US2 Redevelopment | Union Square | Somerville

At first I was kinda "meh", but after a few looks it has grown on me.

Build it now!
 
I like the minimalism. Reminds me a lot of a Magritte painting.
 
I wonder what the total sq ft is.

anyone know or willing to guess?
 
I posted this in the GLX thread as well.

Saw this on my walk into Union Sq this morning, thought it was pretty hilarious... "5/2018 to 9/2021", lol...

JTJwE73.png
 
ryblogs said:
I posted this in the GLX thread as well.

Saw this on my walk into Union Sq this morning, thought it was pretty hilarious... "5/2018 to 9/2021", lol...

JTJwE73.png
Click to expand...

WHY IS IT BLOCKING THE BIKE LANE
 
It might be less ignored if they actually repainted the lines. The lines are barely visible in some spots. People treat the bike lane like it's a second driving lane.
 
Per Steve Adams and the project's website, the first phase (two buildings surrounded by Somerville Ave, Prospect St, and the Green Line) has financing from USAA and is looking at 2018 groundbreaking. The buildings are center-bottom in this image from an April public meeting:

IMG_2519.JPG


Includes a residential building that I believe breaks 300'.

https://discoverusq.com/
 
Renders from 8/20:

D2.1 - Office & Lab
D2.2 - Residential & Commercial
D2.3 - Residential & Commercial

Personal opinions: Office building is nice for what it is. The black/earth tones will look good in that area. Podium is unremarkable, but would look fine. Tower is hideous. Too many colors and it won't age well.

Also, not sure why there's a chain-link fence in the renders showing the new T station. If it's for fare collection, that'll be moot by 2021 when it opens - AFC 2.0 should be in place by then which would allow for boarding at all doors.
 
2.1 is fine, appropriate for the context but pretty boring. It'll blend in right away.
2.2 is the one I'm excited for; I think they could build it as rendered today.
2.3 is a mess. It's too much to expect that a tower wouldn't be so chunky, and it's the right gesture to emphasize verticality, but after that, woof. You're right Cole, too many colors, or maybe the wrong ones. and I think the unbroken fins are maybe too overbearing. An offset at some point along their length would not be unwelcome.

Overall a solid effort.
 
Might I recommend that when we pull the renders from the PDFs we create a new thread for this?

FWIW, I gotta disagree with you guys. The middle building is boring and with high-quality materials the tower has Tree House potential. Could stand to be less orange and cleaned up a bit (and that photo crop/stretch thing is just silly).

The office building is a home run, though.
 
Equilibria said:
Might I recommend that when we pull the renders from the PDFs we create a new thread for this?

FWIW, I gotta disagree with you guys. The middle building is boring and with high-quality materials the tower has Tree House potential. Could stand to be less orange and cleaned up a bit (and that photo crop/stretch thing is just silly).

The office building is a home run, though.
Click to expand...

I like the busy/colorful motif as well.
 
I agree that the tower has Treehouse potential, but I am not particularly taken with that project. I don't hate color or even a lot of it. I think these guys should ask Sauerbruch and Hutton for pointers.
 
poster-somerville.jpg


(it's the same picture as was posted a few months ago, but it wasn't actually in the thread, so here it is)

https://www.fastcompany.com/90234141/how-somerville-is-riding-the-train-to-a-high-tech-hot-spot

The first phase, a four-acre parcel located on the corner of Prospect Street and Somerville Avenue, expected to break ground this fall, will include a seven-story building with commercial lab and office space and a 25-story mixed-use residential building. When complete, the whole project will be comprised of 60% commercial and 40% residential development, with 2.5 acres of open space.
Click to expand...
 
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