Boston Properties Office Tower | 888 Boylston Street | Back Bay

[Downburst]

Walked past today; the first level of what I'm pretty sure is the core has been completed.

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Fan Pier called. "Have you seen my missing stump?

Whoa man, this is far more radical than anything in SBW.

 

[fattony]

Whoa man, this is far more radical than anything in SBW.

+1

 

[DZH22]

Whoa man, this is far more radical than anything in SBW.

It's how they use the extra height at the top of this building that sets it apart from SWB. Take away the top 2 floors and crown and you're left with:

 

[citylover94]

Nope it still has more design because it has some setbacks and is not a straight up glass box and the above render implies they will be using some different types of glass on the building. I know it's not a huge difference but it isn't the exact same thing. And the crown and upper floors are an important part of the design of the building as a whole so I don't get why saying oh if we just remove the top its the same as the SBW buildings makes for a good comparison. That would be like saying if the Hilton was several hundred feet taller it would be just like the Four Seasons tower they are both triangles.

This is all just my opinion though.

 

[DZH22]

And the crown and upper floors are an important part of the design of the building as a whole so I don't get why saying oh if we just remove the top its the same as the SBW buildings makes for a good comparison. That would be like saying if the Hilton was several hundred feet taller it would be just like the Four Seasons tower they are both triangles.

This is all just my opinion though.

The top of the design is clearly what sets the building apart. I'm just mentioning that it had those extra feet to work with, and they made a huge difference. Also, if you removed the crown and top 2 floors with the different treatment, it's essentially the exact same height as the SBW buildings, so your comparison is not on point.

Nope it still has more design because it has some setbacks and is not a straight up glass box and the above render implies they will be using some different types of glass on the building.

I realize 888 appears to do them better, but the closer building has a setback podium and slightly setback mech top, and the further building looks to have 3 different glass treatments.

 

[Boston02124]

 

[davem]

I've never been a fan of this project, but it will stand out quite a bit amongst a sea of masonry buildings. (yes I know the apple store, but that's really a different animal)

 

[Boston02124]

 

[stick n move]

I have a feeling that the awkward amount of space between this and the pru, having nothing else in line with it on boylston, the windmills on top, and the short and fat design are going to make this kind of an eye sore. I really hope not, but the renderings seem to back that up.

The high spine is the Pru and Hancock, the buildings between them, and then off to the right side. This is going to be the only building on the left side and its going to throw off the symmetry. Even one Dalton is in line with 111 huntington and the future copley place.

 

[Mike]

^ it will line up with the 400'+ tower that will go up on the mass pike parcel next to the hynes.

 

[whighlander]

I have a feeling that the awkward amount of space between this and the pru, having nothing else in line with it on boylston, the windmills on top, and the short and fat design are going to make this kind of an eye sore. I really hope not, but the renderings seem to back that up.

The high spine is the Pru and Hancock, the buildings between them, and then off to the right side. This is going to be the only building on the left side and its going to throw off the symmetry. Even one Dalton is in line with 111 huntington and the future copley place.

Stick - -the Windmills on the top will for decades mark this as a teens folly

 

[coleslaw]

Stick - -the Windmills on the top will for decades mark this as a teens folly

What do you mean by this?

 

[stick n move]

^ it will line up with the 400'+ tower that will go up on the mass pike parcel next to the hynes.

you're right I forgot about those, hopefully they get built within the next ten years.

 

[George_Apley]

What do you mean by this?

Oh don't ask. Westie is a subscriber to the "Global Warming is a hoax; prepare for the Ice Age" crowd. Separately/relatedly, he's very snarky about renewables.

 

[whighlander]

What do you mean by this?

Coleslaw -- the windmills are of no practical value -- they will produce meanless amounts of power -- and are thus just some bizarre ornament with impossible to predict but nearly inevitable unintended consequences

For example unless they are locked when its windy and freezing rain / wet snow conditions -- they may well shed potentially dangerous ice and snow on the unsuspecting public

Noise is almost a certainty and the question will be at what frequency range and how many db sound level -- how many people will be susceptible to the noise and what will be the side effects

 

[Mongo]

Coleslaw -- the windmills are of no practical value -- they will produce meanless amounts of power -- and are thus just some bizarre ornament with impossible to predict but nearly inevitable unintended consequences

They will produce some power, probably a fair amount due to their height.

For example unless they are locked when its windy and freezing rain / wet snow conditions -- they may well shed potentially dangerous ice and snow on the unsuspecting public

They might shed snow onto the roof, but you won't get flying ice chunks, that's just silly.

Noise is almost a certainty and the question will be at what frequency range and how many db sound level -- how many people will be susceptible to the noise and what will be the side effects

Inaudible from street level, and there are no "side effects" from windmills.

 

[whighlander]

Oh don't ask. Westie is a subscriber to the "Global Warming is a hoax; prepare for the Ice Age" crowd. Separately/relatedly, he's very snarky about renewables.

Busess -- Pro / Con Global Warming aside -- its all about physics of wind and our ability to extract energy from the wind

Moving air can exert large forces -- Google Airplanes -- however the force exerted varies as the square of the speed of the air -- try sticking your hand outside a car window at 30 mph and at 60mph === 4X the force

Power that is extracted = Force X Velocity of the air and thus the extracted power is proportional to the cube of the velocity -- thus 60 mph === 8X the power of 20 mph wind

At high wind speeds the force on the wind catcher can become so large that the rotating parts need to be immobilized and / or the air foils "feathered" to be protected

The result of the above is that wind can be tapped only over a narrow range of wind speeds [specifics depend on the particular design]

To effectively capture the wind the wind machine needs to be alignable with the direction of the wind a relatively small angular offset reduces the efficiency significantly -- hence why traditional windmills swivel with a tail-fin like a wind vane.

Finally, the process of intercepting the wind introduces turbulence in the air flow -- some of that is manifested as sounds [including audible, ultrasonic and sub-human hearing frequencies]. This turbulence can also effect near-by wind machines -- there is an optimum spacing both along the flow and perpendicular to the flow.

Hence the previous statement -- A Bizarre, non-functional ornament -- a bit reminiscent of the proposed giant Tea Bag that Frank Gehry wanted to hang from the renovated building on the corner of Newbury and Mass Ave.

 

[whighlander]

They will produce some power, probably a fair amount due to their height.



They might shed snow onto the roof, but you won't get flying ice chunks, that's just silly.



Inaudible from street level, and there are no "side effects" from windmills.

Mongo -- they have sent ice chunks flying and there have been many instances of people complaining about noise both audible and at frequencies not audible

Finally, people have been injured by wind machines which have destructed due to imbalance caused by ice

Mongo -- in particular a small diameter wind machine is not very different in construction and operation from the fan section of a large turbofan engine such as the big GE GENx that powers 777 and 787

 

[Mongo]

Mongo -- they have sent ice chunks flying and there have been many instances of people complaining about noise both audible and at frequencies not audible

Finally, people have been injured by wind machines which have destructed due to imbalance caused by ice

Mongo -- in particular a small diameter wind machine is not very different in construction and operation from the fan section of a large turbofan engine such as the big GE GENx that powers 777 and 787

Go look at the render above, like actually use your eyes. The wind turbines that are being mounted are vertical helix wind turbines, which none of your points apply to.