Four Seasons Tower @ CSC | 1 Dalton Street | Back Bay

[DZH22]

3/15 from Waltham

IMG_0603 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0612 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0635 by David Z, on Flickr

 

[DZH22]

3/16 from Woburn. The day the music died.

IMG_0720 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0724 by David Z, on Flickr

IMG_0727 by David Z, on Flickr

 

[BeeLine]

IMG_4118 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4122 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4126 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4130 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4132 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

IMG_4134 by Bos Beeline, on Flickr

 

[393b40]

Wow what an incredibly uninviting entrance for Zuma.

 

[Life Coach Mike]

Wow what an incredibly uninviting entrance for Zuma.

Reminds me of a speakeasy from 1925. But then it may give patrons a sense of exclusivity and privacy!

 

[RandomWalk]

Is that related to the deed restrictions the Christian Science Church placed on the project for alcohol sales?

 

[cjbski]

The whole base of the building is uninviting. They'd better dial up the sidewalk on the main side of the street with some nice trees and pavers or something. Right now the building is very standoffish at the ground level.

 

[kz1000ps]

It looks so unfinished. The main body of it is fine, but the beginning and end are huge letdowns.

Welp I apologize if all these angles have been seen already but this was my first time getting to wander around the South End and Fenway in at least five years, and my first time really getting to suss out this building. Throw in a sun and sky that were absolutely bursting with colors and I got a little trigger happy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[George_Apley]

I agree with your assessment. Despite how exciting it is to see a tower like this go up in Boston, it's a background building that has been shoved front-and-center.

 

[DZH22]

This building definitely looks the best from the West, such as coming in on the Pike or from the Fenway area. Finishing the West-facing windows will make a difference here, as the rest of the glass looks great and the height really shines. Using concrete at the base always seemed like an odd choice, but obviously it's still not fully open yet either. I don't expect those jersey barriers to last forever. The top would benefit from an antenna, which was explored as part of the FAA documentation and hopefully comes to fruition.

 

[HenryAlan]

Using concrete at the base always seemed like an odd choice, but obviously it's still not fully open yet either.

I figure the concrete base is an ode to the brutalism in the plaza. It works okay for me, but this building was never going to be about the street level. It's on a dreary street, serving little purpose other than Uber/Lyft queuing. The excitement of this building for the public is the skyline impact. For people going inside, it's the inside amenities. It is not meant to be enjoyed at ground level or even to be approached on foot.

 

[DZH22]

It is not meant to be enjoyed at ground level or even to be approached on foot.

Actually, if you do approach it on foot, I recommend walking down St Germain. It's a brilliant approach with this looming above the rowhouses. It's a 1 way street coming back towards Mass Ave so you can literally go into the street for pics as you'll always see the cars coming. It's probably my single favorite angle of this building.

Here's a somewhat outdated shot on streetview.

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[JumboBuc]

It looks so unfinished. The main body of it is fine, but the beginning and end are huge letdowns.

I agree with your assessment. Despite how exciting it is to see a tower like this go up in Boston, it's a background building that has been shoved front-and-center.

Agree 100%. The form is interesting, but the details are wholly underwhelming. It basically ended up looking like your standard blue glass curtain wall office tower, albeit with a rounded triangle cross section. I get distinct Atlantic Wharf vibes from it, which I'm pretty sure is not what the designers were going for.

Using concrete at the base always seemed like an odd choice, but obviously it's still not fully open yet either.

My understanding is that once this is done - if not already - the base will be clad in stone. There won't be any concrete visible.

 

[DZH22]

My understanding is that once this is done - if not already - the base will be clad in stone. There won't be any concrete visible.

So you are saying this is not the outer wall we will be left with at the base?

 

[stefal]

So you are saying this is not the outer wall we will be left with at the base?

The base is already clad in the finished stone, I'm fairly certain.

 

[Downburst]

The base is already clad in the finished stone, I'm fairly certain.

Correct. It is clad in finished granite.

 

[shmessy]

I figure the concrete base is an ode to the brutalism in the plaza. It works okay for me, but this building was never going to be about the street level. It's on a dreary street, serving little purpose other than Uber/Lyft queuing. The excitement of this building for the public is the skyline impact. For people going inside, it's the inside amenities. It is not meant to be enjoyed at ground level or even to be approached on foot.

I can't agree with that at all.. The 'excitement' for a few of on this website is the Skyline impact. The excitement for actual HUMANOIDS would be at the living human sidewalk level. Real cities don't look like post-Neutron bomb events.

That "dreary street" NEEDED a life injection. Hell, it is right around the corner from where all the tourists jump aboard the Duckboats - - - what a crap sandwich to serve out of towners. That will go nowhere for Boston's reputation.

A real city is about human life - - Boston needs street level windows and corner diners, pubs, etc...........

 

[DZH22]

Due to its out of the way location, probably 99% of people who see this tower will never see its base. With a building this tall and this visible, I would put the tower's aesthetics well above whether it has a diner or 1st floor windows. This is now the city's 3rd most visible building, and will be featured in sports telecasts, commercials, postcards... Basically, in the world's window-side view of Boston, this building will be noticed.

A similar, but even (way) worse case, is the Federal Reserve. It's distinct and screams "Boston!" even though the base is an unforgiving fortress. It's highly featured in movies like The Departed. 1 Dalton will also be highly featured in due time.

Having proper street activation at, say, the cancelled tower site on the corner of Mass Ave and Boylston Street is much more important than this location will ever be. Not every nook and cranny of the city needs street level activation.

 

[Gunner02]

Those plywood windows are my semblance of pre-covid normalcy. May they stay forever at this point..

 

[bbfen]

It looks so unfinished. The main body of it is fine, but the beginning and end are huge letdowns.

Welp I apologize if all these angles have been seen already but this was my first time getting to wander around the South End and Fenway in at least five years, and my first time really getting to suss out this building. Throw in a sun and sky that were absolutely bursting with colors and I got a little trigger happy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

kz, thanks for the pics and welcome back. Been a while since I’ve seen your terrific photography.