Even if you don’t recognize the name Utile Inc., you’re still familiar with what the company does. This Downtown Boston design firm has had its hand in a number of projects you likely pass by on a daily basis like, for example, the Boston Harbor Islands Pavilion, Boston Conservatory Studio Building and 22-26 West Broadway in South Boston – home to Worden Hall, a soon-to-open restaurant with 40 rotating craft beers on tap and 100 whiskeys.
The projects Utile is able to conceptualize are leveraged by a work space that fosters creativity, collaboration and inspiration from the surrounding neighborhood. One need only look at Utile’s office space from the outside to fully grasp what I’m talking about.
At its 115 Kingston Street office, roughly 7,000-square feet, Utile brass has a front row seat to what Principal Matthew Littell refers to as “urban theater,” the real-time, in-the-moment behaviors – from back alley fights to tourists exploring Chinatown.
“The reason we gravitated towards a space at street level is that a lot of our work – urban planning, design and architecture – is very focused in the public realm,” said Littell. “To be literally near the street, to engage it in terms of the graphics and visibility of the office, to engage not only one but two streets, felt absolutely right for what we do.”
Utile also does its part to try and activate the sidewalk by offering passersby graphic text on the gaping windows which provide fun facts and details on the history of the building itself.
Upon entering, visitors and employees are greeted by a map of Utile City.
“It’s almost like a Sim City video game meets Richard Scarry,” said Littell.
It’s a map that features a number of Utile design projects from over the years, the interface of which is a made up landscape.
“It’s kind of a real city, kind of not,” added Littell. “It has some elements that are real and specific, and some that are generic. It’s not cute, it’s an undressed mess which scarily resembles a mixed city.
But to get the best sense of Utile’s creative process you have to take a peek inside and see what the company is all about – open environment that perpetuates forward thinking and practical though effective design and building.
