Liberty Mutual Tower | 157 Berkeley Street | Back Bay

Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I'm surprised people aren't up in arms over this project. Especially the demolitions.
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Not every building is worth saving. The Salvation Army is no Arlington Building, and isn't it only from the 1950s anyway?
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I'm far more concerned about the Benjamin Franklin Smith buildings. Bye bye, urban fabric.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

palindrome said:
b1777a_liberty.jpg
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Looks like the JFK federal building cut on the bias
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

At least it has windows. Good starting point.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I like it for the most part. I can't tell from the rendering just how far it will extend down Columbus, but I hope it doesn't take out too many additional buildings. The combined footprint of the Salvie building and surface lot is large enough for a substantial new building without calling for demolition further down the block.

That said, it will make the intersection much more interesting. All we need now is Columbus Center and we'd have a really spectacular start to the high spine.

PS: working around the corner, I'll have some fun watching this go up.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Ron Newman said:
Not every building is worth saving. The Salvation Army is no Arlington Building, and isn't it only from the 1950s anyway?
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Yes. It's a post-war building and not a very good one at that.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

This building looks decent. I second the comment in regards to the JFK federal building.

This is better that what's currently there and better than noting. It would have been nice to a little bit taller....say 8 or 9 stories.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

The JFK building, or even 225 Franklin Street:

225franklin.jpg


Either way, it looks to be on par with the mid-'60s stuff.... I'm scared.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

^^The Flatiron shape goes a long way to saving it, but I'm holding judgment until we see better rendering/finished product.

BTW, has this gone through any community review process yet? How long till we hear it is too tall/adds too much traffic/creates to much of a wind tunnel, etc?
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Methinks you guys are overestimating the effects of the flatiron corner -- it isn't that acute an angle, and the rendering distorts (dramatizes) it in a way that the naked eye never could. Look at it this way: have you ever stood at the southwest corner of the Park Plaza Hotel, looked up at its vaguely wedgelike corner and thought "WOW"...?

I hate to be judge, jury and executioner off of one dink rendering, but I see nothing to like here... the flatiron isn't that dramatic, the facade is one precast panel after another (all in the exciting color of beige!) and we're losing how many humanly-scaled buildings to this purported wallower?
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

^^The point it that what distinguishes this from the 60's/70's stuff is that it is :Not A Box:
And that right there is half the battle.

Yeah, it could still suck in a million different ways but at least the footprint won't be dull.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Columbus runs at a 45 degree angle so you may be right that it is a generous slice of pie. The almost "gopher's eye view" helps the looks too.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

We may be losing "human-scale" buildings but it's not as if that block was ever well-traveled. It's a dead zone. Yes, this project could have resolved that problem but it can't be called upon to do something out of its realm.

The street-level blandness is consistent with the blandness heading west down Columbus. The 285 Columbus lofts (w/ street-level CVS) is boring as is the new Bryant condo building next door. And Tent City, further on, ain't much better.

Can we add a BoLoCo?
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Look on the bright side:

a) It's filling a parking lot and building out a parcel to some height.
b) Adding this office space helps kill the market for Druker's murder of the SCL building a block away.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

Valid points, Lurker.

Given that this is an HQ for a time-honored Boston company, any thoughts on the quality of the building materials?
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

This development does not include the the buildings on the corner of Columbus and Stuart (where Viga, Flash's, and an office building are). They are separately owned.
 
Re: Liberty Mutual plans major Boston expansion

I like it, because I am imagining it clad in limestone....my enthusiasm diminishes if it turns out to be pre-cast.

Just as a point of debate, the original flatiron building in Atlanta is also almost as wide as it is tall.

I'm reserving judgement, but so far, I'm in the camp that this is a step forward, not a step back.
 
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