Middlesex County Courthouse Redevelopment | 40 Thorndike St | East Cambridge

[393b40]

But I thought the developers plan was always to remove the jail portion at the top. (?)

Oh maybe. Hmmm... too busy to go look at the documents right now. I suspect the cost of conversion from jail to luxury units is not economically feasible for whatever reason (even under a demolish and rebuild X floor scenario).

 

[shmessy]

Does anyone else actually like the original facade? I think itd be better to instead of anonymizing the tower into just another generic anywhere usa design, to modify it to work as a residential building while keeping the historic and interesting facade.

This could definitely be made to work and would be much more interesting that some generic slapjob.

On which floor did they poison Navalny?

.

 

[stick n move]

In isolation, out of context, maybe. Rising like a dystopian secret police headquarters over a residential neighborhood, not so much.

The fact that it actually was a prison made it even worse/better.

The fact that it was a prison makes it even more interesting. What has more architectural merit, a former prison being turned into a visually interesting, unique and dynamic housing tower, or scrolling through a book of prefab and picking one?

I think in most cases refitting something that can hold on to its past while being updated for the future comes out better. Thats what separates architects. Most generic buildings that go up fade into the background, but tasteful refits almost always stand out because theyre always unique. Cities are better because of their uniqueness. Look at the converse building, or the bolling building in dudley sq... iconic. Compare these to northpoint, no contest.

 

[bigpicture7]

Looks like work on the jail tower has now begun in earnest. Snapped these earlier today:

Project website, with construction updates is: www.fortythorndike.com

Since the developer's description says "20 floors", they are not removing much height from this. Probably just the mechanical portion atop the jail part.

 

[Arlington]

The developer wants the height and FAR that the jail represents. I recall that redevelopment was going to be a gut-and-skin job.

On the upper floors it seems to me you can see lots of metal patches whose job is to hold cracked panels on lest they fall off in chunks.

Reskin the whole thing and never think Twice.

 

[RandomWalk]

I thought the plan involved demo of the jail floors and rebuilding them.

 

[bigpicture7]

...
On the upper floors it seems to me you can see lots of metal patches whose job is to hold cracked panels on lest they fall off in chunks.
...

In the corners especially:

...the sheer size of it, in its location, was always an awe-inspiring oddity...

Indeed; it's really quite a fascinating effect...

 

[bigpicture7]

Interior demo continues to ramp up.

 

[Bananarama]

I'm going to miss the evil red glow of that upper balcony floor. But this can't come soon enough.

Will have an interesting backstory and patch the hole of urban hell in its place. (even if the design is meh)

 

[stick n move]

I wish they could salvage the facade and just upgrade it while keeping the same look. I may be an outlier here but I think as far as brutalist towers go this one is pretty nice and has lots of potential. It doesnt have anything weird going on anywhere its simple, clean, and clearly of a bygone era. With the new facade its really going to look like another anywhere usa tower.

 

[Gameguy326]

I think the biggest issue for why you'd want to redo a building like this is not because of aesthetics, but usability. Working in that building with those tiny slat windows looks awful.

 

[goldenretrievers]

https://www.fortythorndike.com/construction-updates/


February 15 2021

Interior Work:

• Interior abatement work continues during the day and during the second shift evening hours.

Exterior Work:

• Exterior staging to support the future hoist will continue to be installed at the Spring Street face of the building. The scaffolding is currently at the 15thfloor of the building progressing up to the top floor.
• The hoist will begin to be installed and operational within the podium levels.
• Once the staging has been installed, the exterior concrete façade along the length of the hoist will be abated and removed to support the hoist operations. This is anticipated to last a few weeks.
• All State-mandated COVID-19 job site protocols are in place and are diligently monitored by John Moriarty Associates (JMA), the project contractor.
• Trucks exiting the site will begin to use Second Street to Thorndike Street to minimize traffic through the neighborhood.

 

[whighlander]

I think the biggest issue for why you'd want to redo a building like this is not because of aesthetics, but usability. Working in that building with those tiny slat windows looks awful.

Gameguy -- unless this building is somehow special -- and since its not specialized lab space -- just general R&D/office --- it has to work hard to make it desirable
The brutalist features are all net negatives except for some mid 20C architectural purists

as the website says [with my bolded highlight]

Located in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, Forty Thorndike will embark on a transformative journey from vacant courthouse to a vibrant mixed-used development with a community-driven purpose of enhancing the existing residential and commercial area. The ground level will evolve from its current confining Brutalist design into a thoughtful series of activated storefronts and intimate public landscaped space for the enjoyment of the Cambridge community and future residents and employees.

