Quincy Center Redevelopment

I don't think this is a great building, but it honestly fits into quincy center pretty well. There are already buildings reminiscent of this, so its not a total sore-thumb.
 
Lest it seem like we're being arbitrary in choosing what projects we like and don't like, let me point to some things from the render that make me think this is bad:

Generally, it represents an intention to give half effort before the thing has even begun. Leaving render quality aside (many of us are in the field or have gone through architecture school--there's never enough time for renderings), the design has virtually zero merit. Everything about the model is componentized.

What we're seeing is a sort of modern-post-modernism: It's modern in that it relies on contemporary building techniques and the assembly of mass-produced components. It's post-modern in that it's referential to a number of earlier styles. It does a disservice to both movements though because it takes the worst parts of both and smushes them together. (I have this critique of lots of projects around the city). To be truly post-modern it would have to be reacting to something; I would want it to demonstrate understanding of the styles it's aping. But no. This building is McMansion architecture on steroids. It's, "let's take the cheapest materials and the easiest floor plate and copy it over and over, but then hey, do something 'fancy' at the top to add some class. what trim is on sale at home depot?" turned into a building. It's a joke.

The only reason it fits into its context is because its context is garbage too, because we (not the personal 'we,' but the larger culture) have let them get away with building garbage for decades. Whether 'they' is developers suppressing architects for the bottom line, or architects being lazy, or clients not really knowing good design when they see it, or all of the above, this is what we get.

This is a suburban house times twenty stories. Does anyone really expect them to buy nice windows? We know they're not detailing custom ones. Does anyone expect that brick base to have any depth, or craft, or not begin to effloresce immediately? I don't.

*climbs off soapbox*
 
Hideous. This tower could have been symbolic of a new forward-looking Quincy but instead says Quincy is just as provincial and unsophisticated as ever.
 
If its not an asymmetrical mishmash of random alcubond facades than its a win in my book.
 
It's funny/not funny to see certain areas fall behind on the times. Wisconsin still has so many restaurants and homes with 1970s-era wood paneled interiors, and my home city of Albany, NY still puts up lukewarm Pomo like it's 1992. Sadly, this would be a perfect fit there.
 
That tower is fine for Quincy. Its not going up on Boylston Street, sheesh.
 
Apparently the elevations have been subject to revisions, but it appears those are for some of the materials (siding)

I quite agree the tower could have been a great opportunity to create an structure that could have set a precedent in Quincy, but it seems is just the will of the Mayor & the O'Connell Brothers to construct it for economic & tax purposes while not caring too much about the surroundings & the context of it within the city.....
 
Speaking as a Quincy resident, I'm not thrilled with it, but I don't hate it, either. It'll be better use than a parking lot, but I feel like its missing out by including a bunch of green space around it; this is a perfect area for a contiguous streetwall, other than the side facing Revere Rd (which changes its name twice in two blocks, very weird).

Oh, and that small building kitty corner on Chestnut, containing Fat Cat and Sully's, opposite WoC, has recently been bought, according to someone I talked to the other day. The tenants are moving out by June, IIRC. I imagine that would mean some demolition before the end of the year; hope it doesn't interfere with that ATM, because its really the most convenient BoA ATM for me (closest drive thru one).
 
DominusNovus said:
Oh, and that small building kitty corner on Chestnut, containing Fat Cat and Sully's, opposite WoC, has recently been bought, according to someone I talked to the other day. The tenants are moving out by June, IIRC. I imagine that would mean some demolition before the end of the year; hope it doesn't interfere with that ATM, because its really the most convenient BoA ATM for me (closest drive thru one).
Click to expand...

That is unfortuate. There are some neat brick rowhouse type buildings there and Fat Cat is an institution.
 
Looks like they were trying to go for Providence light with this render and ended up with Worcester
 
Yah the render looks very 1980s or 90s. I don't hate it as much as some others on this forum though.
 
North Quincy redevelopment hits a speedbump:

AG: T broke law, needs to bid out North Quincy garage work

By Sean Philip Cotter
The Patriot Ledger
Posted Apr 17, 2018 at 8:23 PM Updated Apr 17, 2018 at 9:19 PM

QUINCY — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s office ruled Tuesday the MBTA broke the law when it did not go through a public bidding process for the upcoming North Quincy parking garage.

Attorney General Maura Healey’s office made the ruling after the local carpenters union filed a protest against the T and the developers the state agency has selected for the massive development project planned for the state-owned land.

Assistant attorney general Deborah A. Anderson of the office’s fair labor division wrote in Tuesday’s decision that the T arranged for the seven-story garage to be built and will have control over it. She said the T’s claims that construction would be exempt from public-bidding laws, because it was being done as part of a larger project on land that was leased out, didn’t hold water.

“The lease is a call for construction of a garage for the MBTA,” she wrote. “The fact that the construction of the garage is embedded in the lease does not make it any less a call for public construction.”

If the T and the developers wish to appeal the decision, they would have to do so in superior court. If not, either the T or the developers on the state agency’s behalf will have to go through a public bidding process that includes a request for proposals, which are then public information.

http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20180417/ag-t-broke-law-needs-to-bid-out-north-quincy-garage-work
Click to expand...
 
Could they just adjust this to have the developer operate the garage and not the MBTA? Increase the lease cost to adjust for the estimated parking revenue.
 
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For some reason, it reminds me of International Place in its hideous tackiness.
 
Quincy-Health-e1549890743431.png

“FoxRock Properties will develop the site of the former Ross parking garage in Quincy Center which will include a 200,000 square foot building, the future location of the South Shore Health System & Brigham Health/Partners HealthCare partnership. Additionally, South Shore Health System plans to open a primary care practice at 1495 Hancock Street in the summer of 2019.”
https://bostonrealestatetimes.com/shore-health-brigham-health-partners-and-foxrock-properties-to-bring-community-based-healthcare-to-quincy/
 
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