Estimated Completion 2026
14,620 square feet New Construction

The City of Boston's Public Facilities Department, in coordination with the Boston Public Library, engaged Oudens Ello Architecture in 2018 to conduct a feasibility study which provides a comprehensive review of the existing Fields Corner Branch Library facility for improved library services and study of the potential for mixed-use development. The study began with an existing conditions analysis of the building, site, services and all systems. Meetings with Boston Public Library representatives to determine operational and service objectives informed the development of a library building program of requirements. Using that program document and the BPL's Compass Principles as a guide, OEA then studied a range of development approaches including renovation of the existing building, new construction of a stand-alone branch library and a mixed-use approach accommodating the new library program at street level with multiple floors of residential units above. Ultimately the BPL and the City opted for a new two-story building on the existing site. This new branch of the Boston Public Library, will double the size of the outdated single-story 1960’s library building located on a prominent corner of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. OEA is designing the new branch library to feature expanded flexible community program and meeting spaces and a rooftop outdoor reading terrace. The all-electric, fossil-fuel-free building, which will be the first mass timber branch of the BPL, is targeting LEED Gold and has a net zero energy / net zero carbon mandate from the City of Boston.