--------- Okay, good evening everyone and thank you all for joining us for a design subcommittee meeting of the Boston Civic Design Commission. Today's date is Tuesday, April 22nd and this is session A of the BCDC design subcommittee. The planning department continues hosting public meetings in a virtual setting for
the health, safety, and accessibility of Boston residents. I'm Christina Rico, executive director of the BCDC and senior urban designer of the city of Boston planning department. Before we proceed with the agenda, the open meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded. Please turn off your camera
and microphone if you do not wish to be recorded. For the record, commissioners Eastley, Hassin, Manf Freddy, and Solano are present this evening. Tonight's agenda will include presentations for projects at 776 Summer
Street, phase 2 of the south of South Boston. Tonight's meeting proceedings will begin with a brief presentation from the proponent focused on building C, followed by comments from the commissioners and public testimony. Then the proponent will give a second presentation focused on building B,
followed by comments from the commissioners and again opportunity for public testimony. um and then some summary of next steps. With that, I'm going to go ahead and um invite the proponent team who should be able to share their
screen. Um Katherine, I'm going to promote you to co-host to be able to share share your screen here. One second. Okay. Um, and before I kick it off to the proponent team, uh, let me know if you're able to share your
screen. Uh, just have a brief summary here. So, the proposed projects at 776 Summer Street, South Boston, seeking article 80B or large project entitlement in accordance with an approved PDA master plan and phase 2 development
plan. Contemplate the development of four buildings referred to as blocks A, B, C, and E. and associated site improvements, including portions of Edison Plaza, formerly the M Street Plaza, and public realm improvements on Summer Street, East 1st Street, and
Thomas Edison Way. This will be the third presentation of the ADB application for these proposed projects to the design subcommittee following an introduction at the February 4th, 2025 monthly meeting and subsequent meetings on February 18th and March 18th of this
year. The commission previously reviewed and approved a PDA master plan and a PDA development plan for phase 2, which set out the regulatory context for the proposed projects. The most recent design subcommittee focused on projects at block A and block E. This design
subcommittee meeting, as I mentioned previously, will focus on projects at block B and block C. It's my understanding that there are no commissioners present who intend to recuse themselves from deliberation. A reminder to the proponent team that the presentations will be each limited to 15
minutes. And I'll give you a two-minute heads up when you're getting close to the end there. And with that, I invite the proponent team to begin presenting whenever ready. Uh good evening and thank you, Christina. I'm John Flity with HRP Group. Uh we're excited to to be back
before you for our third subcommittee. As Christina mentioned, um we will present the design changes and refinements we've made since since we last met on on both blocks and then at the end of those presentations, we will uh review the relevant animations which
I know you asked about last meeting. So with that, we'll jump right in and we'll begin with the block C team uh and Victor and Gendler. Good afternoon. I'm Victor Pachi, design director with Gendler. Uh we can go to the next slide, Kate. Um we last shared
block C with you um at two meetings a full commission and subcommittee in February. Uh so it's a pleasure to be with you again um this afternoon to share progress. This slide shows a highle summary of the review comments you had shared while also including some
related comments from city staff with whom we are meeting with um regularly weekly or bi-weekly to track and review ongoing design progress. Perhaps the most uh consequential comment is the top bullet uh where there was concern about
building forms overhanging pedestrian realm below creating a feeling of heaviness related. We were asked to explore architectural strategies to meet to remediate that as well as studying how the building meets uh grade. There
was discussion at the building's southeast corner specifically both building massing as well as exterior and related uh to that there was underdevelopment in terms of the turban alley portion between block C and the
third turban hall. Next slide please. This is just an axonometric reminding us of the overall development site. Block C is the teal colored commercial building at the left side of the image at the intersection of East 1st Street and Summer Street. Next
slide, please. This slide um is a duplicate of what was shared at the full commission meeting on February 4th. The two renderings at the top illustrate um the design of the building at that time. In
the upper left image, uh you can see a massing that was based on an idea of overlapping folding forms with a lighter um upper mass that was floating over a darker base. The image on the upper right um which we'll duplicate tonight
shows the view into the development along the new Thomas Edison Way with the portal through the historic turban alley beyond. Next slide, please. Um, these are two vignettes that are stills from an animation shared at the
February 18 subcommittee subcommittee meeting. We're showing these images because they really um did sponsor the discussion and concern about the heaviness of overlapping building forms over the pedestrian realm. Next slide,
please. Um that comment and that concern took us really to um a fundamental new look at the overall massing of the site. And those iterations transitioned us from
the option you last saw on the right, a concept we call fold to the current concept we're sharing this evening that we are now calling podium. The fundamental difference um as we take you through more detail is the fold concept
has the taller portion of the building overhanging and proud of the base. Um among other changes that relationship has now been inverted with the 10story portion of the building being recessed from um router elements that are part of
the base or that we're referring to as two podiums. Uh please note the red property line and setback line. The new massing does continue um to try and successfully give back area within the
building ground floor footprint to expand and enhance the public realm. Next slide please. The next two slides are eight diagrams that show the rationale behind the new uh podium form. Diagram one is
simply the allowable zoning envelope. Diagram two outlines or inscribes where the projecting forms will result. Diagram three which is one of the more significant moves takes the full height of the building and recess it or pushes
it to the east 15 ft back from the setback. The northern facade is also recessed uh further from Thomas Edison way to reveal the two projecting forms the north and south podium. Next slide
please. Diagrams five and six show that the south podium is further recessed from the site setbacks. Diagram seven shows the north podium taking on an angle to guide um pedestrians coming from the north towards the building
entrance. And finally, diagram 8 shows an ongoing commitment to transparency at the ground floor. Next slide, please. The master plan design guidelines um stipulate that block C should mediate scale from higher portions of the site
towards the waterfront transitioning downward towards the fourstory development along East First Street. The two projecting forms that we're calling two podiums transition um from 10 stories to seven stories to four stories
to honor that um design guideline. Next slide, please. The overall plan is similar in its location of program portions with a west-facing lobby centered on Summer Street. Uh mostly transparent storefront
retail begins on the north facade, wraps all along Summer, all along East First and into Turban Alley um until terminating in tobacco house spaces. Access to loading and parking remains exactly aligned with block B uh to the
north. Again, note the dashed red line is the setback required setbacks line and this is a good view of the additional space given over to the public realm. Next slide, please. This is a longitudinal section
um diagram showing the overall um stack of the building. There's a 21 ft floor to floor um at the ground floor containing retail lobby and backa house and nominally 15 nine stories of 15 ft floor to floor. And this um section
illustrates the sevenstory mass at the north um up to the 10story high and then dropping back down to a fourstory mass um honoring the 50-foot stepback that's part of the zoning envelope. Next slide please.
