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Photo courtesy of Commodore Builders
What: Long Wharf Custom House
Where: 62-70 Long Wharf
Owner: Capital Properties
Built: 1848
Commodore Builders recently completed renovations and updates to the 1848-vintage Custom House at the end of Boston’s Long Warf, creating office spaces compliant with COVID-19 fresh air guidelines and the Americans with Disabilities Act, while maintaining energy efficiency.
The 81,000-square-foot, 6-story office building faces the city’s harbor and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The building’s granite exterior was restored, while the brick-and-beam interior received structural and functional updates like a new central staircase, wider corridors, a common continuous hallway, two oversized elevators and high-end lobby finishes.
To bring more fresh air into the building – making it safer for office workers during the pandemic – Commodore added operational windows and added a new rooftop HVAC system, which necessitated the removal of the old timber roofing and its replacement with laminated-veneer lumber. Beams removed during the project were repurposed for other areas of the building. The finished building is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification.
They Said It:
“It was exciting to revitalize and modernize this landmark Boston building. Working on historic projects offers incredible and often-challenging opportunities to breathe new life into some of the most iconic buildings in the city.”
— Trish Palmiere, senior project manager and historic specialist, Commodore Builders
