Liberty Mutual Tower | 157 Berkeley Street | Back Bay

[tobyjug]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Multi-tenant.

 

[ablarc]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Current headquarters:

I'd much rather they demolish their dull current buildings and start over. Leave the block in question alone.

Not so dull, imo. A decently-handled example of Depression Classicism. This whole part of town has a certain consistency. Old Hancock is the pivot. I'd hate for this area to lose its character ... and so would Mussolini.

 

[statler]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

And if we've learned anything from WWII it is, "Don't upset Mussolini!"

 

[itchy]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Not so dull, imo. A decently-handled example of Depression Classicism. This whole part of town has a certain consistency. Old Hancock is the pivot. I'd hate for this area to lose its character

Don't worry; it will.

 

[czsz]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I wonder what a private company saw in "Depression classicism".

Industry was fanatically against Roosevelt in the 30s and frequently compared him to totalitarians even more ferociously than the tea party zombies do to Obama today. I'm surprised there was no attempt to point out the similarities between the new buildings in DC and those in Rome or Berlin, or to build in a style that expressed a different philosophy.

When the Cold War got in full swing, the battle between International Style and Stalinist Neoclassicism broke out for that very reason.

 

[kz1000ps]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Not so dull, imo. A decently-handled example of Depression Classicism. This whole part of town has a certain consistency. Old Hancock is the pivot. I'd hate for this area to lose its character ... and so would Mussolini.

I agree the consistency is nice, but at the very least I wish LM would replace those awful '70s windows; they really kill its mojo.

So can we get rid of the addition behind it? That thing has no redeeming architectural or urbanistic qualities...you can tell it was built in the 50s because of how prominent a role the car plays in its site plan. But that lot it sits on is well over an acre and would be perfect a good ol' Boston Stump. I know, I know, keep dreaming...

 

[ablarc]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I wonder what a private company saw in "Depression classicism".

It projected power and permanence, and it wasn't too costly.

Mussolini liked it for the same reasons. He must have provoked a building boom; Italy is full of buildings in that style, And they work well urbanistically.

 

[tobyjug]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Mr. Churchill did a nice job designing it.

 

[ablarc]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

^ Being in Pennsylvania, however, he didn't know much about the site (or the political ramifications of his decisions, for that matter).

 

[tobyjug]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

It is a nice example of its type.

But the wing in the back along St. James, with its "employee of the month" Ford Country Squire executive type polyester 3 piece suit wife and kids waiting with martini glass surface parking is amazing.

 

[PlanBoston]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

The Benjamin Franklin Smith printing company building and the Salvation Army building on Columbus Ave will be torn down according to press release but the building on the corner of Stuart Street and Berkeley Street will remain;

It would be nice to see some creative thinking here, instead of just a rubber stamp from the BRA because Menino is all for this one.

Why not keep the Salvation Army building and build a slim 45 story tower on the parking lot / BFS building site? It would have frontage on both Stuart and Columbus, and you could even put a green roof garden on the existing Salvation Army building with access from semi-public space in the new tower. Liberty could build a landmark with the same sq. ft. as the block eating stump they are proposing, and the city would get a nice addition to the skyline. Win-win.

 

[ablarc]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

^ Makes too much sense. Can't sell it to the NIMBYs.

 

[bostonbred]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

And if we've learned anything from WWII it is, "Don't upset Mussolini!"

This being the TRUTHEST things being spoked here.. bACBAY PEeples and the intrnationalist plACEe . So. DUcE feels at HOME. AND.http://www.nyc-architecture.com/ARCH/Notes-Fascist.htm

with BIG avenuus must having the BIG parades

 

[bosma]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Not a bad idea, but two potential issues:
1. Is the deck the Hancock garage was built on (and the garage itself) physically capable of handling the load from 5-6 more floors?
2. What are the traffic implications of doubling the number of cars entering/exiting the handful of ingress/egress points?

1. From what I have seen (i am not an architect or engineer) the hancock garage is not built on a "deck", the supports for the garage go directly to the ground, so if you demolish the garage there would be no "deck" to build on.


-The more parking garages in the area the better, spread the vehicles out throughout backbay and track will be better.

-As said in previous posts construction projects are being considered from the area all the way to Neimen Marcus. Would be great connect this building via skywalks to Copley/Prudential!! (not to prevent pedestrians from walking on street level but as another option)

-Would be great to see the masspike uturn built as part of this or any project in the area.

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

1. From what I have seen (i am not an architect or engineer) the hancock garage is not built on a "deck", the supports for the garage go directly to the ground, so if you demolish the garage there would be no "deck" to build on.

The Hancock Garage was built over the Pike. Air rights projects are supported by vertical caissons, or slurry walls, or sheet piles, etc . . . the "deck" is the horizontal structure being supported by those vertical supports. In either case the engineering isn't actually all that different from a normal large building. You set bearing piles into bedrock (or friction piles into glacial till if bedrock is too far down). Then you build across the top. That's the "Deck". Either way you've still got to adress whether or not the vertical load on the piles (or the vertical and horizontal loads on the existing garage) can handle several hundred more cars.

 

[kennedy]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

This building here...

...was designed by these guys, then.

What a nice, little garden.

Wait! Is that a car I see?

Oh, God no! The horror!

 

[itchy]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Yeah... I'm pretty certain this project is going to be a net negative for Boston. Par for the postwar course, that is.

 

[bosma]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Wait! Is that a car I see?

Oh, God no! The horror!

How did the car get in the bushes? Oh must be handicapped parking right!?! Or CEO parking!

 

[ledjes]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Yeah... I'm pretty certain this project is going to be a net negative for Boston. Par for the postwar course, that is.

Please explain, Itchy. This is a new project that brings hundreds of jobs in construction, engineering and design (industries that are tanking right now), keeps a major company headquartered in Boston, brings over a thousand permanent jobs into the city, removes a parking lot, adds to the density, adds to the city's tax revenue...how does this translate to a "net negative for Boston"?

 

[PlanBoston]

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Please explain, Itchy. This is a new project that brings hundreds of jobs in construction, engineering and design (industries that are tanking right now), keeps a major company headquartered in Boston, brings over a thousand permanent jobs into the city, removes a parking lot, adds to the density, adds to the city's tax revenue...how does this translate to a "net negative for Boston"?

I believe itchy's point is that we are likely to end up with another architectural black hole. The city will lose good buildings and get the office equivalent of a wal-mart. Think One Marina Park Dr. repeated on Berkeley St.