Brighton, MA
Brown, Richardson, & Rowe was the historic landscape architect for the adaptive re-use of Chestnut Hill Waterworks in Brighton, Massachusetts by E.A. Fish. BR&R worked with architects from Graham Gund and DiMella Shaffer. The challenge of the project was to protect the pastoral landscape of large oak trees and rolling lawn while installing 21st century facilities.
The site design for the Chestnut Hill Waterworks respects its long history and landmark status. The long and short views to the complex are unchanged, as they have been for more than a century. The simple setting of rolling lawn and mature specimen trees enhances the existing buildings. A generous setback of greensward extends from Beacon Street back 80’ to 100’. That setback with its allée of mature oak trees has been maintained.
The site has a rich history and a beautiful setting. In 1886, Frederick Law Olmsted was already talking to land developer Henry Whitney about extending the City limits on Beacon Street in the farmlands of what is now Brighton, Brookline and Newton. Olmsted’s 1887 plan showing the Beacon and Commonwealth Avenue Circuit connecting downtown Boston to the Emerald Necklace illustrates his understanding of the importance of the expanding the city westward.
