Shreve, Crump & Low Redevelopment | 334-364 Boylston Street | Back Bay

Equilibria said:
It was dead because the owner was trying to blight it intentionally to justify tearing it down.

The issue here isn't that the new building is bad, it's that it's big and has far less character than the smaller, more varied buildings that were lost. Boylston benefits from a varied streetscape of narrow buildings for most of its length in the Back Bay, and a superblock like this is a step backward.
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The public realm on this one is really not great either. I like maintain street wall but some relieve would have been good. There should also be an entry to the Green Line in this building but it's across the street on the site of the Landmarked Arlington Street Church.
 
stellarfun said:
Below are links to the project portfolios for the lead architects for this building, AKA 350 Boylston. They are partners at Robert Stern. This will not be a cheap-looking building.

Meghan McDermott
https://www.ramsa.com/index.php/projects/108

Graham Wyatt
https://www.ramsa.com/index.php/projects/111
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FWIW, I work with architects all over the world. I've visited the NYC office of RAMSA multiple times, and they do nice work! I also think the quality of materials will be quite high.
 
Java King said:
View attachment 48490

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I just hope we get retail storefronts all along Boylston and Arlington as shown in the renderings. From the street pedestrian perspective, it could be an improvement. However, it's such a loss of interesting architecture, and especially the corner building.
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Does it HAVE to be white? It ends up looking like a giant beached whale that has had its bones picked clean.
 
Life Coach Mike said:
Does it HAVE to be white? It ends up looking like a giant beached whale that has had its bones picked clean.
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Stern says that it will be a gray limestone.

Gray Indiana limestone comes in various shades of gray (no pun).

www.bybeestone.com

Gray Indiana Limestone - Bybee Stone Company

Indiana limestone comes in an elegant range of shades - from silver blue to a rich, creamy tan - and textures - from consistently smooth to a rustic blend of assorted grain and fossil sizes
www.bybeestone.com www.bybeestone.com

Terrace level rendering from Stern.
2020_04_24_Druker_350_Boylston_Roof_Terrace_Final_v2.jpg
 
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stellarfun said:
Stern says that it will be a gray limestone.

Gray Indiana limestone comes in various shades of gray (no pun).

www.bybeestone.com

Gray Indiana Limestone - Bybee Stone Company

Indiana limestone comes in an elegant range of shades - from silver blue to a rich, creamy tan - and textures - from consistently smooth to a rustic blend of assorted grain and fossil sizes
www.bybeestone.com www.bybeestone.com

Terrace level rendering from Stern.
2020_04_24_Druker_350_Boylston_Roof_Terrace_Final_v2.jpg
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Unfortunately that terrace will never be publicly accessible. Just a perk for Bain & Co employees.
 
beck4537 said:
Unfortunately that terrace will never be publicly accessible. Just a perk for Bain & Co employees.
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Why would you think it would ever be accessible to the public even if it were not Bain? Can’t think of many office building's upper floors are open to the public. People pay enormous amounts of money to have office spaces in these buildings and do not want outsiders entering and wandering around for good reason.
 
Randy N. Craven-Krawtch said:
Why would you think it would ever be accessible to the public even if it were not Bain? Can’t think of many office building's upper floors are open to the public. People pay enormous amounts of money to have office spaces in these buildings and do not want outsiders entering and wandering around for good reason.
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I think it's because given this location, it would make sense to have a restaurant open to the public there, not just an office building's cafe. This is an office building in the middle of a retail and tourist area.
 
sm89 said:
I think it's because given this location, it would make sense to have a restaurant open to the public there, not just an office building's cafe. This is an office building in the middle of a retail and tourist area.
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Exactly. My comment wasn't a shot at Bain or any other company but like SM89 said, it's about publicly accessible space particularly rooftop access. It's something NYC does extremely well but Boston does soo poorly.
 
beck4537 said:
Exactly. My comment wasn't a shot at Bain or any other company but like SM89 said, it's about publicly accessible space particularly rooftop access. It's something NYC does extremely well but Boston does soo poorly.
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Agree about that. Miss the Top Of The Hub and JH Observation area. There used to be one in the old Hancock building as well before the tower was open. At least we still have Custom House deck that few people know about.
 
Randy N. Craven-Krawtch said:
Agree about that. Miss the Top Of The Hub and JH Observation area. There used to be one in the old Hancock building as well before the tower was open. At least we still have Custom House deck that few people know about.
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The nonsense with the Hancock closing and not re-opening their deck is truly terrible, but having gone to Top of the Hub and Skywalk many, many times I can say without reservation that View Boston is a way better experience, so no need to "miss" what used to be atop the Pru. What's there now is an improvement over what had been there.
 
chrisbrat said:
The nonsense with the Hancock closing and not re-opening their deck is truly terrible, but having gone to Top of the Hub and Skywalk many, many times I can say without reservation that View Boston is a way better experience, so no need to "miss" what used to be atop the Pru. What's there now is an improvement over what had been there.
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Yeah, plus there is still a restaurant up there. I haven't tried it, but the better half said it was pretty good and got a pretty reasonable package that included entry to the rest of it.
 
DZH22 said:
The owner allowed that stretch to be dead in order to tear down the historical buildings. So now we are stuck with a superblock that is simultaneously oppressive while being woefully underwhelming. It looks like it belongs at the far back of the Seaport or edge of Kendall. For the particular corner it's actually being built on, it's a blight on the urban fabric.
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I'm not sure what you mean by the term super block in this instance. The developer didn't change the size of the block, nor the building footprint. Yes, it's a condolidation of what had been multiple buildings, but the overall geography remains the same.
 
HenryAlan said:
I'm not sure what you mean by the term super block in this instance. The developer didn't change the size of the block, nor the building footprint. Yes, it's a condolidation of what had been multiple buildings, but the overall geography remains the same.
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"Landscraper" might be a better term to use.
 
HenryAlan said:
I'm not sure what you mean by the term super block in this instance. The developer didn't change the size of the block, nor the building footprint. Yes, it's a condolidation of what had been multiple buildings, but the overall geography remains the same.
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Charlie_mta said:
"Landscraper" might be a better term to use.
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The developer took a well-scaled block and ripped down what appears to be 3 separate historic buildings to put up a single giant monolithic rectangle. One building taking up the whole block may fly in the Seaport or Kendall, but it's pure malpractice right on the edge of the Public Garden.
 
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