The Bruce C. Bolling Building with Kairos Shen and Francine Houben.

The Bruce Bolling Building forms the keystone to Nubian Square right in the heart of Roxbury in Boston. Home to the Boston School Department and School Committee, the building is the work of Dutch architect Francine Houben in conjunction with Sasaki. Like most urban redevelopment projects, it took years to bring to completion. The building reutilized the facade of the old Ferdinand Building, which had sat vacant for decades. It also reinvigorated the transit depot that had been in Nubian Square (and Dudley Square before it) for the better part of a century.

As is so often the case, much of the work to bring about this revitalization happened behind the scenes. In City Hall, under the leadership of then-mayor Thomas Menino and his head of planning at the Boston Redevelopment Authority, Kairos Shen, the wheels of government were put in motion to figure out a strategy for city-owned parcels of land in the neighborhood, and to spark activity in this historically African-American part of town.

In this episode of unPlanned, we talk to both Kairos and Francine in a wonderful, in-depth review of all the work that went into creating this gem of a building, and then many strategic moves required to re-envision an area of Boston that has felt the pain of misguided government redevelopment plans since the 1960s and urban renewal. This project is a fascinating case study about just how much has changed — government now views itself as just another player in the complex web of urban economic development and social activity in a community. Kairos and Francine tell the story each from their own perspective and give us a sense about how the public and private sector, working together, can leave a lasting positive legacy in a community long-neglected in Boston.