A beacon for the city of Somerville, Massachusetts’ historic firehouse, home to Somerville Arts Council‘s ArtsUnion, aims to give renewed identity to the city’s Union Square and beyond. Designed as a replacement for the building’s historic cupola, long since demolished, the intervention restores a civic presence without reconstructing the original form. Eight curved, extruded shells trace the arched openings of the former cupola, giving physical form to the historical voids and establishing a modern civic landmark design.

The shells, designed to be surfaced in brushed stainless steel and illuminated from below, glow from within at night. With the remaining cupola structure visually minimized, the beacon reads as an ethereal remnant rather than a literal reconstruction. A soft but intense light fills each shell, stopping precisely at its edges, while the dark vertical voids between them recall the columns that once supported the cupola roof.

The forms are designed to be fabricated from water-jet-cut stainless steel sheets, folded and bolted into continuous shells. Once hoisted onto the roof and secured to a base framework, the installation will be fitted with an energy-efficient LED lighting system. The lighting is programmable and can shift color in coordination with events in Union Square, functioning as a contemporary historic restoration and an urban civic signal that reinforces the beacon’s role as a communication device. By day, the shells will be naturally lit from all sides, expressing their three-dimensional form while reflecting ambient light and color from the city and sky.