Boynton Yards | 99-101 South/808 Windsor | Somerville

Dr. Rosen Rosen said:
Good find, JS38. I think it’s a pretty cool design all things considered, but can’t help but chuckle at drawings like this that really spell out how out of place these buildings will be.
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So what? TOD near transit stations and squares (such as Union Square) will be taller and denser than the surrounding neighborhoods. That will hopefully happen more and more in the inner and outer cities and towns.
 
Charlie_mta said:
So what? TOD near transit stations and squares (such as Union Square) will be taller and denser than the surrounding neighborhoods. That will hopefully happen more and more in the inner and outer cities and towns.
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The problem is that if all the people who work in these buildings drive to work from Acton, it's not really TOD.
 
True, but there are 350 apartments in this as well as the lab space. I agree with most on here that the architecture overall is bland, and it could have been integrated into the adjoining neighborhood better. But I hope that new developments can happen near transit stations without concerns raised that they don't match the old buildings and streets nearby.
 
Cool that they kept this memorial in the area.

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^ that is cool. This area is similar to North Cambridge where I grew up with its legacy of industrial/commercial buildings adjacent to and somewhat mixed in with the residential neighborhoods, going back to the 19th century. I know that flies in the face of today's thinking of having neat little pristine 100% residential streets, which I think is just an attempt to mimic suburbia. The city I grew up in was a diverse mix of residential, commercial and industrial, sometimes on the same block. That's why all the concern about developments like this being out of scale or incompatible with the adjacent old neighborhood baffles me. Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and several of the other inner cities have a rich legacy of mixed land use. This type of development is just a continuation of that diversity.
 
Charlie_mta said:
^ that is cool. This area is similar to North Cambridge where I grew up with its legacy of industrial/commercial buildings adjacent to and somewhat mixed in with the residential neighborhoods, going back to the 19th century. I know that flies in the face of today's thinking of having neat little pristine 100% residential streets, which I think is just an attempt to mimic suburbia. The city I grew up in was a diverse mix of residential, commercial and industrial, sometimes on the same block. That's why all the concern about developments like this being out of scale or incompatible with the adjacent old neighborhood baffles me. Boston, Cambridge, Somerville and several of the other inner cities have a rich legacy of mixed land use. This type of development is just a continuation of that diversity.
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I don't mind the use or the scale, I just think it looks ugly, boring, and cheap.
 
You are underestimating how popular that edge of Somerville/union square is with young engineers+scientists. The neighborhood is almost entirely professionals priced out of Cambridge at this point. There will be a LOT of people walking to work here.
 
Maybe I’m being a little bit picky here, but I’m not convinced Boynton Yards will work that well without a footbridge over the tracks. It’s like double the walking distance without one.
 
DZH22 said:
I have to think those lab heights don't include mech, which means 2 more of them should eclipse 200'. Building 1 definitely looks taller than 133'!
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It's 133' to the top of the highest occupied floor... PH1 is at 142'-6" with grade being 9'-6".
Tippy top is approx. 168'
Not sure why it's building 1. It's always been building 2 on the docs. But, whatever. It got built first, so it's building 1.
Oddly enough, the leaders are actually pointing to the low roof for height, so they are accurate where pointing. So, 2 levels of PH on building 2 adds 35-40 to 185'. Definitely over 200'.
 
Dr. Rosen Rosen said:
Maybe I’m being a little bit picky here, but I’m not convinced Boynton Yards will work that well without a footbridge over the tracks. It’s like double the walking distance without one.
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On Apple Maps it shows it as an 8 minute walk. You can’t really ask for a transit stop closer than that. It definitely would be nice to have the ped bridge go right to the front door, but an 8 min walk is definitely well within the means of the majority of people. I don’t think it will be an issue at all.
 
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