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

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I'm guessing it has to do with construction economics, similar to economy vs. first class in an airplane. As you go up the floors, the market price per square foot increases. The increased price allows for higher construction costs per unit (if you consider the building price fixed, then higher ceilings = higher cost per unit). This is similar to an airplane where the higher price of a first class ticket allows the first class seat to take up 2-3x the space of an economy seat and still make a profit.

Of course that logic is a bit circular, since higher ceilings would also lead to a higher market price. They must know that wealthier people will be buying the higher floors and thus can afford the markup for increased ceiling heights.

But the question wasn't about higher versus lower floors -- it was specific to Floor 37, having higher ceiling heights than both those below AND those above. An anomaly.
 
But the question wasn't about higher versus lower floors -- it was specific to Floor 37, having higher ceiling heights than both those below AND those above. An anomaly.

My mistake, I missed the above part. That doesn't really make sense.
 
I was browsing some listings a little earlier and it seems as though those on the 37th floor have taller ceilings those both below and above. Any ideas as to what the reasoning is here?

Probably mechanical. Is 37 completely filled with units or is there a mech room carved out? 37 seems about the right place in a 55 story tower to have an interstitial mechanical room for the booster pumps & AHU(s).

Isn't 37 also the level where the City Residences (lower block) transition to the Grand Residences (upper block)? Another possibility is that they had intended 37 to be an amenity floor & instead fitted it out with more units.

Edit: City Residences are 10-32, per the website.
 
Probably mechanical. Is 37 completely filled with units or is there a mech room carved out? 37 seems about the right place in a 55 story tower to have an interstitial mechanical room for the booster pumps & AHU(s).

Isn't 37 also the level where the City Residences (lower block) transition to the Grand Residences (upper block)? Another possibility is that they had intended 37 to be an amenity floor & instead fitted it out with more units.

Edit: City Residences are 10-32, per the website.


37 is a mechanical crossover / plumbing loop floor. Needing more height in the corridors to stuff the mechanicals, the overall height of the floor increased with the cast-in-place continuous slab. That, and MP's use of vertical heat pumps (ductless) the residents on this floor get the bonus of some nice ceiling heights.
 
37 is a mechanical crossover / plumbing loop floor. Needing more height in the corridors to stuff the mechanicals, the overall height of the floor increased with the cast-in-place continuous slab. That, and MP's use of vertical heat pumps (ductless) the residents on this floor get the bonus of some nice ceiling heights.

Great info, thank you! I'm a plumbing/FP engineer, but we unfortunately don't do high rise work. Do you happen to know who did the MEP? I had heard Sullivan?

To expand on this to those outside the MEP industry, you can't just have a pipe that runs up & down 50 stories. You have to have a horizontal run/bottom of riser (offset of more than 45 deg) every 20 or so floors with an expansion loop to break up the building into segments to manage the velocity, accommodate hydraulic jump (note hydraulic jump zone offset indicated below), and accommodate thermal expansion.

See Figure 20 in the MA Uniform State Plumbing Code - 248 CMR:

FIGURE 20: Illustration of Offsets of More than 45 deg in Buildings of Five Stories or More in Compliance with 248 CMR 10.15(8)(b) and 10.16(4)(c).

cmr-22-fig20.gif


Hydraulic%20Jump%20-%20Case%20A%20-%20Wright%20Water.bmp

http://krcproject.groups.et.byu.net/
 
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This one was a WSP Flack & Kurtz design. As for contractors: HVAC- EM Duggan, Electrical- K&H Electric, Plumbing and Fire Protection- Cannistraro
 
Great info, thank you! I'm a plumbing/FP engineer, but we unfortunately don't do high rise work. Do you happen to know who did the MEP? I had heard Sullivan?

To expand on this to those outside the MEP industry, you can't just have a pipe that runs up & down 50 stories. You have to have a horizontal run/bottom of riser (offset of more than 45 deg) every 20 or so floors with an expansion loop to break up the building into segments to manage the velocity, accommodate hydraulic jump (note hydraulic jump zone offset indicated below), and accommodate thermal expansion.

See Figure 20 in the MA Uniform State Plumbing Code - 248 CMR:

FIGURE 20: Illustration of Offsets of More than 45 deg in Buildings of Five Stories or More in Compliance with 248 CMR 10.15(8)(b) and 10.16(4)(c).

cmr-22-fig20.gif


Hydraulic%20Jump%20-%20Case%20A%20-%20Wright%20Water.bmp

http://krcproject.groups.et.byu.net/

Datadyne -- just guessing but it seems that about 33 ft should be important somewhere in all that pipe work as that's the height of a column of water equal to typical atmospheric pressure
 
Ok, all this talk about water from qualified experts. My question is...it seems that NYC is unique in that so many of it's buildings, including brand spanking new construction, are topped with a large water tank, literally there are probably thousands of them on manhattan buildings. It just seems so odd to see these tanks, some very old fashioned looking and others just large flat circular tanks atop new highrises. I know it has to do with water pressure and all but it seems like only NYC has these rooftop structures.
 
The Downtown Boston Brass Band is performing on the steps right now. On the steps, not the stage... and people are standing on the stage watching. Very weird.
 
The Downtown Boston Brass Band is performing on the steps right now. On the steps, not the stage... and people are standing on the stage watching. Very weird.

Damnit, if only that half-price ticket booth had been erected there--in order to get the steps to more thoroughly emulate the Times Square stadium seating and thereby achieve DTX's full Manhattanization--you could've marched right up and demanded a full and immediate refund for your exorbitantly priced $0.00 ducat....
 
The Downtown Boston Brass Band is performing on the steps right now. On the steps, not the stage... and people are standing on the stage watching. Very weird.

Hard to know whether to laugh or cry.

Of COURSE they are using the steps as a stage - otherwise their back would be to everyone walking by on Washington st. Obviously this reads as a stage to an experienced musician - if you're raised up everyone can see you too, of course.

In other words, the geniuses behind this took a dynamic place that wants to be the central focus point from many directions and tried to make it a static place that only faces one way.

What a fail. And yet it could do just fine if they let it find its own purpose and use organically (by all means more musicians on the bleachers!)
 
Justluxe.com


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Agentimage

The-Penthouse-Residences.jpg


One or both may be renders, hard to tell. That or very filtered pictures.
 
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