The Loën
Location
71 Bow Street, Somerville, MA
Details of Note
Mixed-use multi-family—24 units with one commercial space
Redevelopment site
Full interior design services provided
35,018 SF total on five floors
The Loën building is located in Union Square, an energized and exciting neighborhood in Somerville, close to the new Green Line transportation stop. It incorporates the redevelopment of an industrial site to create one of Somerville's first multi-family Passive House buildings, comprising 24 dwelling units on four floors, 1-bedroom to 3-bedroom units, some with private balconies, with ground-floor parking and retail. The building also features a common roof deck and roof garden with a pergola covered with solar panels.
The exteriors feature fiber-cement siding in residential areas to blend with the traditional lap siding in the area and brick at ground-floor retail areas.
The choice of materials for the interiors of the Loën is intentionally naturalistic to reinforce the project’s commitment to sustainable design.
Incorporated into the Passive House requirements are a high level of thermal insulation in exterior walls and roof, a high level of air sealing at exterior envelope and between dwelling units, triple-glazed windows, all-electric heat pump heating and cooling systems and energy recovery systems, and solar panels on the roof. All of these significantly reduce the building's energy consumption over its lifetime by 40-60%.
In addition to meeting high standards of sustainability, the Loen building also includes an adaptive reuse component—the existing historic pavilion on site was repurposed as an entrance to the residential building.
