A lesson in adaptive reuse is underway at the former William Barton Rogers Middle School in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood, where project partners plan to transform the building into new LGBTQ-friendly senior housing. Philippe Saad, associate principal at DiMella Shaffer (Boston), the architecture firm on the project, says he began working on the idea a decade ago, after a similar LGBTQ senior housing project never got off the ground. “It’s a need that’s been identified nationally in the major big cities,” he says, adding that Boston has been slow to get on board because of the fragmentation of the LGBTQ population in the city. The former Rogers school project will be the first LGBTQ-friendly senior housing community in New England.

To kickstart the project, nonprofit LGBTQ Senior Housing Inc. was developed with a mission to facilitate access to welcoming, safe, and affordable housing for low-income LGBTQ seniors. The organization then partnered with Pennrose (Philadelphia), a national developer across multiple sectors including a LGBTQ-friendly senior housing community in Philadelphia.

To find out what people were looking for in housing, the project organizers held community meetings and focus groups with potential residents and community members. “Almost unanimously, people said they want to live with a variety of people, they don’t want to be segregated into one specific type of housing, but they want the environment to be supportive and inclusive,” Saad says.

Specifically, that means the built environment will reflect current trends in senior living design, while the culture and programming at the community will be purposely welcoming to everyone with a focus on LGBTQ, he says.


While the project team was scanning the market for available properties, the 73,586-square-foot Rogers school building, which closed in June 2015, was put on the market by the city’s public school district. Saad says the 1899 building was a great fit because of its overall size, solid construction, and room size, with the approximately 750-square-foot classrooms easily lending themselves to one-bedroom units. The project partners went through a public bid process, and their proposal was accepted in late 2019.

Design and planning began earlier this year and is expected to take 8-10 months, Saad says. The renovation, which will be designed to adhere to the Massachusetts Historical Commission’s requirements in order to qualify for historic tax credits, calls for the 4.5-story building to house 74 mixed-income independent living units for seniors age 62+, mainly one-bedroom apartments with a few two-bedroom and studio spaces available. “Units will be available in a range of incomes so that the development will be accessible to a wider range of prospective residents,” he says.

Units will feature universal design elements, such as larger-than-required clearances around beds, closets, and bathrooms; roll-in showers; and ample space to accommodate mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs.

Based on community feedback, the building design will incorporate sustainable design features using Boston’s green building guidelines, including improved insulation, energy-efficient windows, and rooftop solar panels. Additionally, the exterior will be restored while many existing building features inside will be preserved, including the second-floor auditorium and other common spaces, to serve as education and community spaces, including a gallery, arts studio, community rooms, and recreational space.

These public spaces will be available to both residents and the surrounding community, Saad says, to align with the project’s mission to bring people together as well as to help address issues of isolation among seniors. “It’s imperative that we as designers, developers, and community members provide them with that platform where they can really socialize and have a full life,” he says.

One of the biggest challenges so far has been addressing accessibility to the building. “It’s built on a mound to look stately, so we’re trying to find a way to maintain the historic character but insert accessible pathways,” Saad says. Several other pieces of the project will also be finalized as the project progresses, including the community’s opening date (which is contingent on funding from the city and state), the full scale of programming and social services, and the community name. “Having an LGBTQ identity is important because this is why we’re here, to make sure such housing is available to the population we’re serving,” he says.

Anne DiNardo is executive editor of Environments for Aging. She can be reached at anne.dinardo@emeraldx.com.