Allston-Brighton Infill and Small Developments

[Arborway]

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Matrix 5/19 (Green District)

 

[jass]

How expensive are real balconies?

 

[atlantaden]

They are real balconies!! They're called Juliet Balconies!! But I agree, if I lived in an apartment or high-rise condo (and I've lived in many) I would definitely want a real, deal, stand-out on balcony!! A Juliet balcony just doesn't cut it for me!

 

[Brad Plaid]

Green District:

Green District 5/19

The Vicomte: another word for turd.
The Edge and Matrix: Yes.

 

[Matthew]

The Vicomte is a much older building. 80s I believe.

 

[kz1000ps]

^ Yes, late '80s I believe, square in the middle of the postmodern heydey (something Boston has had real trouble shaking off).

As for this one that Arborway hates...

You can see the original, untouched facade to the left, which is puzzling....they put a new "high performance" envelope on the front half of the building but not the rear?

 

[itchy]

^ This is what 90% of new construction in Moscow has looked like for at least the past ~8 years. The city (the only legal landowner in the city is the city government) is throwing its money now toward recladding all the old Brezhnev and Khrushev buildings in ubiquitous cheap tiles (it's more linole-bond than aluco-bond).

Moscow is, not coincidentally, probably the ugliest major city I've been to.

I really hope this cheap, Second World crap doesn't start making a foothold in the US...

 

[kz1000ps]

Back to 375 Market Street in Brighton:

Too bad they've resorted to the nasty cliché of covering the top floor in a different, cheaper material, but the brickwork that I assume will be covering the majority of it looks great:

And St. E's...well, the best I can say about it is it beat my incredibly low expectations:

 

[Arborway]

The hospital addition is atrocious. It's really the bottom-of-the-barrel architecture.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

.... at least it obscures the spaceship behind it.

 

[czsz]

Seriously, how do the owner and architect of that not throw up in their mouths in disgust over what they've done when passing by it?

 

[George_Apley]

^ Money.

 

[Shepard]

Every time I pass by I think mmmm Carvel Ice Cream Cake.

 

[kz1000ps]

^ LOL, I appreciate the picture.

 

[Matthew]

current state

 

[Arborway]

I really like that. They even managed to make the seams on the brick fade into the background.

 

[atlantaden]

Very nice! Especially love the wood!

 

[kz1000ps]

Boy this one went up FAST.

 

[bigeman312]

My take on the Allston Green District:

I like some of the buildings and I don't like others, which is great! A developer came in with a coherent vision for a transit-oriented neighborhood. They achieved this vision in a timely manner, improved upon what was there, added density, didn't overpower the neighborhood around it, blended seamlessly into the existing city grid, and used a variety of materials and styles to achieve a varied look from building to building, making a neighborhood rather than a development.

Bravo!

Imagine if a developer came in and did the same (it doesn't need to be a "green" vision) in an area of JP, Eastie, Sommerville, etc. We'd really be on to something.

 

[kz1000ps]

Thank you for giving this district the write-up it deserves, bigeman. I'm sure aB folks will continue to hold up Steve Samuels and his Fenway projects as Boston's shining beacon of progress, but this developer put up a new neighborhood at about quarter the size in a quarter of the time, and that's no less an achievement than what's going on down on Boylston.