um layering on information that'll inform the facades. The facades really emerged from um an analysis of some of the legacy industrial structures throughout the South Boston neighborhood. Given that the Block Cite
is part of a transformation of an industrial site, our architectural analysis focused on buildings in the neighborhood that represent an architecture of utility. everything from historic forpoint to the design center to industrial buildings and the
immediate environs of the site. Most influential in the facades that we've explored are the historic industrial lofts of the Fort Point neighborhood. While they are part of the industrial legacy, there's a particular craft and detail that has been uh that celebrates
that architecture including special details within the punched openings such as accent mullions and frames, metallic frames within masonry frames. Next slide, please. The adjacent turban halls
are also examples of architecture that celebrates its industrial use, but at an entirely different, one might say, monumental scale compared to the precedents that we see in the historic Fort Point neighborhood. Next slide, please.
So in the current design, it isn't our intent to literally replicate some of the details that informed the design, but we do seek to synthesize some of those influences through a modern lens um into a building that reveals the DNA
of the industrial architecture of of the area. This uh illustration taken showing the northwest portion of the building um shows a pattern of framed and punched openings. The seven the fourstory and
sevenstory masses in a warmer gray darker material contrasting with a lighter material used for the 10story portion of the building. As we move around, you'll see a hierarchy of window openings um from threetory to twotory to
onetory assigned to certain zones of the building. And then as we move closer, you'll note another level of detail revealed by the building. The podium portion in the foreground has a stepped or serrated um pattern based on certain
sight orientations. The upper white mass has a much subtler 8 in offset stepping um in an opposing direction to the base to further animite animate that facade and bring back a
dynamism that um that was perhaps part of the fold scheme. Next slide. Um we'll show you the same two pedestrian views um that we had shared earlier in the fold. This is at the intersection of Thomas Edison Way and
Summer Street looking south. This is a good vantage point showing the stepped facade of the sevenstory podium and the way that it angles back um to reveal the entry canopy to the main entrance beyond. The next slide shows the
pedestrian sidewalk view looking north. Um this is a good illustration of how the south podium is pulled further back from the setback offering enhanced um and expanded public realm um for more indooroutdoor relationships to the
storefront retail. Next slide please. And this is a view as if we had just crossed Summer Street walking east. Um, again, the south portion of the four-story podium is pulled away from
the setback to create a linear plaza along the south side of the building and open up and frame a view into the Turban Hall 3 arcade beyond. Next slide, please. And this is an overall view
looking at the southwest portion of the building where we see its step from the lower fourstory podium. um up to the seven and then up to the 10story height of the building. Um this is a good vantage point for the different
hierarchy of punched openings that you see in the foreground. The threetory tall punched openings are meant to speak to the tall openings of the south face of the Turban Hall um seen along East First Street. Um, and then there's a
hierarchy of two-story openings, singlestory and twotory openings celebrating the top of the building and where it meets the sky. Next slide, please. Um, the material pallet um is studying uh alternatives um such as
brick masonry, pre-cast concrete or um gypsum fiber reinforced concrete, um metal panel accents and metal fins. Next slide. Um so um changing gears to the detail of Turban alley and the south um east
corner. What we heard both from full commission and specifically um at the February 18th subcommittee meeting is a request for further information on Turban Alley. You can see the plan shared on the left hand side
really didn't show information in Turban Alley and the inset at the lower left was an illustration showing a recessed or sunken plaza that was questioned um at the southeast um corner. The plan on
the left um will show some responses to those um questions including a plaza that's um at grade and I will turn it over to Colin to walk through some of those characteristics. Hey there. I'm Colin Curley, senior associate with field operations landscape architects on the project. Um
you can see here just a variety of um kind of character precedence of what we're going for in Turbine Alley. Um really thinking of it as a pretty um important um north south pedestrian connection from the neighborhood um all the way down to the waterfront. um the waterfront really being where the kind
of activity that you're seeing um in that kind of lower center image in terms of FNB spill out um is is concentrated. Um if you go to the next slide um this is really kind of giving a sense of the overall approach um to the alley um and a sense of the program. So um kind of
right and left on the page um gateways on either end of Turbine Alley um at the waterfront and at East First Street. Um as you're make your way from east first to the waterfront um the kind of center um of the alley um we're calling workers
