Construction on the Dudley Municipal Center won’t be complete for another five months, but MassEcon got an inside look at this centerpiece of Dudley Square’s revitalization efforts in late July. Guests from TD Bank, Transwestern|RBJ, BSC Group, RBS Citizens, and Commodore Builders  joined MassEcon for a customized tour of the Dudley Municipal Center that was co-led by Meredith McCarthy, an architect with Sasaki Associates who worked to design the space, and City of Boston Property & Construction Management Department’s Senior Project Manager Tom Leahy.

Sasaki Associates, along with the Netherlands architecture firm Menacoo, has worked over the last three years to develop an energy efficient structure while preserving the charm and brick façade of the historic Ferdinand Building that will become the Dudley Municipal Center. The building covers 215,000 square feet of space that will be used as offices by more than 500 Boston Public School employees, including the Superintendent, along with retail space on the ground floor and an innovation center. (Employees will be moving into the space during December 2014 – February 2015.) Throughout each of the six floors there is an open concept floor plan, several offices, kitchen areas and spaces for private phone calls. There are also hightop counters along the windows where guests or employees can “touch down” and log on to work from a laptop.

The tour included a stop on the roof deck which showcases beautiful views of the Boston skyline and can be used as public space for events. “You could even have a small wedding here!” according to Leahy.

Thanks to David Ennis and Jim Kennedy for helping to coordinate the tour.

To learn more about the Dudley Square Municipal Center and the area’s revitalization efforts, click here http://www.dudleyvision.org/