EpiCenter is the Boston headquarters of Artists for Humanity (AFH), a non-profit that works to create self-sufficiency among at-risk urban teens through  training and employment in the arts. Because the organization’s mission is to teach kids how they can transform the everyday world around them into art, found objects have always had a place in AFH’s studios. When it came time to design the EpiCenter (which serves as the organization’s headquarters and houses artist studios, gallery space, offices, and an event hall), AFH took it one step further by incorporating found objects into the building itself.

The reuse process was led by a person on AFH’s staff who looked to a number of unconventional sources for reclaimed materials such as basements, trash piles, thrift stores, and even the surrounding streetscape. An eclectic range of materials were uncovered and incorporated into the building. For example, a collection of car windshields, pulled from a junkyard, were used as part of an interior guardrail system around the mezzanine and its stairway. Other notable reclaimed materials included train rails, excavated from the street outside the building during utility work for the project, which were used as railing posts for that same guardrail system. The use of such unconventional materials was new to the building inspector, so AFH worked with the inspector to obtain necessary approvals. For example, a mockup of the guardrail system was tested to failure to prove its adequate strength.

The end result is a highly sustainable LEED Platinum facility that reflects the AFH’s unique identity. Reused materials allowed AFH and the project team to create a unique, inspiring, and creative environment to advance the organization’s mission.

Reclaimed Materials: Metals, Glass

Key Info
Location: Boston, MA
Date of Completion: 2004
Architect: Arrowstreet, Inc.
Client: Artists for Humanity
Contractor: T.R. White Company, Inc.
Sustainability Consultant: Building Science Engineering

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Northeastern University Case Study