Kenmore Square North (WHOOP) | 533-541 Commonwealth Ave | Fenway

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse, glass is going in. Looks awful.

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Nice to see it's only taken weeks for the brick panels to get stained by the weather. That will surely wear well. :poop:
 
What the hell are the "speed holes" on the balcony for? A place to launch pigeon shit streamers down the wall???
 
Did the BCDC just fall asleep at the wheel on this? Or were they misled? Or...did they not care?
 
cjbski said:
Did the BCDC just fall asleep at the wheel on this? Or were they misled? Or...did they not care?
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I’m going to go with “didn’t care”considering that quality design has been the exception rather than the rule over the last several years. As long as the money kept flowing into the pockets of Marty’s favored constituency I don’t think it mattered much what the finished product looked like.
 
Theres so much high quality precast brick out there these days that they must have had to go out of their way to find whatever the hell this shit is. Even the completely average stuff thrown up around the ground level of every 5 over 1 in JP at least looks like brick. This is a red grid panel. Seriously why line up the seams? Makes no sense whatsoever and if this had just been a run of the mill precast brick facade it at least would have blended in. This is junk.
 
cjbski said:
Did the BCDC just fall asleep at the wheel on this? Or were they misled? Or...did they not care?
Click to expand...

I'm more interested/concerned that this is not the only project Related/Beal has in Boston. Are the materials in Fort Point going to be this bad?
 
Equilibria said:
I'm more interested/concerned that this is not the only project Related/Beal has in Boston. Are the materials in Fort Point going to be this bad?
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For what it's worth, I think what they did at 40 Water was pretty cool. I mean, it's awkward right where the new glass box juxtaposes against 40 Water's original Beaux Arts crown, but other than that I think it's visually arresting. Also, what they did at Converse/Lovejoy Wharf is pretty awesome in terms of the building's new presence and the new public walkway wrapping around it, no?

That said, as noted by many above, this is horrifying. Dull, bland, drab, sterile, monotonous, utterly devoid of personality--is there an insult we can hurl at it that doesn't stick?
 
Related was at the top of my list of "good" developers (oxymoron) until this went up. They have in-house designers and have a great track record of well-designed buildings in Boston, until this garbage.
 
stefal said:
Related was at the top of my list of "good" developers (oxymoron) until this went up. They have in-house designers and have a great track record of well-designed buildings in Boston, until this garbage.
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It's hard to imagine the same folks who brought us Lovejoy Wharf are bringing us this (if I am correct in that assumption that it's the same folks?)...
 
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