Winthrop Center | 115 Winthrop Square | Financial District

I really wish they had stuck to the original plan and had the lighting continue down the entire crown, but it is nice we got some more lighting on the skyline. One thing I do like about the shorter lighting is it comes across as a nod to 1 international place.
 
Last Saturday by me
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Well, I decided to have my coffee in the connector, and sitting in here... It's perfectly nice. It will be better when the rest of the storefronts fill in.

And being here makes it clear how this could never have been a "great hall". Even without the elevation change, if this space were a little bit wider, that wouldn't make it feel less like a lobby/passage. Neither would fancy arches overhead.

And the way the windows on the Winthrop Square end frame the historical facade is really cool.
 
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My biggest problem with it is that for most ppl they have no way of knowing this is supposed to be a public way and most ppl will think its a private lobby in an expensive building that theyre not supposed to be in. Idk how you could get across to regular ppl that they can pass through without literally putting up signs.
 
stick n move said:
My biggest problem with it is that for most ppl they have no way of knowing this is supposed to be a public way and most ppl will think its a private lobby in an expensive building that theyre not supposed to be in. Idk how you could get across to regular ppl that they can pass through without literally putting up signs.
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The best way to do that is to fill the storefronts. If people see lots of brand signage it will be more obvious that they can go in.

Also, signage isn't a bad thing or a cheapening element. It would probably be a good idea.
 
Haven't been inside yet, but curious if these multi-media walls have been installed or will be? From what I can see, it seems the connector was built true to the renderings, but I haven't seen any sign of these in photos, so far.

Those would certainly go a long way toward inviting people in from the street and engaging the public once inside. FWIW...some simple marketing could easily entice the public to check the space out. A few strategically placed social media ads or some ads on tourist maps/trash containers around downtown ala what View Boston has done.

The Connector - Winthrop Center

A multi-floor public gathering space and thruway, the Connector will be Winthrop Center’s gift to the people. Plug into the energy.
winthropcenter.com winthropcenter.com
 
stick n move said:
My biggest problem with it is that for most ppl they have no way of knowing this is supposed to be a public way and most ppl will think its a private lobby in an expensive building that theyre not supposed to be in. Idk how you could get across to regular ppl that they can pass through without literally putting up signs.
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Then, for the sake of logical consistency, you better have a big problem with numerous other Downtown office towers that have public-way lobbies, but don't have giant signage outside advertising "COME ON IN!" (or words to that effect). 33 Arch, 101 Arch, 99 Summer, 1 Lincoln, 100 Federal, 75-101 Federal. The list goes on...

I will point-out, in particular, that 75-101 Fed. is right-next door to Winthrop Center, has a rather well-known public lobby that thousands of thousands of pedestrians cut-through every year, and exactly zero signage advertising that.
 
DBM said:
Then, for the sake of logical consistency, you better have a big problem with numerous other Downtown office towers that have public-way lobbies, but don't have giant signage outside advertising "COME ON IN!" (or words to that effect). 33 Arch, 101 Arch, 99 Summer, 1 Lincoln, 100 Federal, 75-101 Federal. The list goes on...

I will point-out, in particular, that 75-101 Fed. is right-next door to Winthrop Center, has a rather well-known public lobby that thousands of thousands of pedestrians cut-through every year, and exactly zero signage advertising that.
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The difference is those other buildings werent required by the city to create a public pass through from one street to the other. Winthrop tower was required to build some type of public access space to benefit the city, originally they had asked for an observation deck. Millennium came back and asked if instead of the observation deck that they could create a ground level “connector” to allow pedestrians to pass through the site. The city said that was ok and allowed them to build the connector. So my point is that by making it appear as just another lobby of a tower, this pedestrian space they were required to create is hidden behind the facade of any other corporate lobby.

Lots of ppl knew that this would happen so they said no lets get the observation deck, but millennium insisted that it would be done in a way to make it engaging and inviting to the public. Thats why they had made it look like this when they were first getting the variance.

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This lets people know that hey there is a connection here between these two streets that youre free to pass through. It is conveyed through the architecture so there is no need for a sign.

The thing is after it was allowed they slowly VE’d this grand hall away iteration by iteration until we ended up with a normal office tower lobby.

I’m not saying the tower sucks, I’m just saying that they were allowed to slowly move from “great hall” to “connector” and it no longer conveys to the public that this is supposed to be a pedestrian through way and instead to the avg joe it comes across as an office tower lobby. If in the end we were going to just end up with what is essentially a normal tower lobby, we should have gotten the observation deck instead. If we had pushed for that we probably would have gotten essentially the same “connector” we got anyways, plus an observation deck.

taketern said:
Coming along
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You may not be saying this tower sucks, but that doesn’t change the fact that this tower sucks.
 
Blackbird said:
That garage on the left really needs to be [best case] redeveloped or [bare minimum] covered with some screens or public art or something.
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That's an interesting observation. I pass by here frequently, and never really notice the garage at all, because at street level, it's not a garage. But as you note, it looks really bad in this picture. Just goes to show that even a really awful building can nevertheless work if the first and second floor are done right.
 
Equilibria said:
Well, I decided to have my coffee in the connector, and sitting in here... It's perfectly nice. It will be better when the rest of the storefronts fill in.

And being here makes it clear how this could never have been a "great hall". Even without the elevation change, if this space were a little bit wider, that wouldn't make it feel less like a lobby/passage. Neither would fancy arches overhead.

And the way the windows on the Winthrop Square end frame the historical facade is really cool.
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What's the coffee place in the Connector? .....Starbucks, Blue Bottle, Peets, etc?
 
chrisbrat said:
You may not be saying this tower sucks, but that doesn’t change the fact that this tower sucks.
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I'd slot this ahead of Millennium Tower from a visual standpoint. Getting past the disappointment of this being under 700', and the excitement of MT's major height gain across iterations, there's 3 reasons I put this ahead:

1. Nothing visually catastrophic here. If covid hadn't happened and we had that fat bulge in the back I'd be singing a different tune, but there is nothing approaching the grossness of Millennium Tower's open roof.
2. Better consistency from all viewpoints. Besides the brutal open roof from the South, MT also looks quite awkward from the East across the harbor. To be fair, the view of MT from the river (during the DAY) is better than any singular look from Winthrop.
3. It has an actual night presence. Although understated, that line of lights delineates Boston's new raised ceiling on its downtown, and is visible at night from virtually everywhere. I can't help but smile every time I see those lights piercing through the darkness. On the other hand, I can barely place MT at all once the sun goes down.

It's extremely close, to the point where if MT solved either #1 by enclosing the roof, or #3 by adding lighting, it might be enough for me to switch their positions. If MT addressed both it would be the clear winner.
 
Every time I’m reminded of the massive bulge in the back of the tower that was proposed then removed at the last second I breathe a sigh of relief that this did indeed happen. Thank god!
 
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