Avenue A

Located at the top of the rise on the main commercial street in the city of Turner’s Falls, close to the falls and the bridge to Route 2, this new project will become a gateway and anchor for the downtown’s revitalization efforts.

The Avenue A project is a mixed use building designed to evoke the architectural history of the city and to introduce elements of modern design to a vibrant classical main street. The first two floors will house medical offices while the upper two floors will contain residential apartments. The building will be energy efficient, fully accessible, and carefully detailed.

236 Pleasant Street

Thomas Douglas Architects investigated the possibilities for a small lot at the edge of a busy downtown district. The program included ground floor retail and studio space, with residential units on the upper floors.

The articulated facade accentuates an adjacent bend in the road and creates a visual landmark for those traveling either direction. A combination of double hung and storefront windows are separated by a strong horizontal element, highlighting the divide between the residential and commercial uses.

Jackson Street School Library

The library at the 1960s Jackson Street School was aging and underutilized, prompting a movement to update and modernize it.  TDA worked on this project pro bono, one of many community-oriented projects that TDA has undertaken on a volunteer basis since 1990.

TDA began our research with various stakeholders by conducting focus groups with teachers, students, administrators and parents.  This information was combined with contemporary theories of how libraries function in the 21st century, focusing on the creation of discreet spaces or classrooms that promote social interaction and collaboration.   

The library, which had consisted of a single large room containing rows of tall stacks with a few auxiliary offices, was intentionally divided into a series of classrooms-like spaces using only furniture and equipment to define those spaces.  The book stacks were reduced in height and many were removed to promote natural light in the low-ceilinged space and splashes of bright and vibrant colors were introduced to further enliven the library. 

Rendering of proposed design

The Garden Theater

As a part of a downtown-wide restoration project, Thomas Douglas Architects was tapped to design a restoration of this multi screen movie house into a modern performing arts complex. Originally designed as a 1,000-seat vaudeville and single screen movie house, the theater has been cut up into a multitude of small-unadorned spaces. The Thomas Douglas Architects design envisioned a restoration of the decorative theatrical auditorium featuring a painted surround of a colonial Greenfield downtown street scene complete with twinkling starts in the night sky.

The project received full funding from a variety of sources including New Market Tax credits and State and Federal Historic tax credits. 

Fairfield Inn

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Amherst Cinema

The Amherst Cinema Center (ACC) proposed the transformation of an existing 1920’s single screen cinema into a performing arts facility for live and cinematic presentations. While the long and narrow configuration of the building was challenging, the lack of columns and structural walls within the auditorium space allow for a great deal of freedom in configuring the new spaces.

Our solution located 2 cinemas at the northern end of the existing auditorium space while the performance theater with a flexible stage and full fly gallery developed in the south end. The stage of the performance theater is comprised of 3 adjustable height platforms that allow for a variety of arrangements from a traditional proscenium theater to a "black box" configuration.