BOSTON - Thursday, April 16th, 2026 - The Boston Housing Authority (BHA), in partnership with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture (MOAC), today announced the selection of the design team for the redevelopment of 290 North Beacon Street in Brighton. This project will create 40,000 square feet of brand new, publicly owned music rehearsal space, alongside new, permanently affordable housing.

The design team is comprised of three studios: Interface Studio Architects (ISA), Assemble, and Supernormal, with perspective and expertise ranging from global to local contexts. BHA, MOAC, and The Community Builders (TCB) will guide the project as the development team.

“We’re thrilled to have assembled a design team with the vision and expertise to transform 290 North Beacon into a vibrant hub for civic life, the arts, and affordable housing,” said Kenzie Bok, Administrator of the BHA. “Together with our investments in Faneuil Gardens, this redevelopment represents a powerful step toward making Boston more affordable and welcoming for artists and families.”

ISA, Assemble, and Supernormal will combine their complementary strengths to design housing and cultural infrastructure that is ambitious, affordable, and rooted in the context of both the Allston/Brighton neighborhood and the Boston artist community.  

• ISA, leading on architecture and design, is a Philadelphia-headquartered practice whose work treats architecture as civic infrastructure and transforms tight urban parcels, industrial remnants, and underutilized sites into inventive housing and mixed-use projects.
• Assemble, leading on arts and music design, is a London-based, Turner Prize–winning collective whose approach blends art, architecture, and social enterprise to design and manage creative spaces.
• Supernormal, leading on planning and design from a local perspective, is a Cambridge-based planning and design practice known for its research-driven, forward-thinking approach to urban strategy, zoning innovation, and locally grounded implementation.

“We are delighted to have selected a world class design team to deliver this ambitious project and bring it to life.” said Joseph Henry, Chief of the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture. “This unique team has extensive experience designing and managing music rehearsal space. We look forward to collaborating with the local and music communities to deliver a transformational project that underscores this administration’s commitment to affordability and to supporting Boston’s music sector.

In 2022, a private real estate project displaced hundreds of musicians from affordable rehearsal and recording studios at 155 North Beacon Street (previously known as the Sound Museum). The City of Boston, backed by strong advocacy from the artist community, negotiated during the permitting process for 155 North Beacon Street that the developer secure a nearby property to replace the lost studio space. 

290 North Beacon Street directly abuts BHA’s Faneuil Gardens public housing community, which is undergoing an exciting redevelopment process led by BHA, in partnership with TCB. The multi-phase public-private effort to modernize the state-funded public housing development will replace all 258 aging public housing units with deeply affordable, modern, high quality units and add an additional 187 new affordable homes for a total of 445 units. The redevelopment of Faneuil Gardens alongside the mixed-use development at 290 North Beacon will bolster a community that centers arts, culture, and the everyday life of the people who call Brighton home. 

“This project represents what’s possible when housing, culture, and community are planned together,” said Andy Waxman, Senior Vice President at The Community Builders. “The redevelopment of 290 North Beacon alongside Faneuil Gardens creates a powerful opportunity to deliver deeply affordable homes while restoring vital creative space for musicians and artists who make this neighborhood thrive. We’re proud to partner with BHA, the City, and this exceptional design team to help ensure this investment strengthens the Allston-Brighton community for generations to come.”

With the development team now fully assembled, an exciting participatory design and community engagement process will now be underway for 290 North Beacon over the coming weeks and months. 

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290 North Beacon background:
The acquisition of 290 North Beacon Street was a community benefit resulting from the 155 North Beacon Street development review (Article 80) process. The 155 North Beacon Street project caused the displacement of artists and loss of studio space from what was formerly the Sound Museum in Brighton. Following a campaign led by #ARTSAYSHERE and the music community, the developer of 155 North Beacon and the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, agreed to enter into an agreement to convey the 290 North Beacon property to the City to create affordable rehearsal space for displaced artists as well as other compatible uses. 

In addition, The Record Co. mobilized to develop a music rehearsal space at 55 Morrissey in Dorchester to make a home for the displaced Sound Museum musicians, who continue to practice at that site.

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