PAYETTE’s fabrication team recently completed the installation of custom planters at The 105 by Breakthrough. The intent was to modify the existing lobby circulation to better meet the tenant’s needs. The geometric shapes and the material selection of the objects respond to the space’s existing built-in furniture.
The team began with an on-site mock-up review of the initial concept design with project stakeholders to test how it would fit within the existing space.
Because the planters are built at the intersection of stairs and a ramp, precise measurements and field verification were needed to ensure consistency with the existing conditions throughout the 30’ length of the object.
The planter’s frame is made from plywood, cut with the CNC router at our FabLAB.
The four sections of the structure were assembled on site and clad with steel panels.
The planters were fabricated in-house and installed by the fabrication team. The new stair between the two planter sections was later built by a general contractor.
The final product is filled with lush greenery and successfully meet the client’s needs in this public lobby.
The 2025 OpenLAB Boston studio work will be exhibited at Virginia Tech Monday, March 2nd through Wednesday, March 4th.
Please join us for the following events on Monday, March 2nd:
11:00am - Lecture with Parke MacDowell
1:00pm Lobby talk with Kevin Sullivan
This year’s studio identifies seven sites along the frayed edges of Boston’s Greenway. The Greenway is a one-mile-long linear park running through the heart of the city, reconnecting downtown Boston with its waterfront. Many of the parcels along its edges remain undeveloped and present mute, blank facades to the public realm. Addressing and repairing these edges through acts of infilling, layering, grafting, framing, and placemaking is the core focus of the studio—SUTURE.