walk um the idea that um both building facades um and potentially other elements and paving um could celebrate um the kind of legacy of all of the folks who worked um in the turbine halls um and particularly as you pass um
between block C and turbine hall 2 and three um the the windows there will provide um you know visual access into community space um and the old Edison turbine. Um Turbine Place um is kind of the intersection um of the alley uh with
Thomas Edison Way. Um that space kind of spilling underneath um the continuation of the roof between the two turbine halls um with uh visuals into the um Edison turbine. Um, and then as you continue further north, um, more of Workers Walk, um, transitioning into
what we're calling the dining room, um, where you really get that FNB spill out both from block D and the turbine hall, um, and then moving, um, over to the waterfront, um, at the northern end. Go to the next slide here. Um, call in for
two minutes. Oh, shoot. Okay. Um, so quickly here, uh, this is the plan of Turbine Alley. um significantly here. Um we have um elevated the corner of um the kind of page northeast corner here to 25. So we have a flush condition of the
building. We no longer have that sunken recessed condition. Um planter kind of subdividing circulation um down into the alley. Opportunity for um civic and community space to spill out. Um but really thinking of this stretch of Turbine Alley as kind of the pedestrian
connector um to the more kind of active uh waterfront. Next slide. Um so just quickly here um giving a sense of the continuation of the material character from phase one. Um some uh planters up against the um turbine hall to the left
where we have better access to light. Um cobble like um uh pre-cast paving here um to kind of give a more kind of historic um feel to the paving. Um, next slide. Um, and then looking back um the other way with that planter kind of forming the transition um looking down
um with that kind of clear um pedestrian path to the waterfront. And I think Victor um if you want to just speak to Yeah, I'll wrap up. Christina, thank you for the bit of grace. Um I'll go by this slide. We're
just showing um building overhang that helps separate the pedestrian realm from the 10 stories above with a light feature and then end on the animation. Um we're showing you three animations tonight. The first will be here with block C and the two will come later. And Kate, let's roll the
animation, please. So the walk starts um north of block D. As we walk along block D, we're going to pass the block D entrance to our left hand side there. Continuing to
walk along block D um with the storefront and retail um to our left arriving at the intersection of Thomas Edison Way and Summer Street where we'll look to the east seeing the portal into the Turban Hall beyond. Crossing Thomas
Edison Way, the northwest mass of block C provides a good illustration of the stepped facade caning back towards the main entry into block C. Um, highlighted by a steel and glass canopy just south
of the block C entrance. The public realm widens again for a few bays, providing more street frontage. And as we approach um East First Street, we'll look to the east and see the the portal into Turban Hall 3. Um that's a wrap for
block C. Christina, thank you for a couple seconds there, Extra. I really appreciate it. Not a problem. Commissioners, we turn it over to you for discussion. Thanks, Victor. I just wanted to say Victor and Colin, that was a really clear presentation.
Thank you for walking us through all this. I think I was at the last presentation of this building. So, it's nice to see it um emerge and evolve. David. Oh, thank you. Um yeah, I was going to say that the same thing. Thank you very
much for the presentation. I think um the the the I I very much understood the process that that you've gone through. Just a couple of quick comments. Um and I'll keep my comments focused on the the architecture. Um I you know while I very
much appreciated the sort of sculptural dynamic quality of the first scheme I also understand why you've uh come to the new uh podium design and um and I find that found that to that strategy to be particularly compelling in the
elevation diagram where you showed how it would step down to the neighborhood um along First Street and I thought that was um u uh very thoughtful. full uh diagram that um will I think go a long way in terms of the actual experience of
that street and uh sort of holding the edge of that street and and so I I think that all makes sense. I also um appreciate the simplicity of the um the framing uh techniques that you're uh
thinking about using here. Um and it's you know historic uh cont the within the historic context of waterfront architecture. I guess I just have a couple of of questions and comments that I might ask you to think about. um when you did the animation um
and it it mostly has to do with the storefronts um at the at the level of the storefront itself. Um I mean I um and you know we we've had many of we've had this conversation many times about how important it is to keep the flexibility of the of the storefronts to
accommodate multiple retailers etc. Um but I do find it a bit relentless um just in its in its u simplicity and purity as it moves around the building. um on the uh piece of the building that is uh adjacent to Thomas Edison Way
