ARCHITECTURE: The Integration of Art and Science

In Orange, Connecticut, a new construction project is nearing completion, introducing residential and commercial spaces to the intersection of Boston Post Road, Old Tavern Road, and Racebrook Road, in an effort to revive the once lively Firelite Plaza.

The City of New Britain has approved the Master Plan for the redevelopment of the Mount Pleasant and Bond Street neighborhood.

Our colleague and friend Kent Bloomer passed on October 22, 2023. I’ve known Kent since 1980. He was one of the four professors in the core program that I attended as a graduate student at the Yale School of Architecture. I deeply respected Kent and his design critiques.

We at Kenneth Boroson Architects are delighted to introduce our newest Project Manager, Mark Hesselgrave, RA.

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,

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.