Northeastern University BIOE Capstone Studio

Northeastern recently completed construction on the new College of Engineering Bio-engineering (BIOE) Capstone Studio. The space, formerly used by Student Groups, is reclaimed ground floor area of an existing building with considerable infrastructure to serve the upper floors.

This area of the ground floor lacked adequate HVAC, which needed to be added for the BIOE program. In addition to a large open “build” space with mobile tables, a 3D print room and small computer lab are housed in separate rooms served by their own mini-split cooling units.

Given the industrial nature of the program, the space was kept flexible and open to allow for easy reconfiguration. Power is distributed throughout the space by overhead cord reels and a welding station is served by a dedicated exhaust snorkel in the fixed counter work area. Linea 5 used an expanded metal mesh ceiling cloud at the entry and over the fixed counter area to maintain the mechanical aesthetic as well as obscure existing overhead ductwork and piping. The existing concrete floor remains, but has been cleaned and sealed. An existing trench that runs through the space is scheduled to have ne metal cover plates installed to provide a caster friendly floor surface.

The 3D print room provides a secure location for printers which will handle various types of media and the Computer Lab provides a space for the lab technician and two computer workstations.

MGH Legacy OR

On May 10th 2018, Linea 5 had the pleasure of attending the ribbon cutting for the new Legacy OR Perioperative Suite at MGH. This marked the completion of Phase 1 of a three phase project.

Read more in the MGH news article link below.

https://www.massgeneral.org/children/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=6746

Scroll though some photos from our photoshoot day with the Linea 5 kids highlighted here:

Topping Off Ceremony at Patriot Place's New Medical Office Building

On May 4, 2018 Linea 5, Inc. participated in the topping off ceremony for the new Kraft Group medical office building at Patriot Place. The five story 150,000 sf building will provide clinical facilities for Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and a couple non-medical retail tenants on the first floor. Linea 5, Inc. is providing full design services for the shell/core as well as the fit-up design for the medical tenants. 

We've Moved!

As of Friday September 8th our office has moved from our location on State Street to Batterymarch Street in Boston. Our new address is 22 Batterymarch Street, 4th Floor, Boston MA. All of our other contact information remains the same.

West Roxbury YMCA

The Parkway Community YMCA is committed to promoting healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility in the West Roxbury and Roslindale communities. The newly expanded facility consists of a new 15,000 SF Wellness Center, a new 8,000 SF Aquatic Center, and a renovated Gymnasium wing.

The YMCA has been an important part of the neighborhood for over 60 years, offering a Gym, Pool and multipurpose space, but the existing facility was incapable of meeting the modern needs of the children and families the YMCA serves. In order to accommodate existing members to the greatest extent possible, construction was phased to allow for continuous operation. The existing Gym was completely renovated and reclad, after which the remainder of the existing facility was demolished to allow for construction of the new Wellness and Aquatics wings.

Many of the surrounding buildings are brick, and new brick masonry with contemporary color and texture was chosen for ground-level cladding, with insulated metal panels above.

Because the lot slopes down significantly from a residential street towards a public park and playground, the facility is built into the hillside, with a single story facing adjacent housing and sloped glazing to bring light to the spaces below.

A double-height entry at the intersection of Gym, Aquatics and Wellness wings faces the park.

The refreshed Gym features new floor-to-ceiling windows, providing natural light for basketball and volleyball players. 

Below the Gymnasium, new locker areas provide changing areas for members of all ages and genders.

The new Aquatic Center includes a new pool with separate lap and children’s play areas, as well as a new Steam Room and Sauna.

The Wellness wing includes plenty of bright and modern exercise space, with views to the Lobby, Pool, and park outside. 

Dedicated childcare and teen areas better accommodate existing programs and provide space for new initiatives. A variety of new studios, including a dedicated spinning studio, allow the YMCA to hold multiple group fitness classes and adapt to evolving membership needs and fitness trends.

Inside the entry, the double-height Lobby features abundant natural light and includes spaces for members to relax and socialize.

As the core of the facility, the Lobby connects public recreation areas to all three levels of new construction, highlighting relationships between different YMCA program areas and easing wayfinding for all users.

NU Richards Hall Robotics lab

We are nearing completion of the Northeastern University Robotics lab in Richards Hall on the main campus. This summer slammer project converted a previously decommissioned animal facility on the 4th floor of Richards Hall in to a College of Engineering Robotics facility for three researchers, Prof. Taskin Padir, Prof. Peter Whitney and Prof. Sam Felton.

The time frame for this project was extremely compressed, having started construction in July to be completed by September 16. Significant abatement and complicated existing conditions made this a very complex project ion terms of logistics, especially considering all work needed to be completed from 6pm to 4am due to actively used classrooms on the floor below.

