Brookline Teen Center

Brookline Teen Center (BTC) is an adaptive reuse success story and an example of intense collaboration between architects, construction professionals, and end-users: the teenagers. The project converted an existing 98-year-old, 12,000 SF parking garage into an exciting place for teens to hang out and engage with each other.

Offering a wide range of youth programming, the BTC was immediately popular among Brookline teens upon opening. Its features include a cafe complete with a pool table and game room, a much-used state-of-the-art recording studio, a computer lab, production room, conference room, and multi-purpose room for dance, fitness, and table tennis. The building’s highlight is a half-court with workout space adjacent and a 2-lane bowling alley.

A new vertical circulation tower creates an entry beacon to the previous non-hierarchical facade. The interior takes advantage of the raw exposed structure and highlights the rugged garage environment, both appropriate and durable for its new occupants. The building was designed with sustainability in mind and is LEED Silver Certified.

Now a decade into its life, the Brookline Teen Center is growing and evolving to meet the needs of the teens who use the facility daily. As a critical first step in the design process, the Master Plan creates a framework that outlines the collection of potential interventions across all facility levels. The Brookline Teen Center is working on prioritization strategies to upgrade the Center.