Bulfinch Crossing

This 4.8 acre site will ultimately include six new high and mid-rise buildings offering much-needed office, residential, and retail space in a city going through its latest economic boom. One Congress – a 43-story tower boasting over 1M sf of office space and 10,800 sf of retail, was designed by Pelli Carke Pelli Architects, with Architect of Record CBT Architects. CBT also designed the residential tower next door – a 45-story building that rises up from a reconfigured Government Center garage that sits on the site now. CBT Architects and the project developers, HYM, selected Acentech to provide acoustics consulting services for both projects.

Each of these large structures will sport floor-to-ceiling glass windows with sweeping views of the city. Proper sound isolation measures from both outdoor noise and tenants in adjacent spaces will be a key aspect to keeping offices and apartments as peaceful as possible – including key details such as how partitions and floor slabs engage the curtainwall to maintain robust acoustical separation.

Acentech’s team of acoustical consultants are collaborating with the design team to develop appropriate mechanical system noise and vibration control throughout the project—a common factor for many noise-related problems in high rise buildings. In addition, preventing noise and vibration caused by vehicular movement in the garage from disturbing residents in the apartment tower is critically important; Acentech consultants joined the project architects and structural engineers in developing a dynamic model of the structure and evaluated the structural modifications necessary to achieve appropriately low levels of noise and vibration in residences.

With thoughtful design in mind, Bulfinch Crossing will be more than a collection of glittering towers—it will be a space where companies and people will be proud to call home.