Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

[lapradetom]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I haven't seen any renders which look realistic yet. MT had better renders before that one was built than what we've seen here so far. Regardless, it's been tweaked to the hilt, and this is what we're getting. It' s better than a couple proposals back, and I'm glad we're getting a nice lit crown to make downtown pop. I think the crown looks pretty good too, it's not tacky neon.

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I agree but some places are using too much blue... China. Were nowhere near critical mass yet for blue glass, we actually could use more, but it seems once cities start they run way with it (Toronto). So we have plenty of room to go but we just need to be careful. Now that being said something is happening in New York that I believe is going to send shock waves throughout the entire architectural world. In the last 10 but especially 5 years it seems like they have made a breakthrough on the level of when art deco was able to be applied to high rises. We've had all these materials available, but something happened where all of the different pieces that have been being used already have now finally come together to enter into a new golden age with the potential to be the greatest architectural era of all time. You would imagine that things always get better with time but thats not the reality. Suddenly recently though we are back into a modern golden age.

The pulse of the architectural world is yet again going though NYC and once again it has taken the lead with new styles/combinations of glass, materials, shapes...etc that aren't even named yet (that I know of), but are setting up perfectly to roll us right into the greatest architectural age of all time. Things like 111 west 57th st. being built on top of Steinway hall with like an art deco/greek classical base that fades into some yet to be named incredible tower with the highest aspect ratio in the world of 1:23 is earth shattering. This is a mind blowing tower and theres a lot more where this came from.

There are too many to list since this thread is not about this tower so sorry to sort of go off topic but Im just showing that even without NYC height the way materials are now being used is one way that Boston is going to be able to keep building great towers. Look at the amount of not only potential but results that architecture has and is using now.

Manhattan man on SSC:

User: Number3333; on Photobucket:








With 115 fed this is one of the more dynamic facades in the city on a glass high rise. It no longer has the opening/swaying curtain effect of the past tower massing, but we get pinstripes now, and there is a rippled facade nonetheless. To me its pretty badass (as long as you don't immediately compare it to steinway tower lol sorry). Plus the way the crown is notched at the top looks like..... a crown. What better way to put a crown on the downtown skyline than with..... a crown? Perfect. Another check in the badass category. They also removed the balconies from the main tower which is win because it cleans up the facade a lot. Finally that hint of yellow/gold between the notches in the crown I think is a great finishing touch. This is going to look great.

Two tone facade, notches crown, gold accents, the face is not flat its ribbed with many small triangles.

We have new twin peaks, this time theyre downtown

AAAAAND FINALLY we have a LIT CROWN over downtown. If the story had ended at MT it would have been a sad turn of events, but instead we get an architectural crown over downtown and its lit up baby!! W for Boston.





Edit: Once I finished posting these above I scrolled down and literally laughed out loud by accident once I got to this tower. Its jarring the different levels to this *ish these days. Woo sah woo sah stay humble stay humble....

 

[KriterionBOS]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Idk to me this is a very attractive tower aaaaaand.... its lit up at night! This is going to be amazing for downtown.

I agree these top 2 renders look pretty dope. As with anything a picture can be misleading. Lets see how it looks in a few years when it actually goes up.

Millenium Tower and 1 Dalton are both very nice looking, so its not a total loss if this one ends up being a bit like Cinderella's sister.

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

^ Millennium delivers on quality. Forget about San Fran in Boston I fully expect this:

Now as to the "Went from great to mediocre hall" I wouldn't mind a smidge of completely redoing this back to as close to original as they can but without the weird way that it met the outer facade.. If not though its kind of cool in its own way in like a rugged type of way so itll be fine.

 

[odurandina]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Another parcel where the before and after is going to be abjectly shocking.

Consider that for a moment.

People gonna love the massing, the split, and the curtain wall themes.

People sitting on the fence about this project will get fed.

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Mark me as not on the fence I love this tower and it has a lit crown too... (It literally has a crown) Win.

 

[tobyjug]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

That last render looks like a museum exhibit. "On the left, proto-brutalism. On the right, typical early 70's corporate street architecture, still awaiting completion with addition of large outdoor Calder sculpture."

Barf.

 

[Czervik.Construction]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

1. I am a little bummed out that my building did not make it into this picture. I think 30 Hudson Yards was tossed in just for this picture.

2. I have seen 111 W 57's cladding and it looks amazing up close

3. 157 W 57, the original super tall "Billionaire Building", will end up looking comparatively stumpy

4. 220 CPS looks amazing in person. The stone facade is top shelf quality. I wish someone would build a 50 story version of it in Boston. I think it would fit in very well

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

That last render looks like a museum exhibit. "On the left, proto-brutalism. On the right, typical early 70's corporate street architecture, still awaiting completion with addition of large outdoor Calder sculpture."

Barf.

Buuut, theres no way your basing your entire opinion on the structure/development as a whole off of that one floor on the least important side of the entire building... Right? When you can look up 8 inches from that render and see the other render that looks amazing.. haha.

You have the other angle as well

I think it fits more in line with the street wall from this angle tbh too.

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Looking around for some new renders of the new tower I found some unposted renders of the crappy twin tower version I haven't seen before.

So I figured Id post em just to have em on the record.

How cool will it be if they actually do what is shown here and shine the light upwards like that. That would be pretty badass if theres beams of light rising above the tower much higher than the roof height is making it even more noticeable.