where there's the serrations above. Um I think actually that's quite dynamic. Uh Victor, I think that really helps the the the the fact that the storefronts are so simple right below it. You know, you get that scalloping effect. Um it's
actually when the building wraps um uh towards the turbine hall that you have this kind of long sheer facade with a long share storefront facade stepped below it. And I wonder if that's an opportunity to um almost reverse the the
relationship. You had a very nice precedent. If you could pull up those precedent images um you had a very nice precedent im uh image. Yes. the one on the upper left, which is maybe, you know, a a bit uh extreme, but um for
retail, but you know, could it be that the that the storefronts on on on that street under the that facade have a dynamism to them um that uh echoes the the dynamism of the uh scalloping that you have elsewhere on the facade? so
that all of that hits the ground conceptually in some place and that feels like a place where it would be nice to have some rhythmic quality leading up to um the edge of the turbine hall. So that was just a thought, you know, uh for you to consider if that if
those if those storefronts could somehow um be richer. If you go to that view if you could go to that view down um um east first, I think you're referring to. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. that view. Um um I mean the
framing is very clear up above and and it's it's just um it's just a little severe uh you know to to to to my eye. The other place where there may be an opportunity I think to really echo the the scalloping
and some of the ideas that you had in the first scheme is in the canopy of the building itself. the the the canopy to the front door, which I think right now is a, you know, a sort of simple extruded frame, which is very elegant, but I wonder if that couldn't I mean,
uh, couldn't be a little bit more of a statement, especially given the very sculptural quality of the building next door. Is there something there that could really announce entrance in a way that was um, uh, that recalls some of
the folding and stuff like that that you have elsewhere in the scheme? question. And then my uh last comment is that um um you know I I'm all for contrasting with the brick of the turbine hall and
making that um uh making the the new building read against that and I'm I'm not suggesting brick. Um however, it does feel cool. the building feels very cool relative to um the the warmth of
the historic um structures. And I wonder in my mind as you think about the pallet of the panels and stuff like that um is there an opportunity for it to um uh from a at some level have some kind of
tonal relationship um something warmer I guess is what I'm asking. Um and um there was one view that you had of the project, maybe it's an overall view. It could be that one. Yeah. Where the the gray and whiteness of it really just
sort of struck me and and um I've always worried a about white buildings in the Boston area because they don't they're not we're not in Florida and they don't look great in the rain. So I don't know if if that's something for you to think about, but uh those are my thoughts.
anyway in in but in general I very much support the shift in direction and and um uh what you've been working on. Thank you David. Appreciate it. I have to say your comments about the base
parallel some things we've been hearing from city staff also. So those two things are working together and I know staff also doesn't feel like we're quite there yet on the base. So, um, those comments are coming from others at the city and so point well taken. Thank you
for that. Thank you. Yeah, thank you, David. Um, I don't see other commissioner hands up right now, so I can add a few comments. And, um, I wanted to go there's a whole
series of slides 16, 17, 18, and 19. And since we were just talking about that edge, yeah, great. Um maybe one of the ones that zooms out a little bit more. I'm really talking about the corner at summer and east
first. Uh so I think this one's okay. My comment here uh is I think you were describing the different heights of of these framed windows and uh I actually think that they're quite
successful and I love the idea that you're announcing this is an important corner. I actually think it'll feel very much like a gateway to the project as you're coming along East 1st Street. But I am struggling with the scale. I think
these are three story um framed windows. And I wonder if you've looked at other scales and it might be helpful maybe to go to one of those earlier images that show Yes, that's great. I wonder if
you've looked at other scales instead of doing a triple height framed window here on the corner. um whether there's another scale that might feel more in keeping with the pedestrian and the idea of having an entry here.
Uh Commissioner Eastley, I'm smiling because similar to what I said to Commissioner Hassin also an ongoing conversation with staff. So we have studies in process that were a little underbaked for this session. we're getting um also staff had questioned um
the scale, the size, the height of those openings. So, most definitely studies are already in process and and um we'll um be providing different iterations for that piece. All right. Thanks, Victor. I I will say that I I do actually like
that the material is the same. Um so that you kind of have the two corners, right? The corner onto Thomas Edison and then the corner onto East First Street. And I think that feels really good. It's just that that scale there. Thank you.
