SUPERCEDED MXD | Kendall Square

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To be fair Kendall is closer to the urban core then Mission Hill.
 
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odurandina said:
We're barely through the top of page 3, and Cambridge shows Boston how to get the job done. ....proposed, approved, site prep and a 395' tower tops in less time than the 1st round of public meetings in Boston not even 1/4th through the approval process ....w/ 2 real estate cycles to go.

You can build this in Cambridge in 2 years, but you can't build the same tower in Mission Hill in 25 in the core of the 6th largest metro in America.
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You are getting a little ahead of yourself. This isn't the 395 footer. That will be the narrow residential tower spanning the mid-block along the garage. This one is a mere 314', but that is enough to make it the tallest in Cambridge, unseating the Green Building from it's 50+ year reign.
 
OK, who knows something about construction?

They've been doing strange things. Last week they dug some holes, poured concrete inside them, then covered them back up (no forms/rebar/anything).

This week they've been digging trenches, putting forms in. Then pouring concrete between the dirt and the forms. Then burying everything again.

All very strange. Anyone know what they're actually doing?


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How are all of these buildings going to fit on this site or am I not visualizing it properly? A 395 footer in Cambridge, oh my....
 
Czervik.Construction said:
How are all of these buildings going to fit on this site or am I not visualizing it properly? A 395 footer in Cambridge, oh my....
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The site pictured in John's post will only contain "Commercial Building A," the first of 3 buildings planned for this block. The tall residential building will be built on top of the long garage that is nestled in between the three buildings in John's pictures, and the 3rd building (Commercial Building B) is the opposite corner of the block, not visible in any of the pictures.

For reference, "Commercial Building A" is the building that is outlined in bold.
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I believe this project is phased, so they're only constructing the first building right now.
 
johnmcboston said:
OK, who knows something about construction?

They've been doing strange things. Last week they dug some holes, poured concrete inside them, then covered them back up (no forms/rebar/anything).

This week they've been digging trenches, putting forms in. Then pouring concrete between the dirt and the forms. Then burying everything again.

All very strange. Anyone know what they're actually doing?
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Possibly up-down construction.

https://www.bdcnetwork.com/and
 
That makes sense. There's going to be five levels of parking garage down there, and Akamai (my employer) is supposedly moving in in 2019. Groundbreaking ceremony is tomorrow morning.
 
Can someone explain to me what it is you like about this building. I know there has to be some things that I am missing that aren't letting me see this right because it looks really weird to me.
 
stick n move said:
Can someone explain to me what it is you like about this building. I know there has to be some things that I am missing that aren't letting me see this right because it looks really weird to me.
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simple:
a) it's not a box
b) it adds desperately needed office density to a bursting-at-the-seams, highest-office-rent-in-the-nation* kendall square


*give or take
 
^^can't unsee :eek: I think that does make me like it more though in a weird way lol
 
Thanks for the feedback all...

Up/Down construction is a strong possibility. I didn't realize there was going to be that much parking underneath...

Groundbreaking tomorrow might explain the gravel laid out today. Crane also being assembled, but it's not that tall. And has a strange pulley system on the boom....

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Some more strange cement pouring today. As you can see on the left, a hole randomly filled with cement. While center, three forms built, with cement being poured outside of the forms. Almost looks like they are stabilizing surface soil for slurry construction or such.

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I saw it as the teeth of gears, rather than clasped hands. But then I'm an engineer and Paco is a reverend, so I guess we see what we know :)

The retail component is not phenomenal, but it is something and has outdoor seating planned. This is the far edge of the commercial district anyway, so the amount of retail is probably good enough. This building is also massive - I believe it will be the tallest in Cambridge until the slightly taller residential building goes up next door. The architectural lighting on all those cutaways and bump-outs should be visually engaging. To summarize, it is very "un-Kendall-like," which I count as high-praise.
 
Yup, the gravel is for the tent for the groundbreaking. Nice breakfast and speechifying from various people including Gov. Baker. (We had an internal lottery for who got to attend and I was one of the winners; everyone else watched it on video.) Confirmed that they are indeed using up-down construction.

Groundbreaking ceremonies are kind of silly; the VIPs dipped their ceremonial shovels into a big Lucite box of ceremonial dirt. They could have just left a space clear of gravel and actually broken ground. (Never mind that the excavators beat them to it.)
 
And I really like the design of the building. They had a big Lucite model of the interior; looks like it's going to be quite a nice space. Never seen box joints on a 19-story building before, though. :)
 
Wish the Pier 4 Office Building had been this bold though maybe due to it's height restraints, this sort of boldness wouldn't have been possible. I do like Pier 4, it's just more restrained than this building!
 
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