100 Pier 4 | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

whighlander said:
Kz -- perhaps the wind loading standard for a building sitting so exposed on the water is greater than for something of equivalent size more inland

For example the gusts out at the buoy offshore from the Inner Harbor this AM where essentially 'Gale Force" while Logan only saw lower 30's
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There would be higher design wind loads on the coast but the coast is defined for many miles inshore. The gust factor for components and cladding would be somewhat higher but this would not impact the lateral system.

There is nothing unique or remarkable about this building at all from a structural point of view. It has a very typical design. There are 5 CIP shear walls. Four around the core acting as a box. And one more perpendicular to the longest (i.e. highest loading) building dimension. The fifth wall provides torsional rigidity for unbalanced wind and seismic loads. That's its total function. It's placed as far from the core as the architect would allow such that a full open unit could be retained.

A braced system would have been a challenge because of the number of 'lines' within the building it would have closed off for open space. And possibly limited activation of mass to resist uplift. A moment frame looks very unlikely because of the limited number of bays int he NW-SE direction. And possibly due to foundation conditions.
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

^ Excellent info, paperless paul. Thanks!
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

This will fill in a lot of angles in the Seaport nicely. From the Northern Avenue bridge:

 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

Woooo for closing gaps!!

Should help put the no-man's land/wasteland references to rest. The PWC building should start doing the same to the entrance view coming across the Moakley bridge. Should start hiding the remaining lots.
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

SeamusMcFly said:
Woooo for closing gaps!!

Should help put the no-man's land/wasteland references to rest. The PWC building should start doing the same to the entrance view coming across the Moakley bridge. Should start hiding the remaining lots.
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Where is the PWC building going? I know they're building, but not sure exactly where it is/what it looks like.
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

bobthebuilder said:
Where is the PWC building going? I know they're building, but not sure exactly where it is/what it looks like.
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it's in line with the seaport hotel and the line of buildings on the back right of the above photo. it might be visible, at full buildout, from that perspective in the future.
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

12065118255_ccece92aab_k.jpg
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

This morning:

12113584156_21628d79a1_b.jpg


12113319604_018cd6225e_b.jpg
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

That last shot is hella-cool!
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

Thanks man. Here's a super zoom:

12122386635_1b60c8a445_b.jpg
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

kz1000ps said:
This morning:


12113319604_018cd6225e_b.jpg
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Hey did anyone ever check to see if that tall tower in the center of the foreground meets FAA standards for height?

From a recent discussion about such things for the K-block in the Seaport / Innovation District:
Jon Seward, a member of the Seaport Alliance for Neighborhood Design, questioned George Tremblay, principal of Arrowstreet Architecture who coordinated the session, why the buildings’ weren’t taller.
“I’m happy to see parking lots become residences,” he said. “But is there some reason why they are not taller and denser?”
Tremblay said the building heights were determined by Federal Aviation Administration restrictions.
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What's that you say its in the middle of the airport -- Nevah Mind
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

whighlander said:
Hey did anyone ever check to see if that tall tower in the center of the foreground meets FAA standards for height?

From a recent discussion about such things for the K-block in the Seaport / Innovation District:


What's that you say its in the middle of the airport -- Nevah Mind
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Cant tell if youre joking or not, so I'll just take the bait: the height restrictions are for radar line-of-site and for clearance on an engine-out departure (i.e. one engine fails on the takeoff roll, meaning the plane has a hard time gaining altitude once airborne.)

These dont apply to the control tower because its not in a flight path - and the white thing on top is the radar in question. (/wetblanket)
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

Per the Boston Herald today, Phase 2 tower is switching to offices from hotel/residential.

"Strong demand for new Seaport District office space has prompted New England Development to settle on an office tower for the second phase of its 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use Pier 4 project.

The Newton developer is seeking approvals to switch from a hotel/residential use for the middle of three planned buildings on the South Boston waterfront.

“The Seaport is the hottest area right now for new office space,” said Bill Cronin, senior vice president. “With Vertex coming in, with Goodwin Procter coming in and everything Fidelity has done across the street, it’s become a very vibrant area. We have very serious tenant 
interest.”

The 170-foot building would include ground-level retail space.

“We’d love to be under construction late summer,” Cronin said."
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

JeffDowntown said:
Per the Boston Herald today, Phase 2 tower is switching to offices from hotel/residential.

"Strong demand for new Seaport District office space has prompted New England Development to settle on an office tower for the second phase of its 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use Pier 4 project.

The Newton developer is seeking approvals to switch from a hotel/residential use for the middle of three planned buildings on the South Boston waterfront.

“The Seaport is the hottest area right now for new office space,” said Bill Cronin, senior vice president. “With Vertex coming in, with Goodwin Procter coming in and everything Fidelity has done across the street, it’s become a very vibrant area. We have very serious tenant 
interest.”

The 170-foot building would include ground-level retail space.

“We’d love to be under construction late summer,” Cronin said."
Click to expand...

I'm concerned that this is going to become a trend in the Seaport. The city is starting to build out a ton of rental units and you can sense that some developers are becoming uneasy about imbalance.

I think a lot of Seaport developers are seeing an opportunity in office and are looking to convert their parcels. This neighborhood is going to turn into a giant office park in 20 years if the city doesn't hold firm on these residential master plans, assuming they are legally binding.

The net result may be some lulls in development for a few years here and there, but it will ultimately be better for the neighborhood.
 
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Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

JeffDowntown said:
Per the Boston Herald today, Phase 2 tower is switching to offices from hotel/residential.

"Strong demand for new Seaport District office space has prompted New England Development to settle on an office tower for the second phase of its 1 million-square-foot, mixed-use Pier 4 project.

The Newton developer is seeking approvals to switch from a hotel/residential use for the middle of three planned buildings on the South Boston waterfront.

“The Seaport is the hottest area right now for new office space,” said Bill Cronin, senior vice president. “With Vertex coming in, with Goodwin Procter coming in and everything Fidelity has done across the street, it’s become a very vibrant area. We have very serious tenant 
interest.”

The 170-foot building would include ground-level retail space.

“We’d love to be under construction late summer,” Cronin said."
Click to expand...


This concerns me because I would hope that residential construction at least keeps pace with office construction. My hope for the seaport area is that it would become a truly 24hr neighborhood, with a good mix of residential/office and not become another financial district, where everything shuts down at 5.
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

jdrinboston said:
I think a lot of Seaport developes are seeing an opportunity in office and are looking to convert their parcels. This neighborhood is going to turn into a giant office park in 20 years if the city doesn't hold firm on these residential master plans, assuming they are legally binding.
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Precisely. I hope the switch is rejected. With this attitude, the Seaport will become nothing but another Financial District.
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

Kendall Sq. 2.0
 
Re: Pier 4 Residential Tower | 136-146 Northern Avenue | Seaport

keeping the momentum of the building boom is probably more important than the purpose of one building. builder's confidence that they can build quickly and efficiently and make money is likely to lead to more, not less construction of both office and residential.

kendal square is an example of the city, cambridge, creating huge obstacles to building in an extremely unique and desirable area and has led to a boring district with a boring skyline. excessive government planning often leads to unintended bad results. Look at the greenway for another example of government planning run amuk.

It is hard to find the right balance of government planning and private property rights but it is not clear boston and cambridge, where things are weighted toward government planning, have found the best balance
 
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