And um then my next series of comments are about Turbine Alley. So Colin, these might be more for you. If we could go first to the I think it's slide 25. So there are two things that I'm
curious to hear more about. We're looking here at essentially the back of mechanical space in building C. Is that right? That that's right. Yes. Okay. And so the idea here is that there would be a type
of a graphic that would be telling the story the history of the turbines. Yeah. something along the lines of, you know, telling stories of people or, you know, um yeah, some some kind of history of the of the whole um power plant
there. Yes. Okay. So, my comment here is that I wonder if this will feel like it's too long. It's a really long part of this building. And I actually love that this becomes the pedestrian
passageway from East First Street. If I'm remembering right, you know, you can't get you can't get between building B, I think it is, on the other side of Turbine Hall, and wiggle your way through as a pedestrian. You can only
get through here, and that's why I think it's such an important passageway. Um, but that's a really, really long mechanical back of house facade here. And I'm wondering if there could be something more interesting that that
happens here. And then the second is this, you know, really pronounced overhang um that really closes out the sky in again what should be a really exciting pedestrian passageway. And so I'd love
to hear whether you had looked at at ways of of you know maybe even making that overhang one story taller or the or the you know pedestrian experience one story taller
so that that space doesn't feel as um as pinched and um so that I think combined with maybe a more animated way through this alley would go a long way and I think part of that is also thinking about what the evening
experience is, you know, through this particular um particular place. So, those were my two big comments about the project. I do really like that you've pulled back building C from the intersection of
uh of summer and east first. I think that plaza where you have some of the beastro tables and other things makes a lot of sense to me. Um, you know, I I again, I'm not really understanding why there needs to be an overhang there. At first, I thought it
was so you weren't blocking the view to the turbine hall loia, but I think it's just more of a design detail and and maybe just that you need that additional space. But, um, you know, as you begin to look at materiality around that
corner, maybe you'll be exploring that as well. Linda, can I just chime in to piggyback on something you're saying because I really I this you're really right about that overhang. I wonder um I was just on a trip where there were a lot of arcades
that that were treated with digital media that were actually very impressive. Um I don't know if given the neighborhood character around here that's exactly right here, but it is interesting to think about the underside of that overhang if we must have it. um
as part of the the the like if the wall idea wrapped up and under and created something that enveloped you more rather than feeling like you were under something. Um that might be a way of thinking about what that display is, but
I it feels a a little placeholdery to me. And I think uh if um uh commissions the the if Katherine was here, she would be advocating for a more artistic um more specifically artistic approach
to uh how that's handled. And so I I I guess I'd put that challenge back out there. Yeah. To to me it just feels very flat. I mean even, you know, it's interesting to see the rendering and you have this young woman facing the murals. I just don't know that it would feel
like a comfortable or exciting place to to sit or hang out, but I think it could be. I think it could be. And I think just trying to understand, well, how low does that overhang have to come? What are some other really interesting things we can do along that? And I do want to quickly interject, commissioners, that
um all comments great. What you are seeing most definitely a placeholder. I know that it is the proponent's intent to in a later process curate the narrative of the entire site as sort of
a um a holistic or coordinated curated experience. And so I think we're looking for the right placeholder in this and this may not be it. But I did want to clarify that this proposal um isn't meant to be literal and probably won't be getting to a literal one at this
juncture until it gets looked at campuswide. Thank you. Um David Manfrey. Um, well, first of all, I want to say I really appreciate u the changes that you made uh in the massing on Summer Street uh and on First
Street. I think it they really do address the issues we brought up in the last subcommittee about overhangs and heaviness and and there's a I think there's a um a a simplification
um a a consistency that's really quite nice in the massing now and quite a little bit calmer and um uh addressing the the the the two street walls and that sense of of heaviness has gone
away. Um, now uh I want you to go back to page 25 because Linda went right there and I'm going to go right there. Um, I I'm I I was I don't I got to tell you I don't remember if you had this
view at our last subcommittee looking south on on Turbine Alley, but I was really surprised when this slide went up because I think this gets exactly at what we were addressing um uh the last time you were at
subcommittee. I I I find that mass really overwhelming over my head and taking I think that's 30 feet from building to building. I think I saw that dimension on a plan. That's right. Um it it feels
like um uh so that that means and I think I saw the dimension that the canal lever is about 10 feet. That's right. It looks it looks like so much more meaning I I don't know half. Uh, and I I understand that's the perspective, but I think the point is that's the
perspective I will see as a pedestrian. Um, and it really does cut down um my my my the my view of the sky. It really makes I think it makes the alley um far
less inviting. Uh and um I had I had a similar thought to Lindas. I'm not sure. It's the only thought that at the very least if you raised it a floor, if it would if it uh was up another floor, I
think that would help a great deal because of just the relationship of the of a person to that ceiling above. Um, and I don't I don't know if that's I I I don't know if that's related to what you did on Summer Street and you're you're
recovering um the dimension of the floor plate and the core to the outside wall. I I I don't know if that's um uh um rec trying to recover square footage
on those upper floors and but I one strategy would be to raise it and another strategy would be to to if it's if it's a 10-ft canolver could it be a five foot canolver but I I think it goes right at the heart you've solved a lot
of other really really you make come up with a lot of really other good solutions around the building and I find this one um um really troubling really makes me not want to go down the alley. D
question. Do you think um because you raised two possibilities I I can't help but ask myself if part of it is because it's cancelell if it was arcaded would you feel differently about it? I I I thought about that, David, because I
because on the far end you actually have a split in grade, but I don't think I would. Um I I think that would in some ways that would even make them feel tighter bringing that structure to the
ground. Um so no, I I I I had a similar thought. I don't think so. I think that I think it's just too much mass too close to my head. And you know, I'm just imagining if uh um if you took it up a floor, I would see so much more sky. I
would feel so much more dimension uh as a as a place I did want to walk down. Yeah, I think um we're certainly hearing that Turban Alley in particular, this portion of the building mass is is something we're going to have to go back
and study. Um Commissioner Manf Freddy, you um did infer something correctly. Um we're I guess the metaphor I could use is in terms of of gross floor area, you know, we're quite a bit below what's uh
available for the site. And so it's a bit like squeezing a balloon, you know, where we're, you know, trying to mitigate um how much more is taken away. And so I'm sitting here wondering whether
um the sweet spot is going to be now down to a foot here and there. Can this raise up or can the cantal lever be less? And can we push out one foot, 2 feet somewhere else where if we are
gently squeezing the air in in that balloon? Can we take some away from here, nut something else out a foot or so? That's what my mind is going to to help ease some of the the negative qualities you all are perceiving in Turban Alley. But you're right on.
