One Boston Medical Center Place
Owner: Boston Medical Center
Architect: Burt Hill
Construction Manager: William A. Berry & Son, Inc.
Preservation Consultant: Tremont Preservation Services LLC
Owners Representative: RF Walsh Project Management Inc.

Designed by Gridley J.F. Bryant and completed in 1864, the BCD and FGH Buildings are the only two remaining structures from the original Boston City Hospital, a free hospital established to serve Boston’s “working poor”.  The three-and-a-half story brick Mansard buildings once housed multiple medical wards each, lending the names “BCD” and “FGH”.  Today’s needs for administrative office space called for additional floors within the historic structures. In order to preserve the character of the buildings, the project team devised a system of adding new levels of workspace by injecting two new levels set back from the exterior walls, thereby creating a system of mezzanine floors within the original volumes and preserving the elegant high windows. The exterior was rehabilitated using historic photographs, facilitating the restoration of a bell cast slate roof and the installation of two new carved granite lintels to match originals. Previously, the BCD Building stood vacant for 30 years while the FGH Building was only partially occupied due to building deficiencies.  Today, the “BCD” building houses Boston Medical Center’s Information Technology Department, with 150 workstations, private offices and team spaces, while “ FGH” contains a Conference Center and administrative offices of several clinical departments.

“Boston’s hospitals face great challenges as they endeavor to maintain their historic buildings while providing the highest quality of facilities for their employees and patients. This project is proof that both can be achieved with remarkable success” said Sarah D. Kelly, Executive Director of the Boston Preservation Alliance.

Courtesy of Ginelle Land, Burt Hill