Fenway Center (One Kenmore) | Turnpike Parcel 7, Beacon Street | Fenway

I think this is going to be another "One Marina Park Drive." It is put up cheaply with strange design intent and is very present to begin with, but as the lots around it fill up the architecture becomes less prevailing and we mostly interact with it at ground level.
 
There's the one glimmer of niceness! The space in-between is the only rational, well fenestrated facade. Probably the best for those who live there...
Wonder how leasing is working out for them now.

The rest is still a total pile.
 
kingofsheeba said:
Not yet. I wanna when they’re going to start to deck between Beacon and Brookline.
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I always figured after the City capitualated to not having the air rights parcel the first constructed implied it would never get done, since the developer would now have little incentive to do it since they could build the terra firma parcel first.
 
JeffDowntown said:
That landscaping above the station/Turnpike is one of the nicest uninviting spaces I've seen in a while.
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Hahaha right? I think the same whenever I pass by. One of the loudest places in the area with a chain-link fence separating some nice landscaping... Would never want to spend any time there... I'm surprised they didn't build up a more solid sound barrier wall of sorts. Or they're going cheap and waiting out a neighbor to fill in over the pike... or most likely just went cheap for the sake of it.
 
Bananarama said:
Hahaha right? I think the same whenever I pass by. One of the loudest places in the area with a chain-link fence separating some nice landscaping... Would never want to spend any time there... I'm surprised they didn't build up a more solid sound barrier wall of sorts. Or they're going cheap and waiting out a neighbor to fill in over the pike... or most likely just went cheap for the sake of it.
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They aren't "waiting out a neighbor to fill in over the pike," they are the neighbor to fill in over the pike. That's in the next phase. And if they had put up a solid sound barrier, people on here would for sure complain about how the barrier shows that they aren't committed to the next phase.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

As someone who lives in the (West) Fenway and passes along this site to connect to Beacon, this project is a HUGE improvement for the neighborhood. That might not be so obvious on a "Pike drive-by," but it's very pronounced on foot. This corner used to be the deadest, saddest spot in the whole West Fens + Audubon Circle area. Now it is very far from that. I'm pretty psyched about it.

The cladding is lousy, sure. But the street levels (two of them!) are fantastic, it does a lot for non-auto modes (a new signalized crossing of Beacon!), the massing is great (I'd take this form over some cheap 5-over-1 any day), and the groundwork it lays for future improvements is unlike just about any other project I can think of in recent memory. Of course we all want developers to go all in on both cladding and street level design, but I'd much rather the developer skimp on cladding and invest on the street level than the opposite.
 
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@Jumbo, whaddaya mean we can't demand the developer build the Taj Mahal over the turnpike even though we rarely pass by the site and have none of our own money sunk into the project?!?! That's just crazy talk! ;)
 
JumboBuc said:
They aren't "waiting out a neighbor to fill in over the pike," they are the neighbor to fill in over the pike. That's in the next phase. And if they had put up a solid sound barrier, people on here would for sure complain about how the barrier shows that they aren't committed to the next phase.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

As someone who lives in the (West) Fenway and passes along this site to connect to Beacon, this project is a HUGE improvement for the neighborhood. That might not be so obvious on a "Pike drive-by," but it's very pronounced on foot. This corner used to be the deadest, saddest spot in the whole West Fens + Audubon Circle area. Now it is very far from that. I'm pretty psyched about it.

The cladding is lousy, sure. But the street levels (two of them!) are fantastic, it does a lot for non-auto modes (a new signalized crossing of Beacon!), the massing is great (I'd take this form over some cheap 5-over-1 any day), and the groundwork it lays for future improvements is unlike just about any other project I can think of in recent memory. Of course we all want developers to go all in on both cladding and street level design, but I'd much rather the developer skimp on cladding and invest on the street level than the opposite.
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Yes, I'm very aware of its effect on the area. I live right down Beacon at Audubon and pass by regularly. Of course anything there is a huge improvement.

I've said this before, but as it physically stands, it is still an island. The lot just to the west separates it from the scale of activity and shelter of Beacon. What are the chances of Phase 2 happening within the next 5 years at this point in time, or at all? Even just some clear polycarb screen instead of chain-link to deflect the noise. Something marginally more permanent until P2 goes up that would make the space hospitable.

And this is just where we differ on opinion because I feel very strongly about the massing in the other way (for the tower portion). The little guy and space between? Great, fine, keep it up. It's just really hard to ignore the big brother, both as a pedestrian approaching from Kenmore, or from a car on the Pike. It fails both in massing and more so with its cladding imo. And in truth, it's architectural/aesthetic qualities sully my opinion of it more so than its urban ones. I'm glad it's going up, it just looks like yet another sort of soulless developer block with incoherent character that doesn't suggest quality or permanence of place-making for the area.
 
Remember, there is this project proposed on the other side (right). Should help a bit more, but it will only be complete once the pike is covered. Still this is another important piece. Hopefully ground level is improved upon before built.

 
stick n move said:
Remember, there is this project proposed on the other side (right). Should help a bit more, but it will only be complete once the pike is covered. Still this is another important piece. Hopefully ground level is improved upon before built.
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Yeah, you're right, it's a great urban fill no doubt. I'm just being a bitter ass about the architecture.

You got me calm and happy again thinking of all the development coming true though haha. I really really hope it comes to fruition, it's just hard to see it with the way things are headed.
 
Obviously we aren't the ones paying the freight, but it seems to me that some improvements wouldn't have cost much money to execute. That ridiculous mechanical cover on top, for example ... is that final? It looks worse than a shed on deep discount from Home Depot. It reminds me, not in a good way, of the Reynolds Wrap top to the Kensington downtown, another building built to a price, not to a standard. Little things like this are why people don't trust the BPDA - you'd like to think that the era of Hotel Commonwealth disasters is behind us, but they don't seem to sweat the details when reviewing designs with developers.

Also ... I'm not sure if part of the problem is materials or the assembly/construction thereof. I've seen better panel alignment on a Tesla.
 
I think that if the building over the pike is built it should block many views of mcturd, as youll only see it edge on here, and it will do its part as a background building. Thats really what this facade is it SCREAMS anonymous background building. As it is now its the tallest building around though, so its very very noticeable. It should fade pretty seamlessly into anonymity if the taller pike building is built. If its not built though well be stuck with waterside place on the pike forever.. Yeeesh.

Lots of people seem to hate the shorter building for some reason. Personally I think it looks perfectly fine, I dont get the hate, its far nicer than its bigger brother. If all comes to fruition here though there will be two new buildings on both sides of these 2 buildings. Should make each one less impactful and the impact will instead come from the collective.
 
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