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

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I have to wonder, if Vornado hadn't demolished the 1905 building what the current plans would be. Since in the new plan they are restoring the Burnham in all its glory, I would think they would have done the same to the 1905 building, which would entail a diagonal tower through shoppers park or something. Or they might have torn it down anyway.

(I'm strongly against facadectomies, so as far as I'm concerned using the 1905 buildings facade was a cruel joke, I'm glad they demolished it.)
 
kz1000ps said:
Completely agree. And thanks to Datadyne for pointing out how much the old rendering looks like Atlantic Wharf -- it makes me dislike the old design even more.
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I agree that the 2nd rendering is more like Atlantic Wharf, for both better and worse. Older design had better street level presence, facadetomies included. The latest design appears more sleek and vertical. However, my quibble with the latest iteration is that I expect the street level will be more "W Hotel" than Atlantic Wharf and on the balance I'd take Atlantic Wharf any day.
 
davem said:
I have to wonder, if Vornado hadn't demolished the 1905 building what the current plans would be. Since in the new plan they are restoring the Burnham in all its glory, I would think they would have done the same to the 1905 building, which would entail a diagonal tower through shoppers park or something. Or they might have torn it down anyway.

(I'm strongly against facadectomies, so as far as I'm concerned using the 1905 buildings facade was a cruel joke, I'm glad they demolished it.)
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You are all wrong on this one. Vornado did not tear down the 1905 facade. Vornado's project would have retained it as well as done a complete rehab of the Burnham like the current proposal. Millenium insisted that the project could not be built with the 1905 facade preserved, obtained approval to remove it, and tore it down.
 
dirtywater said:
You are all wrong on this one. Vornado did not tear down the 1905 facade. Vornado's project would have retained it as well as done a complete rehab of the Burnham like the current proposal. Millenium insisted that the project could not be built with the 1905 facade preserved, obtained approval to remove it, and tore it down.
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A building is more than the sum of its parts, especially when there is only a single part left.

2 facades =/= building


Also IIRC, they were going to demo even more of the Burnham.
 
I am all for preserving old facades, but the 1905 facade would've looked really out of place on the new design.
 
davem said:
A building is more than the sum of its parts, especially when there is only a single part left.

2 facades =/= building


Also IIRC, they were going to demo even more of the Burnham.
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I have no idea what you are getting at in the first part of this post. I was simply setting the record straight: Vornado was going to retain the 1905 facade; Millennium had no intention of doing so and did not.

Second, you are wrong about more demolition of the Burnham by Vornado, unless you are referring to the interior where an atrium was going to be created on the upper floors that would have been converted to hotel use, with interior rooms overlooking the atrium. The skylight on the roof would have been enlarged and restored. The Burnham was to receive a complete rehab as in the current proposal, as required by the Landmarks Commission. The Burnham is after all a designated landmark and therefore protected from demolition.
 
The City insisted that the 1905 facade be retained. It presented an enormous wrench in the works. Everyone on the team was hoping it would fall down when the surrounding buildings were demoed because of the design difficulties it presented to the new tower. Millions were spent engineering and constructing it's support system. All for naught.
 
Interior fit-out is well under way on upper floors of Burnham Bldg. Framing/steel stud walls are going up and sheetrock is arriving on site.
 
There goes the core. I feel like the guys from batman should just be there and sing the 'rise' song for the next 18 months.
 
What about the core? I think you're confusing the headhouse with a core?
 
After following this website for 6 years I finally decided to join, love everything about it, this is the project i'm more excited about.
 
HI Jescobar....hope you post your observations often and boldly....and don't let anyone discourage you! As for the the foundation of the new tower: that's the kind of hole in the ground I like!
 
Padre Mike said:
HI Jescobar....hope you post your observations often and boldly....and don't let anyone discourage you! As for the the foundation of the new tower: that's the kind of hole in the ground I like!
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I do love a good hole...
 
Welcome, Jescobar!

Looking at 02124's pictures, it appears excavating is more or less complete and that they're flattening the bottom of the hole. Hopefully a foundation pour will be coming in the next few weeks!

010_zpsaeabf03f.jpg
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^ you can see the rebar for the flat slab beginning to be laid in that pic too.
 
The view from the upper floors of MGH is really good for seeing all of the downtown cranes rising up
 
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