Lyra (née The Huntington) | 252/258/264 Huntington Avenue | Fenway

Will this building cast shadows on Symphony Hall?? That's a serious question since we have pastors and residents worried that the proposed Back Bay Station high rises will cast shadows on their churches.
 
atlantaden said:
Will this building cast shadows on Symphony Hall?? That's a serious question since we have pastors and residents worried that the proposed Back Bay Station high rises will cast shadows on their churches.
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Maybe you're being sarcastic, but if not: I don't see why it would matter to have shadows on Symphony Hall. For churches, I get it, the shadows would potentially block sunlight from coming through the stained glass windows. That's not my fight, I don't attend those churches, but I get the concern.

But a symphony hall? There's no windows into the performance hall, and most performances are at night anyhow, so what difference would shadows make? I realize there are some windows into the upper parts of the building, but I don't recall ever being able to see them as a visitor. I don't get the concern. Please explain. If it was sarcasm, OK, sorry to have asked.

ETA: Ach, wait, they opened up those clerestory windows up top to the concert hall, didn't they? I don't think I've seen them open, but now recall - and confirmed via search - that they opened them up a few years ago.

So I guess there is some shadow point to be made. During the relatively few daytime concerts. Not sure if I'm swayed yet.
 
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West said:
Maybe you're being sarcastic, but if not: I don't see why it would matter to have shadows on Symphony Hall. For churches, I get it, the shadows would potentially block sunlight from coming through the stained glass windows. That's not my fight, I don't attend those churches, but I get the concern.

But a symphony hall? There's no windows into the performance hall, and most performances are at night anyhow, so what difference would shadows make? I realize there are some windows into the upper parts of the building, but I don't recall ever being able to see them as a visitor. I don't get the concern. Please explain. If it was sarcasm, OK, sorry to have asked.

ETA: Ach, wait, they opened up those clerestory windows up top to the concert hall, didn't they? I don't think I've seen them open, but now recall - and confirmed via search - that they opened them up a few years ago.

So I guess there is some shadow point to be made. During the relatively few daytime concerts. Not sure if I'm swayed yet.
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Shadows are also an issue for older buildings. The materials they are built out of are used to a certain cycle of getting wet and drying out--this affect brick and mortar especially. Shadow means that it may take longer to dry out, which can have a negative effect on the building. As far as I know, it's usually something that can be dealt with if maintenance routines are put in place but shadow isn't just about pretty light.
 
45 Worthington is still proposed for huntington st. as well. This one is 99% not going to happen, but still cool to imagine.
 
To simply answer the question, yes, it will cast a shadow on Symphony Hall around the late morning hours. The site is approx. SSE of Symphony Hall, but both are at the 50 degree tilt of Huntington.
 
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datadyne007 said:
To simply answer the question, yes, it will cast a shadow on Symphony Hall around the late morning hours. The site is approx. SSE of Symphony Hall, but both are at the 50 degree tilt of Huntington.
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Thanks and I was just getting ahead of some of the shadow arguments that people will probably use against this building being built since not only trees and shrubs seem to be in danger from shadows but now buildings as well. Estyle brings up an interesting fact about shadows on brick though bricks do need, from time to time, to be repointed from time to time just due to basic environmental weathering. And yes, I was being sarcastic in my original post.
 
atlantaden said:
Will this building cast shadows on Symphony Hall?? That's a serious question since we have pastors and residents worried that the proposed Back Bay Station high rises will cast shadows on their churches.
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Before you posted this i was thinking of the Christian Science folks and what i might say about the afternoon shade over the pool and trees:

"The trees in Post Office Square and Bryant Park are doing fine. Your park is nice, but it isn't helped by that hideous brutalist tower soaring over it. i think you get rid of that and your park will be spectacular. 264 Huntington will bring more people to the area.... Win!"
 
Literally no one has complained about the shadows this building will cast so why are we working ourselves into a later over imaginary concerns from imaginary people?
 
found5dollar said:
Literally no one has complained about the shadows this building will cast so why are we working ourselves into a later over imaginary concerns from imaginary people?
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It's kind of like how you get that phantom feeling that your cell phone is going off in your pocket even when it's not even in your pocket. We become conditioned.
 
PNF is posted (pdf). The Globe has a brief write-up.

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I had not previously realized that the Huntington Theater will get a portion of this new building's first floor lobby, plus a pretty large portion of the second floor for event space. Maybe it was in previous renders / posts / articles and I missed it, I don't know. But now I see that the theater will end up owning their existing building outright, and will only be paying $1 for a 99 year lease on the new lobby/event space in the new building: this looks like a really great outcome for the theater. Very savvy move by the developers.

As for the design overall, I'm about 90% really enthusiastic about it, and can live with the fact that I'm maybe 10% short of being completely on board. I could sort of quibble a bit here and there on some aspects, it's not quite completely winning me over, but generally it looks really good. In today's world of architecture I can be happy with that, it's well above the average of new stuff getting built around here, and about a thousand types better than the crappy old mid-rise apartments at the corner.
 
Why is that loading truck on the sidewalk?
 
From a comment in the Globe article:
'RoyFace06/26/17 01:44 PM
Why does every new building have to be massive? Why can't it just be 10 stories high, or 15 stories high? The Huntington Ave/Mass Ave intersection is a weird area architecturally, but shouldn't the neighboring buildings take their cues from Symphony, Jordan and Horticultural halls?"

I take it that Roy Face is not a member of this forum!
 
Spending $70M on the theatre, does that leave room for profit?
 
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