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

[wilkee]

For those interested, the branding for Fenway Center was recently released, and it's very nice.

Mubien Brands | Fenway Center - Branding for a science building in Boston

Branding & Editorial Design for Fenway Center, a state-of-the-art development that includes a laboratory, office, retail space...

www.mubien.com

 

[curcuas]

Is it clear when construction is going to start? Lovely branding

 

[Equilibria]

BCDC:

20210223_BCDC Presentation Fenway Center Phase 2 Facade.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com

 

[theSil]

Wow the Brookline Ave facade just keeps getting cheaper.

Previous iterations:

Current:

 

[Massachoicetts]

A little bit of an improvement from the second one which was very sterile.

 

[theSil]

And I know they're afraid of lawsuits, but the walkway could afford interesting views of Fenway if they hadn't opted for "Southern Border Wall".

 

[JumboBuc]

I'm always amazed by the extent to which this thing is smack-dab over the Pike. Most (all?) other air rights projects in Boston are built with their central massings sitting on terra firma and with lower-rising arms and shoulders decked out above the subterranean ROW. This is how Parcel 12, the Hynes Convention Center, the Pru complex, and Copley Place are all designed. But for this project, the entire core is over the highway and railroad tracks below. Maybe only the Clarendon Street Garage at Back Bay Station comes close, but this building is much more substantial than that.

If this thing ends up penciling out, I see hope for the whole stretch from Clarendon St to 93.

 

[DigitalSciGuy]

New design looks like a blend between the two previous iterations. It's a shame we're losing the brick completely and I'm still not a fan of that subtle variation of color and tone in the panels that tries to approximate the character of brick, but this is definitely a step in the right direction!

 

[Charlie_mta]

Not fond of the slanted-in façade above the main entryway. Looks a bit 1950's Vegas-y and doesn't go with anything else in the building or the neighborhood.

View attachment 10593

 

[393b40]

It’s getting worse with each iteration which means its progressing towards being more likely.

 

[Equilibria]

And I know they're afraid of lawsuits, but the walkway could afford interesting views of Fenway if they hadn't opted for "Southern Border Wall".

I think it will be a little better than it looks there, the gray massing of Fenway doesn't provide the best impression of it.

That said, the Red Sox project will block views of all but the light towers from that vantage anyway.

 

[budman3]

2/26

 

[ccole]

BCDC:

20210223_BCDC Presentation Fenway Center Phase 2 Facade.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com

I attended the BCDC meeting and there was really serious pushback on the façade and the public realm both from the committee members and the public. They're eager to get this started ASAP, so I'm guessing changes will be coming pretty quickly. In particular, they were encouraged to make the pedestrian spine (as they call it) more of a destination than a wall with random pieces of art.

 

[mdd]

I attended the BCDC meeting and there was really serious pushback on the façade and the public realm both from the committee members and the public. They're eager to get this started ASAP, so I'm guessing changes will be coming pretty quickly. In particular, they were encouraged to make the pedestrian spine (as they call it) more of a destination than a wall with random pieces of art.

What were the objections?

 

[ccole]

What were the objections?

Most of the BCDC members focused on the pedestrian spine and making it more interesting. For the façade there was some discussion about there being too much going on (there are a lot of different textures and treatments between the two towers and the podium). Myself and another member of the public commented on the lack of activation on Beacon Street once you pass the main entrance - it's a blank, articulated metal wall hiding a mechanical room.

 

[Blackbird]

For the façade there was some discussion about there being too much going on (there are a lot of different textures and treatments between the two towers and the podium).

Uh oh. That doesn’t sound like a critique that leads to a better facade, imo.

 

[navigator4]

Why doesn't the City/State require all over-Pike building be constructed at the same time to reduce traffic jams on the Pike. Luckily, due to COVID, the current work is not creating a disaster traffic wise, but if they wait 6 months for this building, it could.

 

[393b40]

Why doesn't the City/State require all over-Pike building be constructed at the same time to reduce traffic jams on the Pike. Luckily, due to COVID, the current work is not creating a disaster traffic wise, but if they wait 6 months for this building, it could.

Because that's extremely hard to coordinate? Developers move at different speeds for financial and other reasons. You're basically asking for all developers to get to the point where there plans are "Green Light" before the state allows construction... which means if one or two developers are slow then they might sabotage the timing for the other developers.

 

[Equilibria]

Yeah - they were going to try it with Parcels 12-15, but then only Parcel 12 was ready to go and they can't delay it indefinitely while Peebles screws around.

 

[stefal]

any idea when they can rebid it and get peebles out of the mix? crazy they awarded it to that clown

I've seen a lot of this kind of language against Peebles on this board... did I miss something? I'm a really big fan of the proposal they won with...