Panoramic of Main Lab

View of Main Lab from Entry

The program consists of a Main Robotics lab which will have mobile benches and tool cabinets, a Manufacturing Facility for polymer casting, a prototyping room with shop type equipment, a mechanical room for the dedicated compressed air system and a storage room. In keeping with the College of Engineering directive of "Science on Display", a glass storefront was introduced along the corridor which will allow full visual access to the Testing and Display area at the entry to the main lab space.

80/20 system detail

The overall theme for the main lab space was to provide an exposed ceiling, factory-like space, highlighted by an overhead utility carrier system built from 80/20 system components and wood wall and ceiling panels. Power at the open floor area is provided from overhead cord reels hung from the existing painted concrete waffle slab in order to provide as much flexible, user configurable space as possible. The 80/20 system was designed to allow for continuous tracks along the length to provide hanging supports on sliding trolleys for robotics experiments such as walking robot testing. The polished concrete floor, wood butcher block tops on the casework and mobile tables as well as stainless steel sink counters add to the overall industrial aesthetic.

Corridor Panoramic

In addition to the lab, a portion of the existing corridor directly abutting the lab space was updated with new flooring, ceiling, lighting and paint to provide a revitalized entry experience to the wing of the building. A master plan was provided to the University to continue the corridor upgrades throughout the rest of the building.

View from Manufacturing through Prototyping

Total square footage of the renovation was approximately 2200 square feet of program space plus an additional 900 square feet for the corridor upgrades. Existing mechanical systems that previously serviced the animal facility were upgraded and modified to support the mechanical load requirements for the Robotics Lab. New sprinkler system was installed which replaced two older system that were in the space. All new high efficiency LED lighting was installed throughout.\

View of Testing and Display Area

Engineer: RW Sullivan

Contractor: Shawmut Construction

St. Boniface Hospital Surgical Center - Haiti

Linea 5, inc. has been working with Build Health International and St. Boniface Haiti Foundation for 10 months to design and build 13,000 sf surgical building at the St. Boniface Hospital in Fond-des-Blancs, Haiti. The facility was designed to provide a high standard of surgical care as well as stand up to the hurricanes and earthquakes in this remote part of Haiti. See the link below to a full description of the project, construction challenges faced by Build Heath International and progress photos. 

https://storify.com/StBonifaceHaiti/surgical-center-construction

Massachusetts General Hospital Nashua Street Offices

Construction has completed this past fall for the re-purposing of the 200,000 square foot old Spaulding Hospital for the use by MGH for departmental administrative office space. Linea 5 did the programming, master planning, design & construction administration on this office space that includes 27 different user programs & a building community cafe. 

Main Entrance Lobby

Building Community Cafe

Brigham & Women's Primary Care Associates at Longwood

Construction completed this past spring for a new 7000sf primary care clinic for Brigham & Women's Primary Care Associates in the Longwood Medical Area.  Linea 5 did the planning and design for the project which also included planning for future growth of the clinic into space designed for temporary staff training of the Partner's medical records system.  

Waiting Room and Check-In

Exam Room Corridor and Check-Out

Exam Room

YMCA of Greater Boston Huntington Ave. Branch

The final phase of construction is complete at the central branch of the Greater Boston YMCA. The 1911 Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge building on Huntington Ave has been completely renovated to bring it up to modern standards of safety, sustainability and accessibility.

The original oak-paneled lobby is restored to its former glory and opens to new studio and fitness areas and a new Teen Center.

A central circulation core in a former exterior lightwell connects the historic building to a newly constructed wing with an elevator, ramp, and stairs.

The new building includes a lap and therapy pool with steam, sauna, and locker facilities, a gymnasium and handball courts, and offices for the Greater Boston YMCA.

A sliver of new construction is visible from Huntington Ave, giving a glimpse of the new facilities tucked behind the historic tower. 

MGH West Imaging & Women's Health Center

The MGH West Imaging Clinic and Women’s Health Center was completed this past fall. The project was a 6,000 sf multi-phase interior renovation to the existing suburban satellite facility in Waltham, MA. The four phase project combined the two existing services into one suite shifting its primary focus towards women’s health services. The project, located on the first floor with minimal access to natural daylight, was designed to recreate a natural and soothing environment taking cues from nature to produce a spa-like feeling. The project included replacement of an existing extremity MRI with a new full body MRI, additional ultrasound and mammography equipment, and a new CT. A building addition and temporary MRI trailer with direct access to the building was also a requirement during the multi-phased project. Read more here.

