521 Franklin

Melrose, MA; under construction |The site looks across the Melrose Highlands Commuter Rail Station to The Ella, one of our other completed projects with Johnson Construction. The existing three-story structure, Corinthian Hall, has two operating commercial spaces on the ground floor, a dance hall on the second and storage on the third. The project set to keep both units operating during and after construction with renovations above into residential units. As a large mass, the approach centered on visually separating and easing the monolithic mass. A mansard roof caps the top signifying its residential program and thins the mass towards the top. Vertical battens placed densely between windows soften the addition’s massing through shadow lines and introduce a human-scaled detail that accentuates the building's verticality. In contrast, smooth horizontal bands running above and below the windows introduce a dynamic, vertical rhythm to its facade. This monolithic yet softened, refined, and residential appearance creates a backdrop for the existing vernacular structure to stand against and reinforce Melrose’s “village” streetscape along Franklin Street. 

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