Cornerstone Brownstone

The corner of Newbury and Fairfield Streets was once a bustling nightlight locale, but more recently the buildings had fallen into a state of disrepair. Prior to construction, 240A Newbury St. was three separate buildings. J.L. Dunn was tasked with providing much-needed structural repairs to the masonry and adding additional structural steel supports for the added weight of Savaria lift equipment. The interior of the building was almost entirely gutted, and J.L. Dunn constructed a new steel and wood frame structure while shoring the perimeter walls – “A building within a building”.

Careful pre-planning with the design team, Boston Transportation Department, and the subcontractors allowed J.L. Dunn to successfully erect the steel from the street, over the scaffolding, and down through the roof opening. Base building upgrades included a new storefront, the addition of an elevator and second set of egress stairs, BBAC-approved windows, electrical, plumbing and HVAC updates, and replacement of existing deteriorating floors with new joists and subfloors. On the exterior, an old brick connector piece was demolished to make way for a new curtain wall installation, which connected the third floors of the two ends of the building for the first time.

Winner of the 2019 Boston Preservation Alliance Award