The Bryant - 301-319 Columbus Avenue

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I don't believe these units are selling very quickly, from what I've heard on the street. This might not be surprising, considering that all 50 start at $1.5 million and up. However, they purposely built the units large - each has over 1,800 square feet, I believe. Yeah, that block of Columbus is not prime real estate, not in the South End, not in the Back Bay, but I gotta believe that a family of three/four with a live-in maid or nanny would jump at the chance. The layouts are pretty cool. It's a one-of-a-kind development, at least here in Boston.
 
Don't forget the "dangers" of UFP or whatever Ned is bitching about, that might scare off all the buyers jk
 
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damn scrim... the brickwork looks to be pretty good

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So long since the last update, Id almost forgotten about this place

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I love the massing and all the slight setbacks this building has. It could just as easily been a boring slab (which would be contextual with those co-ops just down Columbus Ave). The pre-cast looks strange as always but this is offset by all the variations in the facade.
 
The massing is nice, but this is the same sort of timid architecture that has held Boston back for decades.
 
If the precast had been articulated in a more detailed fashion it would have vastly improved the final product. A slight modulation of scale within the cornices with some sort of decorative, shading, or drip device, along with a chamfered edge on the sills and lintels would have been a rather simple variation at little to no additional cost. With so much lovely cast stone and concrete detail from the prewar years in Boston, it amazes me that no one dares employ it on new construction, where such minor tweaks could vastly improve otherwise visually monotonous facades.
 
czsz said:
The massing is nice, but this is the same sort of timid architecture that has held Boston back for decades.
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Timid, mostly. Contextual, absolutely. And here something contextual looks much better than something bold would have. Give it a decade to age, and the concrete and brick won't look so fake or new.

Lurker said:
With so much lovely cast stone and concrete detail from the prewar years in Boston, it amazes me that no one dares employ it on new construction, where such minor tweaks could vastly improve otherwise visually monotonous facades.
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Lurker, the detailed stonework seen in prewar cities across America has disappeared, in my mind, not because of a lack in money, but a lack in talent. There simply aren't as many super talented craftsman today, and the ones who would be able to create the kind of detail that was common then, would be exorbitantly expensive. It's the same reason that newly constructed mansions aren't as finely detailed as say, the Breakers in Newport.
 
Lack of intellectual ambition aside, my one gripe with this building is how the windows are massed. The last shot I posted shows an existing cityspace with window bays one or two units wide (or no more than eight feet in width), while the Bryant has three or four windows grouped together, creating a horizontal emphasis that betrays both the street's and the building type's character (it looks more like an ungainly-massed school than somebody's residence).
 
that last shot reminds me of a building at the end of charles st. (across from the T on the right looking towards the common). that building might be a garage or former garage -- can't remember, but i liked it. it's a plain building, but fits it's context. this one will probably age gracefully also, my guess.
 
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