88 Seaport Blvd | Seaport Square Parcel D | Seaport

BKNA said:
So what you're saying is 99% of the population will never see any of this:
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I don't think that's quite what s/he's saying.

I think what s/he's saying is that 99% of the population won't be able to pinpoint why it's a better design, but nonetheless they'll subconsciously perceive it as better design.

(correct me if i'm wrong)

EDIT: now that I see cca's response above: it's kind of like how someone might like a song more than another song, but isn't capable of articulating why.

(again, correct me if i'm wrong)
 
bigpicture7 said:
I don't think that's quite what s/he's saying.

I think what s/he's saying is that 99% of the population won't be able to pinpoint why it's a better design, but nonetheless they'll subconsciously perceive it as better design.

(correct me if i'm wrong)
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Exactly ... see my above post.
 
I've been expressing my concern about the "dumb boring glazing boxes" being placed all over the seaport development, but this project in particular one breaks the mold from that trend, as its design-specially the way the glazing is laid out- represents a fresh, exciting & must needed way to reinvent the glass box theme. OMA is well known for their particular edgy designs, so I'm looking forward to its construction.
 
Hufer said:
I've been expressing my concern about the "dumb boring glazing boxes" being placed all over the seaport development, but this project in particular one breaks the mold from that trend, as its design-specially the way the glazing is laid out- represents a fresh, exciting & must needed way to reinvent the glass box theme. OMA is well known for their particular edgy designs, so I'm looking forward to its construction.
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Its not a reinvention of anything. It is a raising of the bar as far as decorating the dumb box. In general I am intrigued by this. It is certainly interesting, it makes interesting street/building connections, likely will have a high level of craft. All of those things are good.

As far as the gimmick. It feels less gimmicky than most of OMA's work. Maybe its the team that did Sibley Hall at Cornell. (one of the few OMA buildings I genuinely like)

Lets all get excited about this one ...

cca
 
On a related note, I wonder how/if Skanska continues to have trouble filling 121 Seaport if that would delay the building of another office building in the area.
 
cca said:
Its not a reinvention of anything. It is a raising of the bar as far as decorating the dumb box. In general I am intrigued by this. It is certainly interesting, it makes interesting street/building connections, likely will have a high level of craft. All of those things are good.

As far as the gimmick. It feels less gimmicky than most of OMA's work. Maybe its the team that did Sibley Hall at Cornell. (one of the few OMA buildings I genuinely like)

Lets all get excited about this one ...

cca
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reinvention in a way that its design approach differs completely from what is being proposed by the other surrounding structures on that site. as far as "decoration" per say (i.e. moldings, trims, etc) - I don't quite see any of it at all - I see a volume with a very particular fracture made to accomplish certain aesthetic & functional purpose- and then there is the glazing whose pattern enhances the exterior in a rhythmical way. very straight forward if you ask me - yet OMA did surely put a thought on it not to make it look like a dumb glass box....
 
BostonDrew said:
On a related note, I wonder how/if Skanska continues to have trouble filling 121 Seaport if that would delay the building of another office building in the area.
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WS won't build it spec, if that's what you mean. Skanska was pretty unusual in their ability/willingness to do that at 121. And they've still got like a year before that's done, right?

But if WS can pre-lease to an anchor tenant, they'll go ASAP. And at only 450,000 sf they need to pre-lease a lot less to justify launching construction than SST or Gov't Center Garage.
 
BKNA said:
And it's also not leased.
Caveat: I have no idea if the floor plate has anything to do with that.
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I would not be surprise if the floor-plate is an issue with leasing.

Unusual floor-plates can dramatically decrease the space utilization efficiency, and they increase operating costs for general building services, like cleaning.

121 Seaport probably carries a 20 to 30% hidden cost for occupancy versus the boxy towers.
 
JeffDowntown said:
I would not be surprise if the floor-plate is an issue with leasing.

