Architects: CambridgeSeven
Area: 12,077 m² (130,000 ft²)
Year: 2021
Photography: Anton Grassl, Laura McDonough
Construction Manager: Callahan Construction Managers Inc.
Structural Engineer: Odeh Engineers
MEP Engineer: WSP Norge, WSP
Interior Designer: Parker-Torres Design Inc.
Lighting Designer: Sladen Feinstein Integrated Lighting
Principal In Charge: Gary Johnson, AIA
Project Manager: Stefanie Greenfield, AIA, LEED AP
Design Principal: Marc Rogers, LEED AP BD+C
Project Architect: Rob Bander, AIA
Project Designer: Jacob Bloom, LFA
City: Brookline
Country: United States
Hilton Garden Inn Boston – Brookline, designed by CambridgeSeven, integrates seamlessly with its urban setting on the Brookline edge of Boston’s medical district. Completed in 2021, this 12,077 m² (130,000 ft²) hotel enhances the streetscape with its gracefully curved, sculptural design. The building features three stepped glass volumes that respond to the unique contextual situations of the site, providing an inviting urban hotel experience and fostering community development.
At a busy crossroads on the Brookline edge of Boston’s medical district, this elegantly curved building connects the Olmstead Emerald Necklace with nearby commercial and residential blocks, anchoring its prominent site. The structure, wrapped in glass and composed of three stepped masses, adapts to its urban environment.
The project aimed to create a visually engaging building that offers a unique urban hotel experience on a challenging triangular site. Each face of the building responds to different contextual conditions, with three glassy volumes wrapping the site and varying in height. The building steps down towards the Emerald Necklace to allow light into the park, while the street-facing edges rise to greet the Longwood Medical District, forming a gateway between Brookline and Boston. Fritted glass panels provide a gradient of textures and reflections, reducing glare, unwanted heat gain, and bird strikes.
Previously occupied by a defunct gas station, the site was unsafe for pedestrians. The new hotel transformed the streetscape with improved sidewalks, crosswalks, a new traffic pattern, updated streetlights, and a bike path with racks, a repair station, and drinking fountains. The site now boasts a walk score of 93 and a bike score of 86.
The project was shaped by public discourse and the developer’s commitment to addressing neighbors’ concerns. The prominent corner at Brookline Avenue and Route 9 features a public lobby and seating area, inviting passersby to relax near the fireplace. The hotel’s design emerged from an inclusive community process with open workshops fostering dialogue between the developer and town members.
The hotel includes community meeting space, a casual lobby seating area, and a unique restaurant celebrating local cuisine and lore. These public areas create a social space where the locally owned restaurant and bar enhance the lobby and extend to an outdoor dining patio next to the park.
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address; 700 Brookline Avenue, Brookline, Massachusetts, 02446, United States
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
