Northeastern eyes dorms

It looks pretty awful. I always felt that these towers were highly derivative of (and nowhere near as imaginative as) Stephen Holl's Simmons Hall at MIT. The cladding kills this project. If the finishes were of the quality of what you find on Bill Rawn's buildings at Northeastern, I might feel differently.
 
Ugliest building in Boston. Even the Gov't Center garage has an arguably interesting design. This is half assed at best and a giant middle finger to Roxbury at worst.
 
Good to see you using your camera, castevens. I know you're busy, but you need to contribute more!

--

I've already said my piece on this building, but boy... talk about getting a beating from the ugly stick.
 
I agree it is extremely ugly but you know what? The outside doesn't matter (well it does but..). If the inside is cushy and nice then I would love to dorm there next year.
 
I guess I'm the only one here that (sorta) likes this building. Sure, its ugly as all hell, but its big and bold and (for its area) it makes a statement. If this got built downtown or in the Back Bay I'd be mortified, but for where it is, I give it a pass.
 
DarkFenX said:
I agree it is extremely ugly but you know what? The outside doesn't matter (well it does but..). If the inside is cushy and nice then I would love to dorm there next year.
Click to expand...

I went on the tour of this place in the summer and may be going on another tour in a couple weeks. Something that stands out about the dorm and will stand out to NU students when the place finishes is the attention to detail the school is putting on the interiors. I've been in more than half the residence halls at Northeastern, and none of them compare to the amount of square-feet per student that are in the singles here. The ground floor will have a state-of-the-art dining hall (largest @ NU if I'm not mistaken) with its own Sushi Bar, not to mention the restaurants NU is trying to lure (Panera, Jamba Juice, Johnny Rockets, Frudruckers...).

It may appear as a boo-boo on the skyline to many of you, but to the average NU students I've spoken to there is great enthusiasm for this place and the "cushy" environment it will have to offer.

Oh, and need I mention the LEED Gold-Status that the school's seeking on the building? While aesthetics matter to some degree to the school, NU is making a conscious effort to green its buildings and make all new campus buildings LEED-certified. Personally, I'd rather live in a boxy, dreadful-looking sustainable dorm than an aesthetically-inspired, non-environmentally friendly apartment.

To each their own.
 
I don't mean to belittle the whole LEED greening trend, but to not seek certification of some kind in today's climate (pun somewhat intended) would be PR suicide. Call me Captain Cynical, but I see it as a keeping-up-with-the-joneses kind of game that just happens to produce beneficial results.
 
kz1000ps said:
I don't mean to belittle the whole LEED greening trend, but to not seek certification of some kind in today's climate (pun somewhat intended) would be PR suicide. Call me Captain Cynical, but I see it as a keeping-up-with-the-joneses kind of game that just happens to produce beneficial results.
Click to expand...

And yet BU stated just a few months ago that they have no plans to attain LEED for the new STuVi2 because they say its a waste of money.

...

dshoost88, if you do tour, could you take some interior shots for us?
 
kz1000ps said:
... to not seek certification of some kind in today's climate ... would be PR suicide ... I see it as a keeping-up-with-the-joneses kind of game that just happens to produce beneficial results...
Click to expand...
...and modest ones at that.
 
jass said:
And yet BU stated just a few months ago that they have no plans to attain LEED for the new STuVi2 because they say its a waste of money.
Click to expand...

Well then BU (which includes an engineering school) needs to get it's head out of it's ass, because building in a major metro downtown area with mass transit will almost guarantee that your building can be at least Leed Certified with very minimal cost adds which are mainly the registration and review costs associated with the LEED program itself.

That said. Belittling the LEED program is not a bad thing, but the LEED program itself is not a bad thing either, it just needs some work. Right now LEED is kind of a joke, but at least it is working in the right direction.

I do take my hat off to NU for investing the money in a potentially Gold certified building as going for Gold or Platinum level can be a pretty significant premium to the project.
 
Does anyone have new pictures of Parcel 18, or whats going on with GrandMarc
 
It looks like they are doing test borings for the new dorm on St Botolph.
 
yesterday from Milton kinda of hazy!
037.jpg
 
1/17:

img4868ee5.jpg


img4870mu3.jpg


img4871ro7.jpg


img4873id4.jpg


img4874ce2.jpg


img4876ts0.jpg


I like the massing from this vantage point:

img4877dq0.jpg


img4878fs9.jpg


img4879hr9.jpg
 
Seems like there is a lot of work to be done if this is to open in August.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top