Third Square | 303 Third Street | Cambridge - Kendall Sq

[JoeGallows]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

These apartments are indeed now called the Third Square.

This reminds me a lot of what was going up in Toronto when I visited, utility wires included.

 

[nm88]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

I like it. May feel like Toronto to some, but I think it works here too. A modern structure that gets its references right. Love the electic details. Really like the proportions. Too often modern works choose economical materials that don't age well. This might be an exception. Hopefully. Certainly it's not monotonous. Nice work, I say.

 

[Beton Brut]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

As the Dead Kennedys astutely suggested: "This could be anywhere, this could be everywhere."

 

[Arborway]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

It would be a more bearable design if the architects had cut the number of different facade materials used down by about 90% or more.

 

[nm88]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

However, it's certainly not "cold concrete apartments..."

 

[GW2500]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Will it have ground floor retail?

 

[ablarc]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Really like the proportions.

Clearly a lot of thought was put into improving the scale by proportioning the elements the building is broken into.

Good decisions. If you must have a large footprint, this is one way to take the curse off it.

Too often modern works choose economical materials that don't age well. This might be an exception. Hopefully.

Do I see corrugated metal?

Certainly it's not monotonous. Nice work, I say.

You said it.

It would be a more bearable design if the architects had cut the number of different facade materials used down by about 90% or more.

You might be complaining about this building's greatest strength.

However, it's certainly not "cold concrete apartments..."

Precisely because of its riot of materials and panelized form.

Will it have ground floor retail?

Always the question of the hour. If only developers and planners fully realized its importance!

 

[Lrfox]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

^while I agree that the different materials on certainly help "break-up" a squat building with such a large footprint, the street level facade doesn't follow the same trend and that's disappointing. Walking by this is walking by a long, monotonous wall. Ground level retail isn't just a good idea here, it's almost necessary to make this engaging from a pedestrian perspective.

 

[tmac9wr]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

When I first looked at the picture in Joe Gallows' post, I thought I was looking at a rendering. I think it looks really good when viewing from a distance, but it doesn't look as nice when looking at it up close. The one thing I don't like on any building is the huge precast bricks...it looks so cheap, which to me is one of the only detracting factors of 45 Province.

 

[TheBostonBoy]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Architecturally speaking, it looks great...but as Lrfox said, from the pedestrian perspective, it could use work. The pedestrian-street interaction looks horrible around this building. They better get retail in there.

 

[Merper]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

... i walk by here often, and it looks to me like there will be plenty of streetside activity....

 

[nm88]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Ablarc -- Yes, corrugated metal. I sit (rightfully) corrected.

But it's done with retraint. I'm all about retraint. And I think, all and all, it's a pleasing mix.

The building almost has, God forbid, a sense of humor -- except for the courtyard, which someone already noted. How can you disdain something with a sense of humor?

 

[el raval]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

I went over there on Saturday and as previously noted, it is quite a collection of materials, though the detailing is nothing great. The terra cotta panels are nice, but the metal edge band is brutal.
In general all of the materials do help break down the scale so that it doesn't seem quite like a single-block mega-project, but why does the brick get used only to strips the ground floor? One nice aspect: the little balconies on the second floor right above the retail, they too should help animate the street.

The courtyard is rather banal. It's amazing that the exterior of the block is quite modulated with various setbacks and massing that helps break down the scale, then on the interior courtyard there is no relief whatsoever. The one nice thing that the massing does is open up a view corridor to the corner of the Genzyme building with all of the heliostats. It's a nice little vignette.

In general I'd say that it's a harmless infill project that doesn't have any lofty "big" ideas, but does alot of things passably. This part of the city could use alot more of that frankly, and any housing in that neighborhood will help.

 

[ablarc]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

^ Sometimes you have to set your bar at mediocre to get projects clearing the bar.

In its day, the North End may have been seen as mediocre. That was before we ratcheted down our expectations. Now it seems a paragon.

Lets us distinguish the acceptable from the unacceptable, I suppose.

Seems the fairly unenthusiastic consensus of us forumers is that this project is good enough to clear today's lowered bar ... but barely.

 

[Merper]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

... that pretty much sums up Kendall Square.

at least its 'improving'.

 

[pelhamhall]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

I just found out that this property is actually "two properties"

Third Square - rentals, operated by Equity
303 Third - condos, offered by Extell (spelling?)

So when you see the ads for the two different properties, they are referring to one half of this same development. Each building is U shaped, and I believe they face each other, with the courtyard "square" in the middle.

 

[Tim Jackson]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Interesting - the two buildings are attached, correct? I haven't been out there to see the building (probably won't any time soon - Lancaster, PA is a long way away), but I would assume that the 'two' buildings generally have the same setup and design. Am I correct in saying that?

 

[RugbyGod]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Does anyone know the status of this building as of now?

Is it completed? If so, is people moved in?

 

[pelhamhall]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

The rental side of the property (Third Square) is doing kick-ass, breaking rental records for Cambridge. Equity has been doing an incredible job lately with their new developments (the West End broke the Boston rental PSF record)

The sales side (303 Third) is sluggish, more an indictment on the market than the product.

 

[RugbyGod]

Re: 303 Third St (Kendall Square)

Just wondering whether anyone know what is going on with the 303 Third st condos... Did any one move in to this place? I know the rental side has been active. How many of the condos have been sold?