By Amy Tsurumi
It is hard to believe that the Liberty Hotel, a popular Beacon Hill landmark, was once an overcrowded prison facility notorious for its appalling conditions. Its inmate roster included infamous criminals, as well as important political figures such as Malcom X. Today, this chic luxury hotel houses trendy restaurant/bars bustling with patrons. Its famed rotunda, a structure remaining from its sullen past, is now a highly sought event venue for young professionals’ networking socials, art pop-ups and fashion shows with DJs.
Ann Beha, founder and principal of Ann Beha Architects, whose firm redesigned this mid-19th century building, will give her talk entitled “Cliffs Notes on A Changing Boston – what, when, how” at Beacon Hill Women’s Forum (BHWF) on Tuesday, Nov.14, at the Hampshire House. Cocktails start at 6 p.m., and Beha’s presentation will begin at 6:45 p.m. sharp. At the forum, Beha will showcase some of Boston’s most robust new projects while addressing their community and business benefits.
A prominent Boston-based firm, Ann Beha Architects specializes in preserving historically significant buildings while transforming them into spaces with a contemporary design to facilitate their use for civic, cultural and academic activities. Mass. Historical Society, Boston Symphony Hall, Mary Baker Eddy Library of the Christian Science Center and Jordan Hall, as well as the newly completed Student Life and Performance Center at the New England Conservatory, are other buildings that Ann Beha Architects has worked on, to name some of its most noteworthy local projects. Beha’s portfolio outside of Boston includes the US Embassy in Athens, Greece and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History. As design principal, she has also shaped the landscape of notable academic institutions including MIT, Yale, Princeton, Cornell University Law School and the University of Chicago.
Beha received a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College and a master’s degree in architecture from MIT. She was a Loeb Fellow at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Design at the City College of New York.
BHWF is a nonprofit social club whose goal is building community by bringing together all women living in Beacon Hill and its surrounding neighborhoods. Monthly speaker forums meet on the second Tuesday of each month, September through May. Various get-togethers outside of the monthly forums are additional opportunities for members to enjoy the company of one another. For further information about this season’s speakers and events, and to purchase season membership or a monthly pass, visit www.beaconhillwomensforum.org.