Education First (Phase III) | 10 North Point Blvd | Cambridge

It is a shame. Especially with such a prominent spot from 93 and the commuter rail.

The initial renders had a light and airy feel, and the windows were much more noticeable than the concrete panels. Now, its the concrete panels that take the center stage, and they make the building look much "heavier" and bulky. Not to mention that the blue glass treatment seems like a mistake, to me. Should've gone with a clear finish, though that is more expensive.
 
I feel crushed and oppressed looking at this thing. It's just looks incredibly squat and depressing, and at the same time it also makes me think of the wall-to-wall carpeting smell, lobby fake ficus trees and sounds of elevators in some soul-sucking office complex somewhere nowhere.
 
I know it will never happen and I'm just thinking aloud but how difficult would it be to replace about 30-40% of those grey panels with windows. I presume the inside is mostly open plan and the panels aren't structural.
Failing that, just change the color or tone of about half the panels to kind of bookend Cambridge crossing with the zink building at the other end.
Or is that it, nobody likes it but we'll finish it anyway.
 
Ruairi said:
I know it will never happen and I'm just thinking aloud but how difficult would it be to replace about 30-40% of those grey panels with windows. I presume the inside is mostly open plan and the panels aren't structural.
Failing that, just change the color or tone of about half the panels to kind of bookend Cambridge crossing with the zink building at the other end.
Or is that it, nobody likes it but we'll finish it anyway.
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Can ..but will never happen. Once this thing is occupied it would cost almost as much to rework a facade than to build the whole building because of the loss of function/income plus the re-mobilization, design fees, new materials and actual labor work.

It will never ever be anything other than this until it comes down.

cca
 
cca said:
Can ..but will never happen. Once this thing is occupied it would cost almost as much to rework a facade than to build the whole building because of the loss of function/income plus the re-mobilization, design fees, new materials and actual labor work.

It will never ever be anything other than this until it comes down.

cca
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Thanks for the info. I suppose it's also unlikely there'll be any change before it's occupied. oh well.
 
Ruairi said:
Thanks for the info. I suppose it's also unlikely there'll be any change before it's occupied. oh well.
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No chance whatsoever. Remember. The people who are looking forward to this being occupied are the people who pushed the design into this direction. Architects don't just show up and say "here is what you get, I hope everyone loves it!". There are dozens and dozens of meetings with renderings, animations, models, and drawings that happened before someone signed off on the design and said build it. So. At this point there would be absolutely 0 interest in making a multi million dollar change to anything.

cca
 
It’s a dorm, with a gym and some office space. I struggle understanding the residential programming given the facade.
 
BarbaricManchurian said:
Well, it's certainly not conventionally attractive, but it achieves its purpose of art: it really makes you think. It's offensive, really draws your eye, almost repulsive, a very provocative piece. I'm hoping that the street level is good and salvages it on the urban merits, probably won't in this location though.
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I just laughed out loud reading your comment :)

This building looks like a cross between a prison and a public storage facility. It might actually make the Hult bulding next door look good!

Is there any public body or design commission that we can complain to about this building? The renderings were never inspiring to me, but this is coming out so much worse than I was led to believe when I initially supported the project. If I had known that the building would turn out the way it did, I would not have supported it (and keep it mind I always do factor in that the final building will not look as good as the rendering).

At least in Boston there is precedent for this in the Hotel Commonwealth project.
 
This could actually be fixed relatively cheaply if EF commissions giant murals or patterns to be painted on the grey panels. I can't imagine they are happy with this.
 
datadyne007 said:
This could actually be fixed relatively cheaply if EF commissions giant murals or patterns to be painted on the grey panels. I can't imagine they are happy with this.
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If it's in their budget and fits their programmatic needs, they are happy with it.
 
Now it wouldn't look so bad if they had just kept the window length uniform up the building. Yes I imagine that was done to cut costs.
 
Pleeaase tell me those windows have the protective covering on em still.
 
It looks like a Star Wars set piece.
 
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