 1973.
-13-
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Massachusetts Avenue from Harvard Square
to Central Square
page 15
Green Street Elevation
page 16
Bay Street Elevation
page 17
Massachusetts Avenue Elevation
page 18
Section A-A
page 19
Section B-B
page 20
Plan at 15t
page 21
Plan at 25'
page 22
Plan at 35t
page 23
Plan at 45'
-
page 24.
Plan at 55'
page 25
Plan at 65'
page 26
Plan at 75'
page 27
Plan at 85'
page 28
Plan at 95'
page 29
Plan at 105'
page 30
Plan at 1351
page 31
Plan at 145'
page 32
Plan at 155'
page 33
Plan at 165'
page 3L
-. i
IUSETTS AVENUE
1050 -6 STORIES
rPUTNAM AVENUE-11 STORIES
F
PROPOSED FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
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NEW DEVELOPMENT SINCE 1965
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