Millennium Tower (Filene's) | 426 Washington Street | Downtown

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whighlander said:
The white is now becoming quite visible along Mem Drive. even west of Mass Ave. -- Glass will start glinting while driving inbound in the afternoon sun fairly soon.
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Yes, nothing left obstructing this one from the river. Even when you are approaching the Longfellow Bridge, it's pushing itself up past Beacon Hill.

Besides Memorial Drive and the Common, I'm curious if it's becoming visible yet from any of the further flung observation areas. I saw no sign of it yesterday from the top of Horn Pond in Woburn, but you also can't see 33 Arch from there either. What about places like Blue Hills, The Fells, Mount Auburn, etc? Anybody see any sign of this yet?

Using the diagrams page on skyscraperpage as a guide, it looks like this is still just outside the Top 100 tallest buildings in Boston (let alone Boston/Cambridge). However, the one right next to it, 101 Arch (green slanty roof and clock) is right around the 75th tallest, so MT is going to be passing a LOT of buildings over the next few weeks!
 
DZH22 said:
Yes, nothing left obstructing this one from the river. Even when you are approaching the Longfellow Bridge, it's pushing itself up past Beacon Hill.

Besides Memorial Drive and the Common, I'm curious if it's becoming visible yet from any of the further flung observation areas. I saw no sign of it yesterday from the top of Horn Pond in Woburn, but you also can't see 33 Arch from there either. What about places like Blue Hills, The Fells, Mount Auburn, etc? Anybody see any sign of this yet?

Using the diagrams page on skyscraperpage as a guide, it looks like this is still just outside the Top 100 tallest buildings in Boston (let alone Boston/Cambridge). However, the one right next to it, 101 Arch (green slanty roof and clock) is right around the 75th tallest, so MT is going to be passing a LOT of buildings over the next few weeks!
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I can just see it poking out from the fourth floor of the Arts and Sciences building at Boston University, right where Granby St meets the alley behind the parking lot on Commonwealth. Here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/12+Granby+St,+Boston+University,+Boston,+MA+02215/@42.3501894,-71.1035282,19z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m6!1m3!3m2!1s0x89e379f063e53817:0x2b346e00e0a3bec8!2sBoston+University!3m1!1s0x89e379f0b219c177:0x42b73b82f9b1d88f
 
From deep in Cambridge - zoom from a cell phone pic = not great, haha. Tried to clean it up in Photoshop a bit though - you can see it is almost taller than the Statehouse:

bYLwDUn.jpg
 
First off, to answer my own question from earlier regarding visibility, I can now confirm that this is visible from 93N! (coming from the South) It's not exactly standing out, but if you know where to look you can clearly see it in that home stretch before going into the tunnel.

Here's a couple pics from Memorial Drive earlier today. Bad lighting but it is what it is.







 
DZH22 said:
First off, to answer my own question from earlier regarding visibility, I can now confirm that this is visible from 93N! (coming from the South) It's not exactly standing out, but if you know where to look you can clearly see it in that home stretch before going into the tunnel.

Here's a couple pics from Memorial Drive earlier today. Bad lighting but it is what it is.
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DHz -- nice telephoto shots -- someone should shoot a time lapse video of the two "concrete depositors"? -- I'm betting you've got Academy Award Documentary material

The other impressive development is the Big Crane:
  • today when the Big Crane is at max vertical -- its getting close to being the tallest element in the downtown view from Mem Dr.
  • soon -- late summer? -- when it tops the 100 Federal [nee First National Bank of Boston] -- then the crane will be visible from everywhere
  • just before the project is finished the crane should be the tallest human-created object in Boston -- easily clearing the antenna on the Pru
 
I have awesome news for MT. The tower has grown more this week than any other week it's been U/C, by a lot. We are talking a full floor and a half since Sunday! It's now 20 floors on the Washington Street side. If they can keep up this pace the tower will absolutely skyrocket. It seems like there's a lot of chatter now about it in the community. People who otherwise do not share ArchBoston's general enthusiasm are joining in our excitement for this project.

