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

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DZH22 said:
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.



So does the glass on every other building in Boston. This is probably as good as anything else in the city, including the Hancock.



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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DZH -- Exactly

No one paying even part of $37.5M for a condo wants dirty crappy windows
Nor for that matter would someone who just paid $9M for a smaller condo
 
I have to agree with KZ on this one; at least in the pics above, 33 Arch appeals to me more. I fear the Millennium Tower is going to look too sterile and stark from the pedestrian's point of view. Hope I'm proven wrong as this project unfolds.
 
Come on guys, April Fools Day isn't until tomorrow. I feel like I'm in the freaking Twilight Zone over here. What the hell?
 
you are crazy, seriously crazy, if you like 33 arch over this. Also the first of those pics really exemplifies why the TJ Max and garage need to be redeveloped. Does 33 Arch make that impossible?
 
I like the glass a lot. I think the problem is what's being reflected. Especially in that 2nd to last pic.
 
the Roche Brothers is scheduled to open in April according to a post on their FB page
 
DZH22 said:
Come on guys, April Fools Day isn't until tomorrow. I feel like I'm in the freaking Twilight Zone over here. What the hell?
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Yea I don't know what the hell is going on here.
 
This thing is going to become a 2nd Hancock (with its reflective glass facade and massing) and that is freaking epic.
 
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I know I know, it's a tall and transformative project therefore I am not allowed to think a single negative thought about it. I'm so, so, SO sorry.

Buuuuut in all seriousness I do think the quality of glass is well above average, and of course I see it needs a good cleaning. It's good but I wish for a finer grain to the design, something the Hancock has by way of those thick black window frames -- they give it a sense of human scale up close and diminish the farther away you go (a brilliant trick if you ask me) whereas this one is monolithic from both up close and afar. It's nitpicking for sure, and it is only a couple hours from April Fools, but like I said the more I see that glass the more it irks me. We'll see!
 
kz1000ps said:
I know I know, it's a tall and transformative project therefore I am not allowed to think a single negative thought about it. I'm so, so, SO sorry.

Buuuuut in all seriousness I do think the quality of glass is well above average, and of course I see it needs a good cleaning. It's good but I wish for a finer grain to the design, something the Hancock has by way of those thick black window frames -- they give it a sense of human scale up close and diminish the farther away you go (a brilliant trick if you ask me) whereas this one is monolithic from both up close and afar. It's nitpicking for sure, and it is only a couple hours from April Fools, but like I said the more I see that glass the more it irks me. We'll see!
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Height is the last thing I care about. Most people on here know that I prioritize good design, massing, and materials over height any day all day.

I assume you and everyone criticizing the glass haven't seen the way this thing reflects the buildings of Washington St when you're standing on Franklin St. Everyone is freaking out about it reflecting the garage, but it reflects so many other beautiful things including light into DTX.

Edit: I clarified my Hancock post to note that I'm relating it to the Hancock in terms of material and massing.
 
Boston02124 said:
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I'll have to wait for final opinion, but hard to see how this can be an actual negative in any way - including at street level where new public space will open up... in this pic I already like this bright slab of bright blue amongst the old greys and whites... really lifts the whole area, I think.
 
I don't hate it but don't love it.... yet. The jury is still out. It is similar to the hancock, as is often referenced, and that is part of the problem in my humble opinion. I like the Hancock in the skyline but as far as what it contributes to the street level experience, not so much. I fear the same is going to happen here.

I was surprised when the glass started going up on this one. It was more mirror and less transparent than the rendering suggested. I was kinda hoping for really transparent glass which would activate the busy area by allowing pedestrians to view the activity inside. Instead we're getting something more mirrored, more corporate right in the midst of downtown crossing. Don't get me wrong, it's an attractive building in the sense of the hancock, as a unique specimen, especially viewed from afar. However, I'm just not sure it will live up to the hype from a streetscape perspective for downtown crossing.
 
Maybe this is a variation on the old "better than a parking lot" argument, but will it be worse than the retail bunker that sat on Franklin x Washington?
 
commuter guy said:
I don't hate it but don't love it.... yet. The jury is still out. It is similar to the hancock, as is often referenced, and that is part of the problem in my humble opinion. I like the Hancock in the skyline but as far as what it contributes to the street level experience, not so much. I fear the same is going to happen here.

I was surprised when the glass started going up on this one. It was more mirror and less transparent than the rendering suggested. I was kinda hoping for really transparent glass which would activate the busy area by allowing pedestrians to view the activity inside. Instead we're getting something more mirrored, more corporate right in the midst of downtown crossing. Don't get me wrong, it's an attractive building in the sense of the hancock, as a unique specimen, especially viewed from afar. However, I'm just not sure it will live up to the hype from a streetscape perspective for downtown crossing.
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One of the crazier things I've read in this thread. This building has retail that runs all the way around Filene's down the street and into the base of the tower. Add in a stone plaza out front with trees, lighting, benches, and a times square esque set of bleachers and this is nothing like the Hancock. The skinny side of the tower is whats pointing toward washington st. So you walk past the Filenes building, the podium in-between, and that corner of Millennium tower all with retail in them and end at the bleachers.

boston_millennium-tower-boston_6.jpg


vs

150313_hancock_017a.jpg


Not to mention the ground floor of the hancock actually isn't that bad because nonstop retail in every single building would be repetetive and the hancock has amazing mirrored images on its facade in the daytime.
 
datadyne007 said:
Height is the last thing I care about. Most people on here know that I prioritize good design, massing, and materials over height any day all day.

I assume you and everyone criticizing the glass haven't seen the way this thing reflects the buildings of Washington St when you're standing on Franklin St. Everyone is freaking out about it reflecting the garage, but it reflects so many other beautiful things including light into DTX.
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Heh, the first part of my post was meant a bit more tongue in cheek than it came off. Damn sarcasm being hard to convey on the internet...

But I definitely have seen the pretty Washington St. reflections in person, and they are quite nice, but I've also seen a kajillion glass buildings reflect other buildings by now and I guess I'm a bit jaded to the whole effect unless it's an insanely picture perfect reflection like you get with WTC Tower 4.

But like I said, I'm still overall super positive on this one. I don't mean to be a Debbie Downer!
 
kz1000ps said:
But I definitely have seen the pretty Washington St. reflections in person, and they are quite nice, but I've also seen a kajillion glass buildings reflect other buildings by now and I guess I'm a bit jaded to the whole effect unless it's an insanely picture perfect reflection like you get with WTC Tower 4.
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You made your disclaimer, so I'm not going to go at you too hard here, but there are 2 major problems with this.

1. You are comparing a residential tower's glass to an office building's glass.
2. You are comparing MT to possibly the best cladding in the world. (not best TOWER, for instance I would still say JHT is better than 4 WTC, because 4 has its awkward angles.... but that glass..... drool.....)

There are a kajillion glass buildings, but hardly any of them are in Boston, so as overdone as it may be in some places, it isn't overdone here. (yet) My challenge for you is to come back with examples of residential towers that have clearly superior glass to MT.

From my time spent perusing skyscrapercity/skyscraperpage, I feel like most resi glass looks like crap. (cough, Toronto, cough cough, Vancouver, cougggghhhhh, Miami.... *just choked to death*)
 
stick n move said:
Add in a stone plaza out front with trees, lighting, benches, and a times square esque set of bleachers and this is nothing like the Hancock.
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I've been on those Times Square bleachers. It's a spectacular view into Times Square.

Can you tell me what the view will be from THESE bleachers?
 
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