There's um there is some pressure on square footage here that we're trying to um find a way to weave in to making the pedestrian realm optimal. So that's right on. I I my response would simply
be this. Um I I don't think one or two feet is going to help me that much, but I do think if you could take I I think that you could minimize the loss because I I think this element goes all the way up to the top of the building, right? Um, no. It's only three stories tall. It
is a Yeah, it is. In imagine the podium on the south side. That's four stories total. So, the upper three stories of it wrapped into the alley. Actually, there's one good thing that comes out of the overhang. It may be too far, but if
you were in the alley, we also think it would be a challenging experience if 10 stories of building came all the way down to grade uninterrupted. And so having that threestory projection we do think helps visually break the
pedestrian realm from seeing 10 stories up. And it may be that the dimension of that overhang is what's suspect here. Um so yeah, it's three stories. Thank you Kate for bringing that up. That same height you see along the south podium,
that's the element that's wrapping into the alley. Yeah, I was just going to say I think the you you could minimize your loss um not by doing one thing three times uh by but by doing uh not by doing one foot
three times but by lifting it a floor u but I thought I was I I had more floors to deal with. You know, I'm gonna I just like to come back to the idea of that. Can you go go back to that view listening to David and Linda talk about this issue? I I I just wanted to throw
out that in my view this is the the architectural forms are are pretty blunt, right? I mean they're they're they're they're pretty strong forms and I do go back if if that has to cantaliever that much. I I do ask myself
if there's something about the frame language or some some level of ornament really that that would that could uh help support that uh cantaliever whether it's um you know some expression of the
structure or columns or brackets or something. I don't know what I'm talking about exactly, but um but that that that could be lit up at night that could be that could add a lacier uh more delicate quality to um moving down this space. Um
that um uh is in fact like a little bit more European in its in its scale and character. Um, so I'm I'm actually wondering if it's less an issue of uh I mean if it's if it can't go anywhere. Um that gets to
that issue of the treatment of the underside of it and how it relates to the walls. And I think it could be actually a very nice passage um if it was um a little bit I if the building kind of loosened up a
little bit in that in that space somehow. And so I I I I'll leave it there. Oh, Commissioner Eastley, I think you're muted. Thank you. I was saying we're looking forward to having you work your magic on this. I um I see Laura's hand raised and
I know we need to take public comment and kind of wrap up at six. So Laura, do you want to uh go ahead? Yes. Could we go to a site plan? I do. And while that's coming up, I do appreciate the change to the podium
at the base. I think that it it it really um has a very elegant base for the building. But the thing that I'm struggling with and maybe um you you've kind of mentioned it several times, Victor, that while you you have enlarged the public
realm, I don't know that there's been a benefit shown to that other than there being space, horizontal space for that. And so if you go to some of the perspectives that show the the building in the context of the
landscape, the the either either one we can we can we can look at all of them. Um but I think one of the issues that I have is that the building and the landscape are having a conversation, but
I'm not sure it's a very interesting conversation. Um, and I I think that there's so little faith for the for the landscape that I would like to see either the building do something to really kind of energize
this corridor or the landscaping to do something. And I'm, you know, I'm not talking about, you know, off the charts. We are, the place that we are is very urban. Um, so I'm not looking for a garden as much as I am
at kind of having a place when you're there. Um, you know, right now you're kind of showing the the tables kind of tied in, the pavement is kind of all the same, and I'm I'm wondering if there isn't some kind of
um reflection, you know, of the building that acknowledges that um the landscape is there, that it's not just the landscape kind of pushed against it or parallel against it. I I honestly think that, you know, these are
the hardest kinds of landscapes to do because there's so little room, right? And if you really care about um urban spaces, then, you know, you want to be generous with things like tree pits. And it it sounds really psyic, but it's
critical to whatever landscape you can get in there to it actually having a chance to be healthy and grow. And so I I would like to just see a few more layers on the landscape or changes to the building
that will that will help that or both. And I I think that out of everything that you've shown us where there have been some really smart moves with the building and the way that it hits the
ground, etc. I'm not sure that maybe your landscape architects have had time to to respond to that in a way that is um that I think is uh just more you know more to it and then
um so if we could look at the perspectives around and there's kind of aness to them as well um and again I don't need to have every single facade be a different landscape. But
just as in a building where you have clues about where to enter enter and where the retail is, I think there need to be those same kind of clues telegraphed into the landscape. So you've got it here where like this is the place to stop. But is that the right
language for it? Um you know are the how important are the corners? to the corners, you know, have a place in the landscape of occupancy as opposed to intersection. Um, and then, um, if we could go to the
to the alley, which I know has gotten a lot of, um, conversation, the famous perspective. The thing that is so hard for me about this is that that overhang on your building just splits the space right in
half. And as a pedestrian, where are you supposed to walk? Underneath your building or out in the sunshine? I'm outside, but I'm not sure that this really this is like parting hair down the middle for me. And I think that that
overhang has really tied the hands of the landscape architect because there's no mystery about this. The thing that can be so lovely about different alleys that you see in cities, you know, many different cities is that there there
could there's no mystery here and there could be some mystery here. So is it right that you see, you know, like a bowling alley all the way to the end? I I don't know. I think that should be re-examined um as to whether or not this
should be both a place of passage and occupancy and how I think it's up to the landscape to determine that and to really give the character of this architecture can only do so much in these kinds of spaces, but landscapes
can be really powerful. You know, maybe it's with lighting. Um, you know, there's there's lots of I think different opportunities, but again, just like I've talked about the other what are the layers of the landscape that are going in to make to
make up this space. Um, not just the layers of the building. So, I'll I'll leave it there. Um, and Linda, I managed to come in to below our time. So, can can I mess that up just by saying Laura, I think your comment about the
50/50 thing, the minute you said it, I couldn't see anything else. Um, and and and I really I guess one of the this idea of the alley being mysterious is really interesting to me and it makes me ask the question if the building on the
ground floor like if the building has to go out that far, what if the ground floor actually was narrower? Like what if the building actually the cantal lever was less because the building under there pushed out a little bit more. And so there was something that
you walked past around caned or something to eliminate that 50-50 thing. So I think it's just like this your idea that observation the sort of Tamacles observation and the 50/50 thing but also your comment about mystery or is really
interesting to me. I I Yeah. And it it can be so subtle. Um, but you know, we're all drawn to those to those kinds of places. And you know, landscape has a great just a great ability to do that um
in the city. And it's it's interesting too. I like the idea of the pinch point. I think that actually the canal lever is only a third of the space, but it does feel like 50%. It feels more overwhelming than uh 30%.
