Motor Mart Tower | 201 Stuart Str. | Park Sq | Boston

I appreciate the addition of trees along Stuart St, they'll help to green up a rather drab streetscape. I also think the modified design is a winner, if a bit squat.
 
stefalarchitect said:
Now it looks like One Dalton's cousin, at 1/3 of the height it should be (with those design proportions, not because WE NEED MOAR HEIGHT)

Should've just changed the street level a bit and built it based off the last proposal...
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Totally agree - there’s a lot of lines in it that really need more length - as is, they only serve to make the building look stubby. I can live with this but it could be tweaked.

We have the same issue with the building that went up next to Jacob Wirth’s... would’ve looked much better as a taller building.
 
Oh wow they listened to the people who said the alternate was better. The way it was before where the top half was all glass looked weird on the art deco base. This design with the vertical lines continuing all the way to the roof looks much better. Win!
 
Those proposing another 100-150 feet for this 310 foot building might want to do a shadow study for the Public Garden, which, IMO, is even more sacrosanct than the Common. Any shadows from a 450 foot building that might affect the Tiffany windows in the Arlington St church might be too early in the morning to be objectionable, but those windows put the kibosh on a building proposed by one of Menino's favored developers.

Rule of thumb I use is that a >600 foot tower on the SW corner of Harbor Garage cast a shadow on Long Wharf at the end of October, which is verboten.
 
I have always thought that this was the perfect location for the tallest building in the city. I get that it is an impossibility because of the shadows involved. I must say though that given its location, the building there should absolutely NOT have a parking garage at its base. I understand the historical significance of the garage, but please, it is a garage plain and simple. This place was at one time a portal into the city and geographically fits perfectly in linking the skyline. This deserves a world class interpretation of the location, not what has been offered up to this point.
 
The bird’s eye view looks like they were rendering a new tower and forgot to delete the Motor Mart model.
 
www.bostonglobe.com

The Motor Mart Garage will get a glassy new tower on top - The Boston Globe

The BPDA board blessed plans for a 310-foot building atop the garage on Stuart Street, next to the Park Plaza Hotel.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com


random Q: can anyone show me a graphic explaining what the Midtown Cultural District is vs Theater District, Bay Village, Chinatown, etc.... It all seems to warble--and i'm not sufficiently versed about what the actual neighborhoods are. Or if the average Bostonian even knows.
 
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odurandina said:
www.bostonglobe.com

The Motor Mart Garage will get a glassy new tower on top - The Boston Globe

The BPDA board blessed plans for a 310-foot building atop the garage on Stuart Street, next to the Park Plaza Hotel.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com


random Q: can anyone show me a graphic explaining what the Midtown Cultural District is vs Theater District, Bay Village, Chinatown, etc.... It all seems to warble--and i'm not sufficiently versed about what the actual neighborhoods are. Or if the average Bostonian even knows.
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Pretty awesome they are removing about 1/3 of the current garage capacity. Any project that results in a net decrease in parking downtown is a win on that front!
 
#bancars said:
Pretty awesome they are removing about 1/3 of the current garage capacity. Any project that results in a net decrease in parking downtown is a win on that front!
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They are hardly removing parking to satisfy someone's fetish for small numbers of parking spaces -- when you build "onatop" [anybody remember the James Bond villeiness of that name] of an existing structure -- you have to make some accommodation to support the new construction

This is a significant tower that they are plopping down on an old garage -- I'd expect some loss of spaces for the structure, then there are to be some retail spaces and then elevators, etc.
 
Im glad they chose this tower design also, I think it looks much better with vertical strips that go all the way to the roof vs half way like before. It makes the tower match the vertical lines of the base much more having less glass and vertical stripes are also an art deco design element. I still think it kind of looks a bit weird, but definitely better than it was.

Heres the alternates that they had the choice to choose from:
stick n move said:
To me this alternate is by far the best version. The base is all vertical lines of limestone with glass inbetween so I like that continued to the tower. Its simple but elegant. I think understated mates up with the base the best. Especially when the up close renders show the detailing in the panels matching the garage when youre close enough to the tower to see.


“Simplified and extended”
https://postimages.org/
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stick n move said:
I like it a lot too.

“Extended”



“Simplified” is trash imo


I think “simplified and extended” and “extended” are both MUCH better than what they have proposed now.

I think I agree with Suffolk and like “extended” better now just cuz the diagonal cuts at the top of the tower create a pretty striking crown. The longer vertical lines make it seem taller too imo.
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That was once the world's largest parking garage? Interesting...
 
Well, we gained a 310' and lost a 284' tower & 254' tower
all within a few hours, for a net loss of 228'....
Jeez.
 
I wonder if they will rework all the ramps in the garage, which were designed for Model T and A era cars: narrow, steep, and tight turning radii. Anyone here with an SUV ever try to park in there?
 
Life Coach Mike said:
I wonder if they will rework all the ramps in the garage, which were designed for Model T and A era cars: narrow, steep, and tight turning radii. Anyone here with an SUV ever try to park in there?
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I would rent small Mazda 3 cars from Hertz and all I could think to myself is how many 1970s Cadillac Devilles, Lincoln Continentals and Delta 88s got scratched trying to navigate that garage.
 
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