MXD II (Google Kendall) | 325 Main St. | Kendall Square | Cambridge

Funny, the ground space retail is Urbanspace, 2 foodhalls in Midtown. The one by Grand Central is claustrophobic and downright scary at lunch time.

The ping pong shots, I swear came from Spin, a local ping pong bar. Lots of fun until some tennis hero needs to show off and ruin it for everyone.

The other common spaces look very WeWorky. Some day, we will regret the medium brown wood / exposed concrete / black painted metal look.
 
From what I can tell, based on the renders, the Sand People will be quite pleased with the design.

Come on man, it's the Jawas not Sandpeople!
 
Oh man, for some reason I thought they were basically going to build on top of the existing building. This is going to be a construction nightmare. Not looking forward to this.
 
Oh man, for some reason I thought they were basically going to build on top of the existing building. This is going to be a construction nightmare. Not looking forward to this.

Indeed, but Kendall already is/will be a total construction nightmare now and for the next 5+ years with the six MIT Kendall gateway projects on two sides of the Marriott (give or take), this one right next to it, and the entire Volpe development behind it.

...brace for impact
 
Indeed, but Kendall already is/will be a total construction nightmare now and for the next 5+ years with the six MIT Kendall gateway projects on two sides of the Marriott (give or take), this one right next to it, and the entire Volpe development behind it.

...brace for impact

Can't get those new Red Line cars fast enough.
 
Full design submission:

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media...ermits/sp315/sp315_dsrvpt1_20190107.pdf?la=en HAS RENDERS

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media...ermits/sp315/sp315_dsrvpt2_20190107.pdf?la=en

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media...ermits/sp315/sp315_dsrvpt4_20190107.pdf?la=en HAS RENDERS

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media...ermits/sp315/sp315_dsrvpt5_20190107.pdf?la=en HAS RENDERS

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media...ermits/sp315/sp315_dsrvpt9_20190107.pdf?la=en

I didn't post all the parts, since some of them are technical and boring. The building is going to have a big Google "G" on the roofline, looks like.

If a mod sees this - there was a request to change the thread title to avoid confusion with the projects over on Broadway. Given the way the building is named in these documents, I'd suggest "3 Cambridge Center (Google) | 125 Main Street | Kendall Square".
 
Why is Cambridge following Boston’s seaport, everything is the same hieght and flat tops .If any city needed a signature tower with a distinctive crown Cambridge is it IMO
 
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Why is Cambridge following Boston’s seaport, everything is the same hieght and flat tops .If any city needed a signature tower with a distinctive crown Cambridge is it IMO

That's what I'm hoping Volpe holds in store. Where are we at with that? SOM is designing the new federal facility, anything else? Hoping to see that start to move soon, as would MIT, who sunk $750 million into the property...
 
I don't like it at all. It doesn't complement the brick buildings next to it in material or geometry, it destroys the cool current lobby, it destroys the cool, old looking area where the current Google sign is, and I have no effing idea what is happening with the retail since those floorplans are just a bunch of squiggles (can someone decipher this?).
 
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04kendallA.jpg




kendallrendering.0.png
 
From a Planning Board meeting last month:

http://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizen...etingID=2373&MediaPosition=&ID=1202&CssClass=

Lots more specific renders. I don't remember Pickard Chilton using this colored pencil style for the Broadway one.

Strange thing: slide 15 clearly shows the end of the word "Eataly" on the facade, but I don't really see how a location there is plausible, particularly given the issues that company has had...
 
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I like the real access to the roof garden being added. Opens up a little light between it and the Marriott as well, as the overall footprint is smaller than the existing structure.
Would like it to be 40 feet taller or shorter than the Marriott however. The render included makes them look very much the same height. Plateau = bad.
 

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