All right, I'm going to um hand this over to you, Christina. It looks like we have one public comment and maybe others. At this time, we'd like to invite any members of the public in attendance who may wish to contribute public testimony to raise your digital hand and staff
will call on you. If you're calling in by phone, dial star9 to activate the raise hand function and star six to mute and unmute yourself. Please state your name and any relevant project affiliation information and please keep your comments to two
minutes. Eileen Smith, are you able to unmute yourself? Hi. Uh yes. Hi Eileen Smith. Uh I'm uh part of the I A lifelong resident. I live right around the corner from the
project at 776 East Broadway. I'm very happy tonight. I have uh truly participated um with these um uh meetings and I believe that the changes on building C, which I came in late, but
the changes uh from what I did here that were presented were welcomed. Uh that uh was a monster and I wish we could do a quick review of it again, but we are on the later side of the meeting. But I do appreciate uh the massing changes and I
have to comment in support of uh the board tonight because uh with um the two Davids and uh Linder Easterly uh yes the turbine alley is is uh it's really it's
really scary and it's really suffocating and to make changes uh to that that's actually what the neighborhood looks at as well. And I think that we should get a better piece of the pie with more
thought and uh I think a more somebody said a more artistic approach and a more delicate quality. So I was very happy to hear everyone's comments uh because they support uh basically what would help be helpful for our neighborhood uh not just
the new uh residents and traffic that will be coming in. So, I thought it was a very good presentation with changes and I look forward to seeing more changes. Thank you, Eileen. Any others who wish to provide public
testimony? Commissioners, at this time, I see no additional hands raised. So, I'm going to close the testimony for building C. And um perhaps instead of issuing recommendations for this project, we could simply uh move on to building B and then conclude with summary.
Sounds great. Just thank you all for your thoughtful comments. We took thorough notes and look forward to sharing our revisions with you. Thank you so much for the conversation. Thanks, Victor. So, it looks like block B team is all queued up. I have a 15
minute timer and I'll let you guys know when two minutes is approaching. Great. Thank you, Christina. Hi, I am Jason King with Arrow Street and I'll be walking you through the refinements of the block B residential building. Go to the next slide. Uh we're starting with the full build site plan again to
reorient everyone and we'll just highlight that block B occupies an important location on the site as it fronts East First Street facing the South Boston residential neighborhood. sits directly next to the historic turbine hall 3 building and along with block A forms a gateway from the
neighborhood into the 776 Summer Street development. Uh if we go to the next slide, we wanted to begin by resharing the concept massing diagrams that illustrate the key concepts uh for the project as a refresher before jumping into our recent updates. These diagrams
have been shown before, so I'll move quickly. And just note that we've refined the building's architecture or as we've refined the building's architecture, we remain committed to the original design goals of using the masting to strengthen those connections between the neighborhood and the summer street development by angling the
building for better sightelines. Uh lifting the building up at key moments to enhance the views around block B to the historic 1898 and turbine hall buildings and uh to keeping the East First Street volume low in respect uh for the neighborhood's residential scale across the street. Um, moving to the
next slide. Through our conversations with the commissioners as well as the BPD planning staff, comments for block B have primarily focused on the public realm. So, beginning on the left of this slide, we heard a few different things that we needed to provide more information regarding the space between
block B and the Turbine Hall three rebuilding along East First Street uh to better define the architectural approach for how we navigate the grade difference between the finished floor elevations and sidewalk elevations along East First Street. that we need to study shifting the retail program further inward to
complement the public realm activity of block E hotel block F and the Edison plaza and finally to better define the architectural character of the block B and Turbine hall 3 loading area and its impact on the public realm we move to the next slide we'll start with a plan
and on the left is the plan presented in February as part of the full commission meeting as you can see the retail space uh shown in red fronts East Street with the building amenity spaces shown shown in orange fronting the new open space at the Thomas Edison Way Corner. On the
right is our current plan where we've swapped these two programs, placing the residential lobby and amenity spaces along East Fur Street and moving the commercial retail space to the corner. These moves have created positive impacts to the architecture and the public realm uh that we're going to illustrate through a series of ground
plane vignettes and perspectives later in the presentation. As we move towards the bottom of this page, uh we've relocated the residential parking entrance along Thomas Edison Way further planned south to share a curb cut with the loading dock and reduce the total
number of curb cuts from two down to one and uh restoring more landscape and sidewalk area to the public realm. We've also revised the architectural expression along this facade in a few different ways that relate to the site's history and enhance the story uh and
serve as a positive contributor to the public realm. And then finally on the right, we have designed the space between T3 and block B as a colorful welcoming space for users uh looking to access the block B and turbine hall 3 bike rooms and have revised the ground plane architecture along East First Street to respond to
