11-21 Bromfield Street | DTX | Downtown

Hopefully this one returns to the drawing board for a 4th, radically different iteration. Start by retaining the Payless facade using double-height podium floors at the base. Then slim the tower again. (Wasn't part of the problem the blocking of 45 Province? Going fatter does nothing to solve that, particularly at a matching height.) Then put this thing back over 600' like it belongs, with a solid residential component to address the actual problem this city is currently facing, which is a dearth of housing.

I have no faith in the BCDC to do the right things here. They are a joke and city is suffering for their lack of vision.
 
DZH22 said:
I have no faith in the BCDC to do the right things here. They are a joke and city is suffering for their lack of vision.
Click to expand...

But, assuming they are toothless from a regulatory standpoint, an amenity (to put it nicely) or hood ornament (not-so-nicely), does the joke even matter--or is it irrelevant? Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I didn't think they were statutorily empowered...

meanwhile, in contrast, you have the truly bad, dangerous, and embarrassing joke that is the ZBA, with its three-card monte of rotating scandals (bribery case, inability to seat new commissioners over interpretation of marijuana regulations, hearings for a 600-ft Downtown tower seeking a ginormous height variance mashed into the same batch as proverbial Joe Q Citizen trying to install a patio in Charlestown... oh yeah and speaking of: why the ^$#%$ in 2021 do we suffer under a central planning soviet that requires citizens to do abutter outreach, let alone have to waste time and energy on a public hearing, on a flippin' patio?!?)
 
DBM said:
But, assuming they are toothless from a regulatory standpoint, an amenity (to put it nicely) or hood ornament (not-so-nicely), does the joke even matter--or is it irrelevant? Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I didn't think they were statutorily empowered...
Click to expand...

I don't think they're toothless, didn't the effectively sink the previous proposal here because of the carport entrance.
 
DZH22 said:
Hopefully this one returns to the drawing board for a 4th, radically different iteration. Start by retaining the Payless facade using double-height podium floors at the base. Then slim the tower again. (Wasn't part of the problem the blocking of 45 Province? Going fatter does nothing to solve that, particularly at a matching height.) Then put this thing back over 600' like it belongs, with a solid residential component to address the actual problem this city is currently facing, which is a dearth of housing.

I have no faith in the BCDC to do the right things here. They are a joke and city is suffering for their lack of vision.
Click to expand...
I agree with DZ on this one. I think a mixed used project will be best for this area, in part because of our housing shortage but also because I think downtown becoming more 24/7 is best for the community and the city. I think something 600+ in height makes sense, so a 4th iteration is best.
 
meddlepal said:
I don't think they're toothless, didn't the effectively sink the previous proposal here because of the carport entrance.
Click to expand...


I'm sure they echoed the criticisms of many in the community that regard, pointing out how repellent and anti-urban the carport was. But note which agency told them to go back to the drawing board. I highly doubt BCDC was even mentioned in that article, though I could be wrong.
 
eddy2698 said:
I agree with DZ on this one. I think a mixed used project will be best for this area, in part because of our housing shortage but also because I think downtown becoming more 24/7 is best for the community and the city. I think something 600+ in height makes sense, so a 4th iteration is best.
Click to expand...

600+ feet would certainly be appropriate in terms of creating a twin pinnacle to match MTower... but you guys are beyond delusional. The BPDA specifically mandated that the height be lowered radically due to the intense community push-back. Bowing to reality, the developer acquiesced to the mandate. In what real world would a fourth proposal be generated that flagrantly subverted the order of the agency responsible for approving projects?

(again, not arguing against the merits of 600+ feet here... just asking you guys to come back to the real world)
 
DBM said:
600+ feet would certainly be appropriate in terms of creating a twin pinnacle to match MTower... but you guys are beyond delusional. The BPDA specifically mandated that the height be lowered radically due to the intense community push-back. Bowing to reality, the developer acquiesced to the mandate. In what real world would a fourth proposal be generated that flagrantly subverted the order of the agency responsible for approving projects?

(again, not arguing against the merits of 600+ feet here... just asking you guys to come back to the real world)
Click to expand...

Even if their dream project did materialize and secure all approvals it still probably wouldn’t get financing because there’s so much new inventory out there and not much of it’s moving.
 
DBM said:
600+ feet would certainly be appropriate in terms of creating a twin pinnacle to match MTower... but you guys are beyond delusional. The BPDA specifically mandated that the height be lowered radically due to the intense community push-back. Bowing to reality, the developer acquiesced to the mandate. In what real world would a fourth proposal be generated that flagrantly subverted the order of the agency responsible for approving projects?

(again, not arguing against the merits of 600+ feet here... just asking you guys to come back to the real world)
Click to expand...

This forum is 20% pics (thanks again to all who post!) and 80% hyper-urbanism fan-fic. It's not a real world forum, but perhaps that's ok. What else have we to do these days?
 
  • Like
Reactions: DBM
HarvardP said:
This forum is 20% pics (thanks again to all who post!) and 80% hyper-urbanism fan-fic. It's not a real world forum, but perhaps that's ok. What else have we to do these days?
Click to expand...

Hey, I'd argue there is still ~5% or so intense debate about the ugliness and/or beauty of facades and the cheapness of exterior building materials!
 
HarvardP said:
This forum is 20% pics (thanks again to all who post!) and 80% hyper-urbanism fan-fic. It's not a real world forum, but perhaps that's ok. What else have we to do these days?
Click to expand...

Well, you’ve also got to carve out at least 20% for posts where people don’t contribute anything and just complain about everyone else.😁
 
And somewhere in there 15% renders and articles. I honestly mostly come here for the pics and renders/documents and it delivers on that extremely well. 21st century internet can get crazy but if you ignore the noise it has tons of useful info.
 
Equilibria said:
BCDC:

bpda.app.box.com

2021.03.02_BCDC Presentation_11-21 Bromfield St.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com bpda.app.box.com

I forget - do we know for sure this is timber, or did I just guess that? The close-ups make it look like it's just orange concrete or something.
Click to expand...

In the last submission they noted they haven't yet picked a material, but wanted whatever material they chose to emulate the color they're applying in these renders.

Seeing as this is going for LEED Platinum and Zero Carbon, I presume it will be timber.
 
I like this current iteration of design, however I really think that it lacks two things:
1) a realistic height profile that will nestle itself nicely in the neighborhood at around 520-545 ft tall with mech included to not overpower the neighborhood
2) it DESPERATELY needs some appropriate setbacks along Washington to create some visual interest as well as maintaining the current facades of the building (as mentioned by numerous others).

The best they could do, and it’s incredibly possible to do is to retain the facade and incorporate it (cough cough Littlest Bar). Alternatively, mimic the current neighborhood fabric so that it’s not like wham bam fvck you neighborhood.
 
How about they take this podium and put the original proposal on top of it instead...

Joking aside, the trees are dumb, but the materials on the facade look solid.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top