Back Bay Garage Tower | Dartmouth and Stuart | Back Bay

Like the BU computer bldg: so lately Boston--someone said, hey let's do something really different and have that be THE THING. Who cares if it's actually good or not. From the inside, we know it will be very nice. Then, not so much for the people outside the building who have to look at it.
I think the developer's best bet is to build the foundations for everything + the residential. By the time that happens, they will have found a tenant, or they can either sell the unfinished office foundation off.
Mostly, like Mr. Laffer says, nothing's getting built--so, there's no need to fuss over it too much.
 
I wonder how some of these architects got a job. My hope is if these get built that they get torn down 30 years later because they are awful lackluster designs. A 2010s version of the West End towers.
 
Thats why I cant believe these have stayed the same this entire time. Literally everything goes through multiple different iterations on the journey towards approval, but the project that needs change the most not an inch of movement. Theyll be changed though soon enough.... right??
 
Raffles will be welcoming guests before the last meeting that dooms this project even occurs.
 
Enough already with weirdly stacked blocks that appear to be tipping over. One in the entire region (BU) is enough. It will loom over the Copley Plaza, clash with the gems surround Copley Sq., unnecessarily call attention to itself, and do little to distract from the stultifying mass of the Westin and Copley Plaza. Better to leave everything as is until an appropriately beautiful and useful development is actually ready to be built, IMO. I agree that something dramatic needs to be done about the planning process in City Hall.
 
Does anyone know if the putrid stacking of the office floors reflects the VE challenge/s of creating x net sq ft vs no additional shadow/s over Trinity Church/Meeting House/Copley Sq vs limited terra firma for piles/columns? How much of this project is over the I90 freeway & train tracks?
 
I found this PDF of the project from a couple of weeks ago. Can't tell whether or not the design has changed, but it's still chunky and tacky. Copley Place Tower is still rendered as well, even though this is supposed to be a new file. Another poster mentioned rumblings that Copley might not be dead. We can only hope. They changed the floor count and apt/condo ratio in the past without changing the outside appearance, so who knows... This one, on the other hand, is not my cup of tea aesthetically.

Still, news. Seems like it mainly involves building barriers for the pike and train tracks, and relocating utilities in advance of demolition. The towers themselves are still a bit down the road, and given how tacky they look, I'm perfectly fine with that.

 
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Yeah, I don't think we'll see design changes at this point. That presentation seemed like an update for MassDOT as to how and when construction will commence, which seems soon.
 
I'm just happy this is moving. It's going to be an excellent transformation for that part of the city regardless of what is on top. Which I still think would look good.
 
Ummmm - this just got MUCH uglier. I'm glad they're still doing this, of course, but ugh...


OLD:
old.jpg


NEW:
new.jpg


The "stack effect" is essentially gone.
 
The structural engineering for the newer design has to be substantially cheaper/easier.

In Boston, you’re only going to get daring engineering on a prestige project for an owner-occupant.
 
^^^Keep in mind that the viewpoints don't match up. The second render essentially turns the first view 90 degrees to the right. The jaggedness may have gotten slightly less angular, but it's hard to tell from the new render's straight-on view of that side.

Honestly, I'm still not sure if this changed at all. The floor counts still match up. The weird base materials match up. The breaks between segments match up. It's entirely possible that the view in the 2nd render is what it has looked like since the beginning, except we weren't shown that exact view until now.
 
When you waste all your design effort on expensive structural magic...
But as DZH pointed out, the new image is from a different view. And the definition of the floor underside and glazing is non-existent in the old one which gives the illusion that the cantilevers go back further than they really do ( floor is much darker here and contrasts with the light glass).

But yeah. Stack of boxes. Jenga-tecture. Needs to stop.
 
curcuas said:
This looks much nicer than the previous new renders. Bridge to 40 trinity is interesting....they'd have to start that soon, no?
Click to expand...

Nah, they could just make sure 40 Trinity has it accounted for in their design and plug it in later.

My only complaint with this project is the dead wall that is the parking garage cover-up... I hope they can do something interesting with that involving lighting. It's just kind of oppressive looking right now.
 
I don't hate this. I think my biggest gripe is the station entrance which looks as if it could be the entrance to any corporate office lobby in the area. Hub on Causeway should be the model here.
 
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