Gov't Center Station Rebuild

fattony said:
Design choices are always relative to the goals and priorities set out by the customer. I'm not saying the designer is an idiot. I'm saying the customer is.
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So let's ask the question: who actually was the customer?


I've been told by MBTA personnel who would know that the BRA was the driver/dictator for the design aesthetic here. So maybe better to say, the customer is "schizophrenic," or "compromised" than an "idiot."

Also, I'm puzzled that no one is critiquing this design in tandem with the Charles/MGH glass box. Aren't they essentially interchangeable--or am I misremembering its look?

And if they are identical-looking, are people not referencing the Charles/MGH glass box because the environmental contexts are just so radically dissimilar?
 
So maybe better to say, the customer is "schizophrenic," or "compromised" than an "idiot."
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It's less schizophrenia and more that this is what happens when you've got to satisfy multiple masters, one of whom is the taste of the entire metro region.
 
Is the lesson here that you shouldn't throw glass boxes at brick bunkers?


The new station looks good.
 
A big ol' Ⓣ mounted way up on a on a pole and lit up with marquee bulbs (like the Paramount theater sign) would have worked to both preserve views and would have great sightlines. Plus you'd get a historic riff on sleazy old Scollay Square.
 
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At least now there's one good looking structure at Government Center.
 
Any chance the rebuild will open early?
 
Arlington said:
Any chance the rebuild will open early?
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I have a hunch this might be the case, as Science Park did a total closure and finished early. It's worth noting the T did change the stickers on the maps and station signage to say "Reopening Spring 2016! Thanks for your patience!" So they definitely have committed to the spring, but they could possibly be overestimating and then come in early to great fanfare.
 
Globe article from the other day said still on track for "Spring 2016" with no other significant new information. I suspect the MBTA is throwing every resource they have into the renovation in order to get it done on time - note that save for the bit of non-ADA work at Oak Grove, there have been no other station reconstructions under way that might compete for resources. That's very unusual - since the ADA was passed in 1990, there were almost always several stations in work simultaneously.

After GC finishes, we're looking at a similar flurry for the last few - Wollaston and Hynes are moving along and may be ready to go when GC is done; Symphony, Boylston, and the B Branch station consolidations are next in the queue, and the BC renovation/move will happen someday. That'll leave only one A-M Line station plus a bunch of surface stops as non-ADA-compliant, and those can largely be ticked off one by one.

One neat tidbit from that article - the platform levels will be getting terrazzo floors color-coded to the lines.
 
The EGE said:
One neat tidbit from that article - the platform levels will be getting terrazzo floors color-coded to the lines.
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The flooring is great news. At least they are not repeating the tile disaster they did at North Station.

Terrazzo lasts a long time!
 
Jeff, What was the North Station tile disaster?
Should it take it's place in the history books alongside the great molassas flood?
 
Randomgear said:
Jeff, What was the North Station tile disaster?
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The tiles are cracking so much you'd think that when Barnum & Bailey comes to town, they run the elephant parade through North Station. To "replace" the tiles, they remove them and patch with concrete flush with the other tiles. It looks horrendous!
 
What is with the construction in the trench that is angled off from the station kiosk? :confused:
 
BostonUrbEx said:
The tiles are cracking so much you'd think that when Barnum & Bailey comes to town, they run the elephant parade through North Station. To "replace" the tiles, they remove them and patch with concrete flush with the other tiles. It looks horrendous!
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Orange and Green Line Stations, totally rebuilt what 10 years ago? Tile floors are a mess.

Not the Train Depot.
 
BostonUrbEx said:
The tiles are cracking so much you'd think that when Barnum & Bailey comes to town, they run the elephant parade through North Station. To "replace" the tiles, they remove them and patch with concrete flush with the other tiles. It looks horrendous!
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Yes, this pisses me off so much every time I go down there. You think they could at least replace it with the same tiles!
 
kafox said:
Yes, this pisses me off so much every time I go down there. You think they could at least replace it with the same tiles!
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They did replace with the tiles in North Station Orange/Green for a while, but stopped about 5 years ago. The whole use of tiles in the design is fatally flawed (the platforms flex quite a bit with the train load). Tiles just pop off again.

Only fix is replace the entire flooring with a more flexible option.
 
My guess is they ran out of tiles or a contract expired or something along those lines. As Jeff said above, it was a very flawed idea.
 
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