Boston Properties Office Tower | 888 Boylston Street | Back Bay

fattony said:
Do you guys remember when this was going to be that horrible, bloated, pregnant thing? We really dodged a bullet. This is coming out quite nice.
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I agree, I walked by it two days ago after an appointment and thought it was really handsome based on what I could see. I was skeptical when I saw the concepts.
 
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^ That's the best angle of the new tower I've yet seen - 95% blocked by other buildings.

</Not even actually being facetious>
 
I myself have never been crazy about the design of this thing, but I really feel like it's a win if only for its potential for better street activation than the agoraphobia-inducing windswept plaza that was there before.

Another slightly better than terrible glass box spillover from the Seaport for the high spine?
 
I loved the plaza here. I used to stand and stare mesmerized at the Prudential Center looming overhead, with 111 hanging out on its left. It was really an awe-inspiring view.

I would tear down 888 today and put the plaza back (with some improvements) if I had the influence to do so. Boston has no use for short, fat, tacky buildings such as this.
 
Well, that's a bit of an over-reaction.
 
DZH22 said:
I loved the plaza here. I used to stand and stare mesmerized at the Prudential Center looming overhead, with 111 hanging out on its left. It was really an awe-inspiring view.

I would tear down 888 today and put the plaza back (with some improvements) if I had the influence to do so. Boston has no use for short, fat, tacky buildings such as this.
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In general I agree, though the plaza was indeed too big and tacky. I'll take 888's footprint (maybe set back by like 20 feet from where they've built it) but I would've capped it at 4 or 5 stories, something more like a podium for the actual Pru tower.

"Short, fat, tacky" as you put it is an excellent set of descriptors for what's been built.
 
It delivers at ground level and at the end of the day in Boston thats whats important.
 
DZH22 said:
I loved the plaza here. I used to stand and stare mesmerized at the Prudential Center looming overhead, with 111 hanging out on its left. It was really an awe-inspiring view.

I would tear down 888 today and put the plaza back (with some improvements) if I had the influence to do so. Boston has no use for short, fat, tacky buildings such as this.
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You're hurting its feelings! Stop fat shaming that poor building!
 
The previous plaza was windswept and useless. This not only filled that in, will make for better street activation, but it also was a catalyst to update a major part of the food court/mall/entryway.

I think it's a win. I would have liked to seen it be a little taller...

You've got to believe that the Hynes Convention Center is next for redevelopment. Sure, they have some events there, but it's not big at all. Kind of a hulking and a major space along Boylston that could be stronger.
 
stick n move said:
It delivers at ground level and at the end of the day in Boston thats whats important.
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Yes, but what we're also saying here is that the view of the Pru from Boylston is also an iconic Boston ground-level moment. I appreciate what this new building does at ground level, but I think a more sensitive treatment would have been shorter and more podium-like to retain the view of the Pru from Boylston.

In other words: the old plaza didn't have much going for it, but the fact that you were hanging out right in front of the looming Pru tower was something in itself - something unique. The new plaza will be better in design and activation, but it will be a plaza in front of an anonymous box just like any other.
 
DZH22 said:
Boston has no use for short, fat, tacky buildings such as this.
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Huh, I would wager the tenants will make good use of this building. Do they count as part of "Boston"?
 
Shepard said:
In other words: the old plaza didn't have much going for it, but the fact that you were hanging out right in front of the looming Pru tower was something in itself - something unique.
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There's also the view from the Christian Science Center fountain.
 
Shepard said:
In other words: the old plaza didn't have much going for it, but the fact that you were hanging out right in front of the looming Pru tower was something in itself - something unique.
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And also the courtyard and garden on the opposite side of the Pru:
  • more greenery
  • still a full view of the sheer face of the Pru from your POV to the top
  • still just as windswept as the stone-cold plaza because...downdraft effect...
I don't argue there weren't redeeming qualities of the plaza. However, I'd rather see downdraft mitigation installed to make the courtyard more habitable than somehow trying to re-dress the plaza and losing out on the office space (and food court refresh) that we're getting with 888 Boylston.

The plaza itself wasn't a particularly good exercise in placemaking - definitely an expression of a bygone era's idea of what public space should be like - and the sheer wall of the Hynes and sheer wall of the Pru made the space feel incredibly agoraphobic. It made me feel like a termite if I wasn't looking directly at the buildings across Boylston Street. I feel the same when you're standing admist WTC 1, 4, and the growing WTC 3 abutting the multi-acre World Trade Center Memorial park, but there at least, closely planted trees provide a human-scaled canopy that make it feel intimate and don't feel like you're standing on some sheer cliff formed by skyscrapers.

Likewise, I feel the Pru courtyard avoids feeling like this, not only because of vegetation, but because of the mall around it that creates something of a human-scaled outdoor room. I don't think more trees or vegetation could've redeemed the plaza, but I could be wrong and we can only speculate at his point.
 
DigitalSciGuy said:
And also the courtyard and garden on the opposite side of the Pru:
  • more greenery
  • still a full view of the sheer face of the Pru from your POV to the top
  • still just as windswept as the stone-cold plaza because...downdraft effect...
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Don't forget:
Closed 4-5 months out of the year.
Need to go through the mall to reach the garden.
No money shot with 111.

This vista is better than the building that replaced it.

 
All your complaints are addressed by the fact that if you walk to the other side you get a picture with 111 and the Pru together from the ground. I just never found the plaza very welcoming and will not miss it one bit.
 
citylover94 said:
All your complaints are addressed by the fact that if you walk to the other side you get a picture with 111 and the Pru together from the ground. I just never found the plaza very welcoming and will not miss it one bit.
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Different angle, different frontage, forced to see the awful base of 111 or the even more awful Belvedere. It isn't the same. I have fond memories of viewing the Pru from here from all the way back when I was a little kid, through my drinking/bar hopping days when I would walk out of a bar and stare up at the Pru. The view loses a lot when it replaces unobstructed "buddy" views of the 2nd and (now) 9th tallest buildings in the city for a 270' stump.
 
This whole discussion of the lost views of the Pru from the Boylston St. plaza remind me of similar complaints from residents of Harbor Towers, The Clarendon, and numerous other buildings regarding their possible lost or changed views! ;)
 
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