Here's a crappy quality cell phone pic from tonight.

 
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I thought that I'd spied the top of the crane in a "weather shot" taken from the top of most likely One Financial -- they panned so rapidly that it was hard to get the reference buildings in the background

Has anyone seen the MT on a news shot -- not specifically aimed at the tower?
 
From today 3/29

Crane from Southie and where the tower will fit into the skyline





Constantly growing from Memorial Drive. You can just make out some glass in the lower left.









 
This will be the most photograph building in Boston in 2015.
 
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Gonna go ahead and prove your point. Also trying to prove the point that this will be visible from all over:
16973815451_3eb0a1052e_b.jpg


Crane visible from North End:
16786996458_03bc6976df_b.jpg


Crane visible from City Hall:
16974692365_9931f5186a_b.jpg
 
I still can't get over how immaculate the glass on this one is. It's going to be a beauty when all's said and done.
 
I was walking around yesterday while coming / going from my car parked on Bedford St. to the Bach St. Mark's Passion at Kings Chapel -- you can see the MT from nearly everywhere in the downtown area as soon as you get far enough away not to be blocked by the Burnham

The most spectacular approach -- walking down Washington from Gov't Center -- it will soon look like another John Hancock

By the way while standing right under it @ DTX -- it looks to be 24 stories to the top of the construction zone
 
whighlander said:
By the way while standing right under it @ DTX -- it looks to be 24 stories to the top of the construction zone
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You're a bit ahead of yourself here. They are finishing forming the 20th floor and part of the core is pushing up into 21.
 
Sorry but this shot solidifies it for me: I'm not a fan of the glass here. 33 Arch on the right has a rhythm and gives you some sense of what's going on inside while this one is cold and blank. And while this style can be appealing (see: WTC Tower 4) you need super high quality glass to do it justice. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very positive on this one but the more pics I see the more the glass seems like a bit of a letdown.

Boston02124 said:
DTX20152075_zpsip0hlsig.jpg
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Yea the glass has some waves/ripples in it and at night you can see how much isn't windows on the upper floors, it kind of looks weird from the outside. These middle floors anyway dont have 100% glass walls.
 
kz1000ps said:
Sorry but this shot solidifies it for me: I'm not a fan of the glass here. 33 Arch on the right has a rhythm and gives you some sense of what's going on inside while this one is cold and blank. And while this style can be appealing (see: WTC Tower 4) you need super high quality glass to do it justice. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very positive on this one but the more pics I see the more the glass seems like a bit of a letdown.
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I have a few counters to this (besides "OMG ARE YOU CRAZY?!?!")

1. The glass looks a lot like the Hancock's. It's going for reflective.
2. The glass is extremely dirty. Lots of cleaning to be done.
3. Much of the glass will have window shades, giving you some more of that "rhythm" you seem to pine for.
4. 33 Arch's spandrel is not that amazing, and while I appreciate that it's a different color for variety, it's not a building I'd like to duplicate on the skyline. (particularly with the added height) Personally, I think 33 Arch looks sloppy if you give it more than a cursory glance. (random diagonal bracing, some of the spandrel has more of that silver than other parts)
5. It looks pretty high quality to me! Have you seen the schlock they build regularly in Toronto, Miami, Vancouver, etc? This is probably higher quality glass than any residential building in any of those cities.

Suffolk 83 said:
Yea the glass has some waves/ripples in it......
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So does the glass on every other building in Boston. This is probably as good as anything else in the city, including the Hancock.

Suffolk 83 said:
.....at night you can see how much isn't windows on the upper floors, it kind of looks weird from the outside. These middle floors anyway dont have 100% glass walls.
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Wait until it's done. Keep in mind that it's a residential. The expectation should be a slightly higher quality (and much taller) version of their 2 towers (Ritz Carlton) down the street.
 
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