The Boston Architectural College

The Boston Architectural College extended it's academic facilities into a Back Bay landmark, which had previously been a fire station and later, the initial location of the ICA in Boston.

We were confronted with the following challenge: to fulfill the request of the BAC president by creating a sign which would establish a very strong presence for the college, and, the most difficult, to have the design approved by the strict Back Bay Historical Architectural Commission. However, the greatest challenge of all was to please ourselves with a truly innovative solution.

Our goal was to design a sign that will be consistent - in a modern way - with the classical architecture of the adjacent buildings. The BAC sign reinforces the white stone cornice details of it's neighbors, and recalls the traditional position of the v-cut building names.

The result is a balancing act of bold, cube-like fabricated letters, elegantly intersecting a span of frosted acrylic, attached only through the mortar, as requested by the review commission. The sign glows by day and by night. During the day, the metallic paint finish reflects the light and the stones, with the letter faces enhanced by a lighter color finish. At night, the letters which house LED's inside, are silhouetted against the glow of the acrylic and the building.

Coco Raynes Associates, Inc. is a multidisciplinary design firm with a broad background in environmental graphics, architectural design, and industrial design. Our services range from master plans, programming and conceptual design to supervision of manufacturing and installation.

—Achievement Award 2013, Boston Preservation Alliance
—IDA Silver Awards (x2), 2013, International Design Awards
—BSA Design Award 2011, Boston Society of Architects
—Women in Design Award of Excellence 2006, Boston Society of Architects
—Excellence in Universal Design 2003, Adaptive Environments
—CLIO Award for Design, 2003
—Competition Winner, 2001, United States Access Board Identity
—Honor Award, SEGD 1994, Society of Environmental Graphic Design
—Gold Award, IDSA 1994, Industrial Designers Society of America
—Award of Excellence for Environmental Graphics 1978, Print Magazine
—Awards of Excellence 1970, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, Art Directors Club of Boston