Forty Thorndike’s superior location, with its close proximity to Kendall Square, boasts ready access to the area’s top talent and the world’s most successful companies and institutions.
The upper floors of the reimagined building will offer office space planned for innovative firms that are the pride of the Kendall Square area.
The building will also offer 48 affordable apartments located on the 2nd and 3rd floors with a separate exclusive residential entry on Third Street.

 

[whighlander]

I wish they could salvage the facade and just upgrade it while keeping the same look. I may be an outlier here but I think as far as brutalist towers go this one is pretty nice and has lots of potential. It doesnt have anything weird going on anywhere its simple, clean, and clearly of a bygone era. With the new facade its really going to look like another anywhere usa tower.

Stick -- you do know the history of the tower
It was supposed to have a grand staircase [pre ADA] much like the adjacent Charles Bulfinch designed County Courthouse
Corruption of various forms caused the project to balloon by about a factor of 7 and eventually even the notoriously corrupt Middlesex County -- called a halt
No grand staircase and no low-rise podium

Nothing worth saving about that building

 

[Life Coach Mike]

I always hated that building....saw it being built. It represented the pinched, confining, often one-sided, corrupt justice system for the majority of those prosecuted. And it was a blight on the surrounding neighborhood. If they can't transform it altogether, then don't waste money cleaning it out....tear it down and start fresh.

 

[Charlie_mta]

I always hated that building....saw it being built. It represented the pinched, confining, often one-sided, corrupt justice system for the majority of those prosecuted. And it was a blight on the surrounding neighborhood. If they can't transform it altogether, then don't waste money cleaning it out....tear it down and start fresh.

It should be imploded, not rehabbed. It's kind of a Stalinesque monolith plopped down by bureaucrats onto the fine-grained East Cambridge neighborhood. Get rid of it.

 

[George_Apley]

That ship has long sailed gentlemen. Keeping the building standing was the only way for a dev to build anything significant here. It was already a major struggle to overcome neighborhood opposition as it is.

 

[Rover]

It serves as a big reminder of the futility of NIMBYism. The fantasyland effort to get the building torn down went on for far too long, and now it's payback time! The uglier this building becomes during it's rehab, the more I like it! Turn it into Cambridge's version of the Hurley building!

 

[bigpicture7]

This building never should have been built.
But, now that it was there and abandoned (and gov't owned), who was going to bear the massive cost of demolition and abatement? The gov. was at a crossroads between a cash windfall to sell it, versus a massive cash expenditure to safely dispose of it. What private entity was going to bear the full expense of demo/abatement and then get nothing in return? The conclusion here is the most sound and rational: improve, rather than demo; gain a windfall in the public domain; have a private entity bear the expense of everything; net an overall (albeit not optimal) improvement. It makes sense.

 

[whighlander]

This building never should have been built.
But, now that it was there and abandoned (and gov't owned), who was going to bear the massive cost of demolition and abatement? The gov. was at a crossroads between a cash windfall to sell it, versus a massive cash expenditure to safely dispose of it. What private entity was going to bear the full expense of demo/abatement and then get nothing in return? The conclusion here is the most sound and rational: improve, rather than demo; gain a windfall in the public domain; have a private entity bear the expense of everything; net an overall (albeit not optimal) improvement. It makes sense.

BigPicture -- besides the corruption of the Middlesex County involved in it's initial creation it was also a terrible building for its intended function
The space rented by MA to replace the Cambridge building as a Court House in Middlesex County is a much better environ for such proceedings

I served on the jury in Cambridge in a case that lasted 3 days
Later just before the building in Cambridge closed I testified in an intellectual property case as an expert witness
I also served on the jury in Woburn about 5 years ago [the case lasted almost two weeks] - - Woburn was a much better location overall

The best thing to do with the building in Cambridge:
take it down to the frame and sub-flooring rebuild it as a new tower

The location is actually quite good -- its between Cambridge Crossing and KSq -- a short walk to either
[or alternatively Lechmere Green Line and Kendall/MIT Red Line or even Community College Orange Line]

and the behemoth scale of the building gives companies desiring a big footprint a chance to have quite large floorplates [almost 1/2 acre per floor]