 

[tobyjug]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Buuut, theres no way your basing your entire opinion on the structure/development as a whole off of that one floor on the least important side of the entire building... Right? When you can look up 8 inches from that render and see the other render that looks amazing.. haha.

You have the other angle as well

I think it fits more in line with the street wall from this angle tbh too.

Oh no, I'm not commenting on the tall part, only on the part that I'll see. The skyline view from 10 miles or 2350 miles, its not everything!
The other angle is better, thanks. But I see cheapness looming on the street and banal lobbification, and the high parts won't make up for that for your average dog on the sidewalk.

 

[citylover94]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

If they had chosen to line the entirety of the great hall with retail space I would have a much more positive feeling about it because without that it risks feeling like a private space that is not open to the public because of its resemblance to a typical lobby space.

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Oh no, I'm not commenting on the tall part, only on the part that I'll see. The skyline view from 10 miles or 2350 miles, its not everything!
The other angle is better, thanks. But I see cheapness looming on the street and banal lobbification, and the high parts won't make up for that for your average dog on the sidewalk.

Yea thats true, buut at least behind that lobbification is the “decent hall” and whatever it now entails.

 

[odurandina]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

total space (greatness) was culled..... due to "Bostonification."

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

^ The mediocre hall or the total height?

 

[odurandina]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

The Great Hall culled via "Bostonification."

 

[Beton Brut]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

That last render looks like a museum exhibit. "On the left, proto-brutalism. On the right, typical early 70's corporate street architecture, still awaiting completion with addition of large outdoor Calder sculpture."

Barf.

Spot on. Taken as a whole, this is inert, inoffensive, and unexciting. Architecture of, by, and for accountants.

I don't care about it enough to actually hate it. That's a rarity.

...all the opposition to this was total BS.

I'm quite proud to have been opposed to this shit-pile:

 

[bigpicture7]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I'm quite proud to have been opposed to this shit-pile:

Haha, I totally opposed that shit-pile too.

Apologies, my comment did not address certain nuances within the decade-long process of putting a tower on this site, which -yes- included fleeting moments of horrible. But you knew that wasn't what I was referring to.

Sure, the current design isn't perfect, but my point was it will have none of the negative impacts its opponents were (supposedly) concerned about (and will pump $100mil. into the very parks that were the subject of their concerns). (No offense, Beton, but your aesthetic concerns were not the concerns the opponents were raising. Meanwhile, I generally very much respect and agree with your design commentary on this site).

Here, I've fixed it:

...a lot of the opposition to this was total BS.

 

[stick n move]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

Yea I cant believe they actually went back to what worked here. I dont remember that ever happening before. They had the approved design that everyone agreed was perfectly fine, but it ended up being too tall... So instead of just shrinking down what they had already gotten approved where the concensus was that it was a good design.. instead they went full-Boston and redesigned the whole freaking thing, completely changing it from what had been approved, just like the garden office tower. That was suuuuch a rug out from under you snake move that they pulled that everybody freaked out in a massive uproar, rightfully so because it was a joke, and so then they ACTUALLY went back to the drawing board and redesigned the tower under the new parameters with the old, universally liked and expected design, and gave us back what we not only wanted, but had come to expect because they had told us this was what we were getting.

Now its a massive hit without the feeling of being ripped off even though it is shorter and different than it was, because they rightfully went back and made it as close to what it was before as they could. I appreciate this so much, because they easily could have just kept it as the turd redesign above and theres not really anything anyone could have done about it. JUST like theyre doing at the friggin td garden office tower now, the response could have just been tough shit this is what it is now. They could even have kicked us in the balls even harder... like at the td garden, by giving us something we hate and then after the backlash instead of going back like they rightfully did here, doubling down even further and changing it yet again even further from the old design and now having the tower as NOTHING even close to what it was before and them going “see when you complain we can just keep getting worse and worse.” For that I thank Mellennium, becauae its great that they listened to the people and gave us what we want and were promised, within the new constraints.

The td garden people doubled down on their FU to the city and process and changed it even more making it even more horrible. So for that I say F them and thank you to Millennium for being a company of integrity. The company in charge of the Td Garden office tower are the opposite of a company of integrity and when they pushed through something nice and then changed it, when we rightfully were upset, they twisted their moustaches and let out an evil laugh and made it even worse for us complaining, almost as a message to not complain when we give you crap or we will make it even worse... we have the power here do you want a tower or not. They want to save money already and all they care about is the bottom line so if we tell them to change it theyll drop the bottom out of it and oh theyll change it alright... theyll change it so they make the absolute max profit off it by dropping the biggest pos of value engineering they are physically capable of and for that I say FU to that company. Millennium spent the extra money to deliver an icon to the skyline. That was their original intent and when they had to change it for a second there they tried to save a bunch of money, but when called out they knew they were wrong and went back to spending the money on the icon the city deserves here. At td garden they dont give 2 shits and pulled a bait and switch that should be illegal for delivering a product different than what was promised and part of the reason it even went through so easily in the first place. My hats off to Millennium, it takes actual effort to make the old design fit onto this all new tower, but they pulled it off because they give a shit about Boston.

 

[Justin7]

Re: 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I'm quite proud to have been opposed to this shit-pile:

Shit, I thought that was just a bad fever dream.

My opinion of this building will come down to how the lobby functions.