The Aubrey | 149-153 Newbury Street | Back Bay

Actually, looks like the ones above are already slightly outdated. These new ones are from a presentation scheduled for today (available here, under 149-153 Newbury):

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A few more things to point out:
Construction planned to start Q3 2020, finish Q4 2021.

Rather than large retail spaces, they opted for smaller ones. Hopefully this means reasonable prices that not just large chains can afford.
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I'm a fan of the extra layer on the glass facade; it adds some texture and interest where there normally wouldn't be. (EDIT: appears that's been taken out in the most recent design. Lol)

I'd like to see more depth on the more traditional brick and steel portions though, a) to respect the context better and b) it looks rather flat right now.
 
stefal said:
I'd like to see more depth on the more traditional brick and steel portions though, a) to respect the context better and b) it looks rather flat right now.
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Agreed. I liked the first version better (yay for "contextualistm"! If there's any brick within 50 miles the building must be red brick!) but this doesn't look bad. It looks too flat, though.
 
This looks amazing! Really nice way to "celebrate" the corner as they said above. This is modern but the brick helps it fit in. Win-win. See ya, parking lot.
 
I prefer the color of the original, but the shape of the revision.
 
Mods, should we update the title of the thread?

The Aubrey | 149-153 Newbury Street | Back Bay
 
Do you (all) think it's a bit much glass?
It's like the developer isn't giving (enough) thought to the neighborhood.
 
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Not really. It's not all that different from 4-6 Newbury, and I don't recall complaints about it being too glassy.

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I like this. If you notice historically the corner lots on many of the Back Bay streets had large, stand-out buildings, especially churches...most of which have been consolidated and torn down and their corners redeveloped. Having bolder choices for corners also gives a visual clue as to the block one is on/approaching.
 
Agreed--I don't think the render is helping but it looks very flat and cheap. Working on the brick would go a large way to offsetting that. I wish the metal store front was more interesting--it feels very off-the-shelf right now--which, again, may be the rendering.


stefal said:
A few more things to point out:
Construction planned to start Q3 2020, finish Q4 2021.

Rather than large retail spaces, they opted for smaller ones. Hopefully this means reasonable prices that not just large chains can afford.
View attachment 2527

I'm a fan of the extra layer on the glass facade; it adds some texture and interest where there normally wouldn't be. (EDIT: appears that's been taken out in the most recent design. Lol)

I'd like to see more depth on the more traditional brick and steel portions though, a) to respect the context better and b) it looks rather flat right now.
Click to expand...
 
Life Coach Mike said:
I like this. If you notice historically the corner lots on many of the Back Bay streets had large, stand-out buildings, especially churches...most of which have been consolidated and torn down and their corners redeveloped. Having bolder choices for corners also gives a visual clue as to the block one is on/approaching.
Click to expand...
Mike -- some very prescient points
the Back Bay was organized around the filling process. The relatively unusual for Boston rectangular street grid was imposed by filling to the highest levels.

The various building lots to be auctioned to pay for the filling process were already provided with "cellar holes" by virtue of just not filling to the benchmark level of the streets and sidewalks. As the filling process proceeded the corner lots were left with larger cellar holes as befit institutional buildings such as churches, the Museum of Natural History [progenitor of the MOS] the original Museum of Fine Arts, the Public Library
and MIT. Later reconstruction typically followed the existing model because the lots on the corners were bigger and hence could support larger structures.

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As an aside the approach of designing a district by additive rather than subtractive processes is akin to building structures using 3D printing -- there has been a whole lot of this done in Dubai in the past few decades -- making whole new districts by filling in the water.
 
I hate it, but that could partly be due to the overly glossy, crappy renders making it look like cheap plastic. The triangular glass corner adds to the overall cheap glitzy look.
 
Looks like this is moving forward? The parking lot has been closed off with barricades/caution tape for at least the past two weeks (I live nearby) and the boring truck arrived Monday morning.
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Even more soil drilling/sampling folks arrived today. YES!
 
Charlie_mta said:
I hate it, but that could partly be due to the overly glossy, crappy renders making it look like cheap plastic. The triangular glass corner adds to the overall cheap glitzy look.
Click to expand...

Yeah, this is not great. It's very thin and flashy. Disappointing because CBT is very solid firm they must have their C team on it.
 
Was on a walk this morning and saw crew back onsite for the first time in months. I’ll try to get better shots next time I pass by...but seems promising?

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