Boynton Gateway | 495 Columbia Street | Somerville

The amount of steel in these buildings is amazing. I'm wondering if its over engineering or because the clay soil really requires this much steel to be stable.
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dhawkins said:
The amount of steel in these buildings is amazing. I'm wondering if its over engineering or because the clay soil really requires this much steel to be stable.
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It also may have to do with the vibration standards for lab buildings. IIRC, you don't want your columns to be further apart than 33 feet if you're converting office to lab, so I assume the same must apply for new-build.
 
I've seen foundations made using those cylinder braces holding up the concrete walls. Do they stay in there even after the building is built? Just wondering. :unsure:
 
Jahvon09 said:
I've seen foundations made using those cylinder braces holding up the concrete walls. Do they stay in there even after the building is built? Just wondering. :unsure:
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Sometimes they are but I don't think so in this case. The opening in the foundation indicates it will be removed.
 
Jahvon09 said:
I've seen foundations made using those cylinder braces holding up the concrete walls. Do they stay in there even after the building is built? Just wondering. :unsure:
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Wondered that myself!
 
Dr. Rosen Rosen said:
The overhead telephone and utility lines really do it for me. They will bury these, no?
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The answer to this question when asked about other projects is almost always 'No.' If I was a developer leading investment of hundreds of millions I would be embarrassed to have these lines remain so close to my project.
 
awood91 said:
The answer to this question when asked about other projects is almost always 'No.' If I was a developer leading investment of hundreds of millions I would be embarrassed to have these lines remain so close to my project.
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True, but it's not always in the developers power to make these decisions. I know of a recent development where they wanted to bury these lines but the utility refused; reason being that if they did bury the lines they would have to be fed from a different location/transformer due to updated regulations or something, and this creates a lot more issues than just burying cables. Perhaps there's someone on here that has more insight to this?
 
Aprehensive_Words said:
It also may have to do with the vibration standards for lab buildings. IIRC, you don't want your columns to be further apart than 33 feet if you're converting office to lab, so I assume the same must apply for new-build.
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The outer bays for the labs often end up being 44'. Thicker steel can be used to limit columns to keep the floor plate wide open.

Those 5' deep girders at the garage roof supporting the building above are pretty dang big tho. Helped me get my drainage piping across the drive aisles tho up in the beam pockets. I think those are transitioning the tower load down to the garage columns/footings. But, it's been awhile.

This has been a long design. Glad to see it going up.
 
Ruairi said:
The web of overhead wires drive me nuts.
How can they spend millions on these lab buildings but all the utility wires are still hanging on crooked utility poles like its down town Hanoi.
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I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sadly, Hanoi looks a lot farther ahead on that score than us. Let's face it, the US is the new 3rd World when it comes to infrastructure. We need to stop settling for the shit utility poles like at Boynton Gateway and roll up our sleeves for fundamental change.



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shmessy said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sadly, Hanoi looks a lot farther ahead on that score than us. Let's face it, the US is the new 3rd World when it comes to infrastructure. We need to stop settling for the shit utility poles like at Boynton Gateway and roll up our sleeves for fundamental change.



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Hanoi is certainly a beautiful place. However...

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I think we should let them finish building out the neighborhood from junkyards to lab buildings in under 5 years before we start drawing dramatic conclusions about things like power poles. This building is still under construction, folks. Kendall, Assembly, and the Seaport don't have overhead wires.
 
Equilibria said:
Hanoi is certainly a beautiful place. However...

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I think we should let them finish building out the neighborhood from junkyards to lab buildings in under 5 years before we start drawing dramatic conclusions about things like power poles. This building is still under construction, folks. Kendall, Assembly, and the Seaport don't have overhead wires.
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Even their alleys have rapid transit!!!!!! :D

That being said, your pic is of a hidden, decrepit tenement alley in Hanoi. It's out of the way and expected.

What we are talking about in Boynton is THIS that will have far more criss-crossing utility lines. A far different situation ;)
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I'd assume they will be buried at some point. If not, it's like putting a pig onto lipstick ;)
 
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shmessy said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but sadly, Hanoi looks a lot farther ahead on that score than us. Let's face it, the US is the new 3rd World when it comes to infrastructure. We need to stop settling for the shit utility poles like at Boynton Gateway and roll up our sleeves for fundamental change.



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wow. It's been 15 years since I've been there.
ArchHanoi must be super busy ;)
 
Companies won't settle in, and individuals won't choose to reside in cities with above-ground utility poles. I pray Somerville can one day put these wires and cables underground -- maybe then it won't be a woefully under-populated wasteland with zero economy-driving development. If only Somerville could be like Hanoi.
 
shmessy said:
What we are talking about in Boynton is THIS that will have far more criss-crossing utility lines. A far different situation ;)
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This isn't even what we're getting. The proposal was shortened (pic above is the first height-cut, but it happened TWICE!!!), somehow made even fatter, and otherwise dumbed down like most other projects around here.

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At this point it feels like a minor miracle when a proposal comes along that's taller than it is wide, and most of those don't survive to the final iteration.
 
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