Main Reception Area

Main Reception Area

View into the MRI Room

McLean ECT Relocation

Construction is nearly complete on the new space for the Mclean Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Program at the ground floor of the deMarneffe Building on McLean's main campus. The ECT is being relocated from their existing space at the Admissions Building to this new location in order to make room for a future addition to the Admissions Building. In ht e process, the ECT is nearly doubling their program from 1 treatment room with 4 recovery beds to 2 treatment rooms and 7 recovery beds. In addition to the ECT program, two Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment rooms are being accomodate in the plan.

Challenges were faced in fitting the program into an existing utilitarian space. The ground floor houses the main electrical room, mechanical room and loading dock for the deMarneffe Building. An existing kitchen and cafeteria on the first floor above the ECT space needed to maintain operations throughout the entire construction process, including access to an existing freight elevator. The final product, however, belies the spaces humble beginnings and provides a comforting environment for patients receiving the treatment.

View from Waiting to Reception Desk

View down Corridor

Panorama of Step Down Area

Panorama of Treatment room (Mobile casework not yet installed)

View of Nurse Station

View of Recovery Room

Northeastern University ECE Classroom Renovation Complete

We recently completed two classrooms for Northeastern University College of Engineering ECE. The project was built in a short 3 months and involved demo of 4 existing classrooms in order to create 2 larger 32 student classrooms. Custom furniture was fabricated to conform to the curved desk layout. Marker board paint surfaces are distributed around the classroom to allow students the freedom to explore ideas on the walls. The ceilings are exposed painted waffle slab with acoustical ceiling soffit around the perimeter of the room. This gives the space a much more open feeling than the original 8' ACT ceilings.

Classroom C rear hall

Classroom C was fitted out with additional storage and cabinetry behind the whiteboard/ projections screen wall cabinets that store electrical equipment used by the students. Painted Tectum panels were installed along the soffit to help with sound attenuation of the space and is color matched with the caret tile (carpet was revised to this green scheme due to lead time issues that were encountered with the original red scheme).

Storefront connection between Classroom A and C

View in to Classroom A from main corridor

A recess is provided along the main corridor for future ECE signage and promotional installations. 12x24 VCT tile in a staggered linear pattern ties back in to painted Tectum panels in side the classroom.

A storefront system was used at the two front corners of Classroom A as well as between Classroom A and C in order to gain borrowed light from exterior windows and engage students and visitors coming in to the suite. 

Besides an unfortunate existing structural column location that had to be incorporated in to the design, the project was successful at addressing the needs of the school and was built in a very short amount of time by the capable team at J.M Coull.

Northeastern University ECE Classroom Renovation

In the spirit of Northeastern University's "Science on Display" initiative, Linea 5 has endeavored to design two renovated classrooms which have the unique characteristic of operating as both lab and lecture spaces for the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department.

Axonometric view of classrooms

Formerly divided in to 4 smaller classrooms, the revised layout provides two larger rooms with an arched desk layout which the faculty preferred to the linear seating arrangement of the previous classrooms where students sat perpendicular to the front of the room.

Rendering from Front of Classroom 1

Rendering from Rear of Classroom 1

The existing waffle slab construction of the building is exposed at both classrooms and ringed by an acoustical ceiling soffit. Spiral ductwork, lighting and sprinkler lines are exposed to view for a semi-industrial look. Painted sound absorbing panels are installed at the soffit wall to halp mediate acoustic reverberations. Carpeting is laid out to differentiate between desk work spaces and paths with solid tiles providing accents. Sadly, the original red scheme and carpeting was revised due to lead times. A quick ship option with green accents replaces the red and dark grey patterns shown in the renderings.

Rendering at Corridor with Revised Color Scheme

12"x24" Armstrong VCT tiles will be used in the corridor in a linear pattern that is reflected on the painted sound absorbing panels used on the soffit walls. Storefront systems in the corridor and between classrooms allow visitors to connect the formerly occluded corridor with the outside.

The classrooms are currently under construction with a very tight deadline of September 2nd in order to be prepared for the Fall semester. Time frame for the construction of the total project was condensed down to a challenging 8 weeks.

Beth Israel Deaconess Healthcare - Chestnut Hill

It’s been a month since Beth Israel Deaconess Healthcare Chestnut Hill opened its doors to the public, and we’re so proud to be part of the design/construction team. Please take a look at images of this great project on it page in the Medical - Clinical portfolio. 

http://www.linea5.com/bidmc-chestnuthill 

Meet the Staff

We proudly introduce the Linea 5, inc. team. Check out the firm profile and office leadership pages to see the team.

Office Group Photo Day

Today we are working on taking  group office photos. 

Northeastern University Marine Science Center Bunker, Nahant, MA

The Bunker is nearly complete. Here's a view of the newly renovated lobby space.

panorama view of entry and classroom

The Launch of Our New Website

It is with great pleasure and after much effort that we announce our newly designed website. We hope you enjoy it!