Project Team
Landscape Architect: Arcadis
Architect: HMFH Architects
Structural Engineer: LeMessurier
Sustainability Consultant: Soden Sustainability Consulting
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Josiah Quincy Upper School
The new Josiah Quincy Upper School (JQUS), serving grades 6–12, occupies nearly the entire 0.9-acre site in a dense Boston neighbourhood, leaving no ground-level space for recreation. Located adjacent to Interstate 90, the site also experiences high levels of air pollution at street level. The design incorporated an occupied rooftop campus, creating an outdoor space with improved air quality for students while bringing sports and recreation facilities onto the school property. More than 50% of the 34,850-square-foot rooftop is dedicated to planting, transforming an otherwise underutilized space into an outdoor oasis. The project also contributed to the school achieving LEED Platinum certification, the first for Boston Public Schools.
The rooftop was designed around the school's International Baccalaureate for All curriculum and PATH program, which addresses student emotional needs and anxiety. Through collaboration with Boston Public Schools, the Public Facilities Department, school administration, faculty, and counsellors, the design team developed a program that includes a central gathering space for up to 100 people, informal outdoor classrooms, seating nooks, and a walking loop around the perimeter. The mindfulness garden invites students into the planting areas for a more intimate, sensory experience, while the walking loop provides space for therapeutic laps and opportunities to reduce stress. Gentle rolling topography helps create a sense of immersion in the landscape despite the absence of trees and the surrounding urban environment.
The green roof combines stormwater management, energy efficiency, and urban habitat. Its growing media and bio-retention panels capture and store rainfall for plant uptake, significantly reducing runoff from the roof. Together with an underground stormwater recharge system beneath the building, the project manages substantial stormwater volumes across the site. High-reflectance paving materials and vegetated areas reduce rooftop heat absorption, while the green roof helps regulate building temperatures and reduce cooling demand. The rooftop also provides a cleaner air intake location for the building compared to street level, where fine particulate matter levels are exceptionally high.
Planting was selected to reflect the site's ecological context and historic coastal landscape, while working within structural constraints and without automatic irrigation. Seventeen sedum species were selected for areas with shallower growing media, while two custom planting mixes, Coastal Heath and Wildflower, were developed for deeper areas in collaboration with Bioroof. These mixes include native grasses and wildflowers characteristic of the Boston Basin and provide seasonal interest and habitat for pollinators. The planting design supports both generalist and specialist pollinators, with species selected to provide food sources and extend the flowering season from late spring through fall. Butterflies have been observed among the plantings, six stories above ground.
The project incorporates sustainable materials and a maintenance approach designed for long-term performance. Locally sourced steppingstones and Boston-manufactured pavers reduce transportation impacts, while recycled polypropylene is used in the green roof assembly and site furniture is made from FSC thermally modified ash wood. Construction also followed the City of Boston's Resident Jobs Policy, supporting employment opportunities for local residents, people of colour, and women. The rooftop was developed through an inclusive design process that included faculty interviews and community meetings. Today, it accommodates school events, including performing arts recitals and graduation ceremonies, and provides students with access to green space and nature in a neighbourhood with limited public greenery. The project demonstrates how rooftop landscapes can support student well-being, ecological diversity, and equitable access to outdoor space in urban public schools.
