Quaker Lane + Congress Square | Downtown

itchy said:
Why in the name of puck did they commit this senseless act of barbarism?

Is the subcontractor working on the windows a native of Heathen Worcester, where Urban Redevelopment lives on at its worst?
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Why blame a subcontractor? The decision tree goes like this:

  • Investors
  • developer(owner)
  • designer
  • contractor
  • subconstractor

The craftspeople who installed this are the last people to blame. Start at the top and go down.

Lots of choices had to have been made here. Likely energy code. The only way an investor/developer would choose to retain and restore something like this is if a historic commission required it, or if the investor/developer thought that making this change would hurt business. They clearly do not think that their constituency cares about a well crafted historic storefront.

In the end I agree this is a terrible loss. I wish other choices were made.

cca
 
Taking away at what significantly makes the streetwall interesting, overall I'm happy to see the rehab of the buildings in this project, but the loss of the ornamentation is such a shame.
 
Here is a new addition from the backside, within quaker lane itself: the jewel box spilling down into the alley.

I had not seen this in the plans so I was pleasantly surprised.
hKs5Vc6h.jpg
 
reverend_paco said:
Here is a new addition from the backside, within quaker lane itself: the jewel box spilling down into the alley.

I had not seen this in the plans so I was pleasantly surprised.
hKs5Vc6h.jpg
Click to expand...

Ok that's really nice.
 
i'm confused. Why not just put glass over that classic pre-existing framework or duplicate it in some way. it's hard to tell exactly what they did.
 
reverend_paco said:
Here is a new addition from the backside, within quaker lane itself: the jewel box spilling down into the alley.

I had not seen this in the plans so I was pleasantly surprised.
hKs5Vc6h.jpg
Click to expand...

wow. the more details of this I see the more stunning it becomes. that alley is now a show stopper with the play of ornament and structure across multiple buildings and planes. Real nice.
 
odurandina said:
i'm confused. Why not just put glass over that classic pre-existing framework or duplicate it in some way. it's hard to tell exactly what they did.
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Its two separate buildings for certain, and why not play up the contrast. Its pretty cool to have those two architectures speaking to each other. No?

cca
 
It is very pleasing how the slant in this new connecting glass reflects the line in the hotel in the foreground:

klVXZ2qh.jpg
 
I haven't looked at this thread in about a week and I must say, it got a lot more interesting in my absence! The alley treatment is marvelous. The glass part looks like a new distinct building rather than just a hovering addition. On a scale of 1-10, it just got a +1.
 
Going through some photos I took over the past month, this building is fun to photograph.

4Irbx58.jpg


D4zHjPr.jpg


3ZLMCAO.jpg


nhipnOP.jpg
 
stefalarchitect said:
Going through some photos I took over the past month, this building is fun to photograph.
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It is sooo good... Finally got to see it briefly over the weekend, and cannot wait to come back and see the space come alive.
 
mdd said:
What does that even mean?
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You know what? I'm not even sure.

I took the saying from our political leaders ex-Mayor Menino- because it sounded funny.
But even as he revitalized Boston’s urban core, protecting it from what he called “Manhattanization,” Mr. Menino remained a creature of its neighborhoods.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/us/thomas-m-menino-mayor-who-transformed-boston-dies-at-71.html

My theory is keep development at certain growth to continue to feel the neighborhoods instead of all out major city with giant skyscrapers everywhere.
*I believe this was a tool/saying to keep development suppressed if he did not approve of them.
 
TheRifleman said:
You know what? I'm not even sure.

I took the saying from our political leaders ex-Mayor Menino- because it sounded funny.


https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/31/us/thomas-m-menino-mayor-who-transformed-boston-dies-at-71.html

My theory is keep development at certain growth to continue to feel the neighborhoods instead of all out major city with giant skyscrapers everywhere.
*I believe this was a tool/saying to keep development suppressed if he did not approve of them.
Click to expand...

Manhattanization is when very dense, very tall developments take over the downtown area, making it feel like downtown Manhattan. I don't think Boston has to worry about that.

Regardless of your whose definition you use, this very development is maintaining the same look and feel as before, (except for the elaborate wrought iron windows) while also maintaining a healthy amount of growth.
 
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