CONSTITUTION INN LOBBY/ YMCA

Location: Charlestown Navy Yard, Boston MA

Area: 2200 square feet

French 2D was asked to provide a new face to the 147-unit Constitution Inn and Charlestown YMCA in Boston’s Navy Yard, with a renovation of it’s public lobby. With a tight budget, the project found it’s focus through a series of custom milled Plyboo pieces, F2D-designed custom artwork installations, new fixtures, surfaces and furnishings (Due to budget constraints the existing tile floor was kept).

While also addressing the client’s more specific aesthetic desires, the new work intentionally reorients and resculpts the space through a horizontal banding in combination with original large scale graphics meant to empahsize an expanded horizon. The choice of direction of the grain of the Plyboo and subtle planar shifts contribute to a sense of shifted, reflective space rather than a more literal forced perspective. 

Architect of Record: John W. French, RA

photography © Gabriel Mugar