Unusual floor-plates can dramatically decrease the space utilization efficiency, and they increase operating costs for general building services, like cleaning.

121 Seaport probably carries a 20 to 30% hidden cost for occupancy versus the boxy towers.
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Is an ellipse that unusual? Or is it just unusual for the Seaport?
It would seem, for instance, to allow natural light to hit alot deeper into the floors than your standard deep square or rectangle.
 
JeffDowntown said:
I would not be surprise if the floor-plate is an issue with leasing.

Unusual floor-plates can dramatically decrease the space utilization efficiency, and they increase operating costs for general building services, like cleaning.

121 Seaport probably carries a 20 to 30% hidden cost for occupancy versus the boxy towers.
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Man about town said:
Is an ellipse that unusual? Or is it just unusual for the Seaport?
It would seem, for instance, to allow natural light to hit alot deeper into the floors than your standard deep square or rectangle.
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Yeah, 121's floorplates aren't that small or unusual. 440k sf over 17 floors is an average of almost 26k sf per floor. That's about the same as the Pru, by my measure.

The plates will be smaller and more irregular than some other superblock boxes in the Seaport, but no more so than your typical downtown office tower.
 
JeffDowntown said:
I would not be surprise if the floor-plate is an issue with leasing.

Unusual floor-plates can dramatically decrease the space utilization efficiency, and they increase operating costs for general building services, like cleaning.

121 Seaport probably carries a 20 to 30% hidden cost for occupancy versus the boxy towers.
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Skanska actually uses the unique floor plate as a selling point. The ellipse creates a structure such that each floor is virtually column-less, bringing more flexible and adaptable floor plans for a wide range of needs.

http://121seaport.com/
 
bigpicture7 said:
I don't think that's quite what s/he's saying.

I think what s/he's saying is that 99% of the population won't be able to pinpoint why it's a better design, but nonetheless they'll subconsciously perceive it as better design.

(correct me if i'm wrong)

EDIT: now that I see cca's response above: it's kind of like how someone might like a song more than another song, but isn't capable of articulating why.

(again, correct me if i'm wrong)
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cca said:
Exactly ... see my above post.
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I feel this is the opposite though. Id expect the majority of the population would choose this Block D design over the 101 design.
 
BKNA said:
I feel this is the opposite though. Id expect the majority of the population would choose this Block D design over the 101 design.
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Maybe the Block D design because it really stands out. But what about the 101 design versus most of the other recent Seaport office buildings?

Every seaport "box" is not equal in design quality.
 
stefalarchitect said:
Skanska actually uses the unique floor plate as a selling point. The ellipse creates a structure such that each floor is virtually column-less, bringing more flexible and adaptable floor plans for a wide range of needs.

http://121seaport.com/
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I am sure they use it as a selling point, they have to (it's theirs to lease).

That does not mean it will be easy to configure for use. Most office systems are designed for rectilinear space. Square peg, round hole problem.
 
stick n move said:
I spy

https://postimage.io/

It definitely borders on gimmicky and I usually don't like these but I think with this very high quality facade its actually going to come out pretty good.
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I think they should put a nose above the opening at the corner of the building facing the viewer and then eyes on each side.

Then pedestrians can spray Listerine at the windows in the open central area.

.



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ZBbRdfil.jpg
 
Are they just demolishing the church and then either waiting or paving the lot or are they going to jump right from this into construction of the tower right after? If they are building the tower right after this thats good news I didn't know if that render was the finalized project or if it was an idea of what could happen here when kinda looking outside of the box as far as Seaport architecture goes. It looks interesting and againnnnnn from what I can see the trees on the roof and outlines of people would lead me to believe this has yet another roof deck. I don't know if its public, but the more the merrier. Plus that deck halfway up the tower looks pretty cool especially if they have like steps going up the cut. I think I like it and thats great news if yet another parcel is going to go u/c. Anyone know the timeline?
 
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