Cambridge Infill and Small Developments

Brad Plaid said:
Not bad. A much better density than what is there now. Get ready for activist yowling though about building on the park.
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There is a new green space terrace of close to equivalent size, and, on the south end, I assume WG Lobby stands for Winter Garden Lobby..
 
That's a good thing. In what's becoming an ever tighter land area a roof garden, though probably privatized, is better than no roof garden. And life science/residential is better than a park that never seems to get much use (though I've never been there at lunch hour.)

There was protest about Google building on part of a roof garden but if anything that smaller garden (open to the public) is more active now than it was before.
 
Smartiro said:
If you are referring to residential tower in third picture that is not it. Here's info on Ames St Residences:

http://www.courbanize.com/ames-street-residential/
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Pretty sure he's referring to the massive lab building across the street from where the residential tower will be build, you get a pretty clear idea where it's located from the "Kendall Center" aerial photo.

Not bad. A much better density than what is there now. Get ready for activist yowling though about building on the park.
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That park sucks, it's always empty. That whole intersection is horrid considering how much use it gets. Development can only improve it, a winter garden sounds like a cool idea so long as it's publicly accessible and visible. Part of the problem with the park is that it looks private and hidden. I've walked by it hundreds of times and frankly I never even knew till reading this thread there was a park there.
 
Boston Properties recently renamed 3/4/5 Cambridge Center after their proper street addresses.
 
Lesley University's Lunder Arts Center:

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The front looks great if only the other sides weren't boring squares.
 
Education First headquarters debuts in Cambridge

By Taryn Luna | Globe Correspondent October 16, 2014

EF Education First is helping to put the “Lost Half Mile” back on the map.

The stretch of former industrial land between Charlestown and Cambridge will soon have a hair and nail salon, a gym, a Hubway station, and a 250-seat bar and restaurant with an outdoor patio overlooking the Charles River. And it’s all inside the international education company’s massive campus.

On Thursday, the company will debut its new 300,000-square-foot building — it cost $125 million — at a grand opening ceremony. The structure is a centerpiece in the redevelopment of an area, now called NorthPoint, that was once dominated by warehouses and rail yards.

Education First’s unconventional complex emphasizes open work spaces and doesn’t have any individual offices. It features a glass waterfall that juts down the middle of the building, streaming natural light inside.

“We’re moving away from people sitting in offices, where they put their heads down in their own work, for a more collaborative space where people can share ideas and experiences and foster new ideas by working together,” said Edward Hult, EF’s chief executive of North America. “It’s fun, and we’re excited about it.”

The 10-story building is also a symbol of business growth at EF, despite a lack of general recognition among many US travelers. The company offers a wide range of educational travel experiences, including domestic and international group tours for students and adults and study-abroad programs. It also operates an extensive roster of English-language schools.

The private Swedish company, which started 50 years ago with three workers, employs 37,000 people in 52 countries. EF operates more than 500 schools and offices around the world and, to date, has served more than 15 million customers.

Executives say the company has doubled its revenues and number of customers over the last five years by capitalizing on the need to speak English in order to compete in a global economy. The company expects 2 billion people to be trying to learn the language by 2020. Next year, EF intends to open at least one school every two weeks in China.

“We’re expanding very rapidly,” said Martha Doyle, chief operating officer for EF Properties, the company’s real estate arm. “International education is something that everyone is interested in right now.”

EF’s educational travel offerings are also boosting its growth, said Carylann Assante, executive director of the Student & Youth and Travel Association, a trade group in Virginia. Global student travel, in particular, has grown into a $30 billon industry, and EF is one of the largest companies in the market, she said.

“EF has grown with the student travel market as parents and teachers recognize the value for their students’ education and cultural growth,” Assante said.

The company’s North American headquarters is also growing. The new building will double EF’s footprint near the Charles River.

The company is also negotiating a public-private partnership to construct a third building on an adjacent parcel occupied by the Department of Conservation and Recreation. That building would probably be shared, serving as the agency’s headquarters and providing space for the company.

The interior of the buildingset to open Thursday was designed by Fiona Kennedy, EF’s global director of architecture and design. It’s rare for a company to have in-house designers, but Kennedy and her team plan all EF offices and schools.

The design is centered around an open staircase that serves the entire building, which features glass exterior walls.

Kennedy designed common spaces — a “living room” on the ground floor, ping-pong tables on another, lounge areas on every other floor, and water bars — near the front of the building to draw employees toward the water views. The windows in one auditorium put Interstate 93 and Storrow Drive on display.

Kennedy was even responsible for the building’s furniture, sourced from all over the world. The bookshelves in the lobby are from Amsterdam. There are extra-high German wingback chairs on the fifth floor, and Italian quilted sofas on the ninth floor.

“The height of the back and depth of the seat, everything is considered and affects how you use that furniture,” Kennedy said. “We tried to keep things as simple and natural as possible.”
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Boston Globe
 
Damn I want to work there! As much as I dislike the overall bland box design the architects obviously put a great thought into the building and the waterfall really works. This might look like something that is going up in the Seaport but it's actually miles ahead of what is down there.
 
I love that their debut is just happening when all company operations have been conducted from the new building since June.
 
davem said:
Not sure how this flew under everyones radar, but its the project next to the busway between Brattle and Mt Auburn streets.

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Future offices of some of the folks currently working out of the Smith Campus Center (formerly Holyoke Center).
 
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