PROJECT CHALLENGE:
This project required integrating modern hotel MEP needs into a constrained historic envelope and existing building structure. The hotel was developed at 505 Washington Street in Downtown Crossing, with early reporting citing 238 rooms.
Public project profiles describe the work as a gut renovation / historic rehabilitation involving two interconnected, turn-of-the-century office buildings—the Amory Building (1904) and the Blake Building (1908)—with differing structural and envelope systems and the added complexity of historic status and tax credit requirements.
The renovation also faced typical adaptive-reuse hurdles cited in development coverage, including seismic upgrades and the challenge of fitting hotel layouts into former office floor plates.
Within this context, the HVAC concept shift from WSHP to VRF provided a practical solution to space limitations while also driving significant first-cost savings.
