Dyer Brown Continues Higher Ed Expansion with Northeastern Project
BOSTON — Architecture and interior design firm Dyer Brown, based in Boston, continues to grow its portfolio of higher ed projects, recently announcing its selection for a number of new higher education commissions and completing a pivotal interior renovation project for Northeastern University’s student orientation facilities.
In addition to the recently finalized project at Northeastern University, located in Boston, Dyer Brown is also busy reworking campus spaces and building interiors for other high-caliber university clients, including Boston University and Emory University (in Atlanta). The firm’s expanded footprint in the educational sector follows its recognized achievements in the workplace and hospitality sectors.
Regarding the recently wrapped Northeastern University endeavor — new Orientation Department offices and an adjacent conference center, Frost Lounge — Dyer Brown’s 2,000-square-foot transformation illustrates how the firm’s broad expertise helps colleges and universities recreate campuses and student amenities. The project also highlights Dyer Brown’s success in boosting functionality on college campuses while creating vibrant, attractive experiences through buildings and interior environments.
“Leading institutions of higher education like Northeastern compete in challenging marketplaces for applicants, for students, and for top faculty and staff,” said Rachel Woodhouse, NCIDQ, LEED AP, principal and director of operations for Dyer Brown, in a statement. She added that Dyer Brown’s diverse experience in a range of markets and project types helps them create deeply client-focused and on-brand design solutions for university campuses.
The recently completed renovation at Northeastern University has reimagined the Orientation Department facilities for orienting students into campus life. The orientation meeting spaces and shared workspaces for student use were totally reimagined by Dyer Brown and the Northeastern University project team, with the architects sharing creative ideas from both institutional and commercial workplace strategies. The new layout places the Student Orientation office by the entrance lobby, making it more accessible and visible, while redesigning the Frost Lounge meeting area to increase its square footage and improve its adaptability for different uses.
The overall redesign also applies an abstracted version of Northeastern University’s logo subtly into new furnishings and finishes, wrapping the angled shapes of its iconic capital “N” across interior walls, floors and ceilings. Innovative cost-effective touches, such as installations of wood fins integrated into the new reception desk and several walls, creating visual interest and textural dimension, were also introduced by the design team.
“We collaborated closely with the project’s contractor, Kaplan Construction, and several subtrades to develop creative finish materials on the floors, ceilings and walls with the striking 45-degree angle seams wrapping throughout the space,” said Karen Bala, AIA, LEED AP, senior architect with Dyer Brown, in a statement. “The detailing at angles subtly evokes Northeastern’s shared identity, while the meeting of disparate materials helps reinforce that this is where communities come together and touch — part of an ongoing university initiative to recruit students from around the world.”
Dyer Brown Architects showcases a fully integrated array of professional services, ranging from high-level building owner and corporate advisory to 3-D concept visualization. The firm’s clients run the gamut from property owner/developers and end-users to global corporations and leading regional brands in such market sectors as workplace, retail, hospitality and higher education.