The building chosen for this thesis is the new Boston Arts Academy located in Boston, MA. The high school’s existing building is to be demolished and reconstructed on the same footprint. The new building will be an education/mixed use building, with a total square footage of 154,333 ft2 . This 5-story structure will include a variety of spaces such as academic classrooms, science classrooms, visual arts rooms, fitness rooms, filming/screening rooms, administrative offices, dining commons, and a kitchen. In addition, there will be large special spaces such as a gymnasium, auditorium, band recital hall, and an outdoor terrace on the fifth floor. This report encompasses the building’s year-long study. This process progressed from the understanding of the building’s existing conditions to the final development of architectural engineering designs. The report contains the following in detail:

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o Lighting design solutions which were carefully developed to satisfy qualitative and quantitative design criteria. The four spaces which underwent lighting analysis and redesign are the building’s recital hall, outdoor terrace, main circulation space, and auditorium. The lighting design solution of the auditorium involved a change in the architecture. To insure the improvement in both aesthetics and function of the space an acoustical analysis was performed.

 

o Comprehensive study of the buildings electrical system including voltage drop and short circuit study. As well as, system design modifications such as transformer layout redesign and conduit material replacement.

 

o Cost comparisons between original and modified electrical system designs to prove that the design alterations are both reliable and cost effective.

 

The Boston Arts Academy encourages children to tap into their greatest artistic potential. Since this building is servicing the future of culture and change it is important to design for them to the best of our ability.