these grade changes. So we'll share perspectives of all these views as we move through the presentation. Next slide. On screen now is a before and after perspective view taken from the Medal of Honor Park. Uh moving the retail program to the Thomas Edison wing corner has allowed us to to do a few
different things. Uh one to revise the scale of the ground plane architecture uh to bring more of the upper building's architectural expression down to the ground plane along East First Street which helps us create more opportunities for articulation of the facade. Uh two, it created areas for for planters that
we can help navigate use to help navigate the difference in grade change along this edge of the building. and three um helped us create a larger diversity of uses along East First Street, which include the residential lobby spaces, fitness space, and an exterior porch space that help activate
that street edge. As we move to the next slide, we've enlarged this view a bit um so you can see a little bit better. And the revised architecture with the ground plane begins to bring a rhythm of peers down to grade to better ground the building and break down the scale um to
relate to that pedestrian scale along the sidewalk. As you move into the Thomas Edison Way um street, this rhythm is broken at the point of entry where we're using a larger base spacing and a change in materials to introduce and clearly articulate the residential
building entrance along this uh this street. Next slide, please. Um and here we've moved to the perspective from Edison Plaza with the design as it stood in February on the left and the current proposal on the right. Um, another result of the retail
program swap is that we have opened up the facade with a more transparent and glassier um, expression to support the retail activity. And due to the relocation of the residential parking entry further towards the turbine halls, this glassier facade treatment now wraps
further around to the north uh, replacing the more solid base that used to occupy the building that faced the 1898 building in the previous iteration. If we move to the next slide, um we've got a larger view of that of that image. Um and again
highlighting that new retail base that um will be able to complement the adjacent hotel activity across the street and serve as a vibrant terminus uh of the views from the Edison Plaza. Uh and if we move to the next plan, thank you Kate. And so, as I've mentioned, we've created a series of
vignettes to help articulate these improvements to the public realm uh experience. Uh we'll walk around the building and beginning on page right, we'll we'll move counterclockwise starting inside the Turbine Hall 3 arcade, walking up East First Street, then turning left on the Thomas Edison
Way to see the building entry I mentioned earlier. Uh next we'll move around the open corner retail space and finally walk down Thomas Edison Way towards the Turbine Halls uh towards the bottom of the page. Uh so we can start that process with the next slide. Here
we're standing inside the T3 arcade uh looking east towards block B. The building mass at the ground plane is set back uh at this corner to visually align with the T3 arcade and continue that connection from Summer Street eastward past block BNA and towards the Thomas J.
Butler Park. This setback also creates an opportunity for an exterior porch space uh that can activate the East First Street sidewalk, which we'll see more of in just a minute. And if we move to the next slide, we've just exited that arcade and look to the left where we can see the bike room access area
which is adjacent to the two-way cycle track along East First Street. This space is meant to provide a safe and welcoming zone for the users entering the T3 and block Bike rooms. And we're exploring multiple ways of achieving this u safe and inviting feel uh including through the use of colorful
graphics applied to the ground wall and privacy screen as well as lighting and movable planters to help soften the space. Uh if we go to the next slide, we've turned back to East First Street and now have a closer look at that exterior porch space uh that results from our ground plane setback. And we
envision this um as an opportunity for the interior amenity space to extend out uh to the exterior on those nice weather days. and further activate the street edge with additional life and and vibrancy along East First Street. Moving to the next slide, um
further up East First Street along the edge of the ground floor, we designed um the building facade in a way to help ground the building in keeping with the the language of the building above with small plane changes that help design to break down the scale and better relate to the pedestrian scale along the
sidewalk edge. that rhythm of vertical peers and texture and adds that visual interest to the building edge and uh leads to a glassy corner at the corner of East First Street and Thomas Edison Way to provide better visual transparency and a lightness um to the
building at that public realm moment. Moving to the next slide, we've turned the corner uh around onto Thomas Edison Way and you can see where the rhythm of the peers developed in that slide previously is then broken at the building entry to create a larger bay to
help clearly designate uh the point of entry. And as we move to the next slide, you can see a slightly different view of that entry point. And we're envisioning a change in material uh at the moment at this particular moment uh to one of a rich color and varying textures that again help accentuate and clearly
identify the residential entry point. Uh moving to the next slide, we've now turned the corner uh at the Thomas Edison Way intersection to see the potential of how that commercial and restaurant or retail space can really activate uh this corner of the project with life, color, and vibrancy that can
also make it a destination for both the South Boston residents, uh the block A and B residents, block E hotel patrons, offen office users, and everyone else that's visiting the 776 Summer Street development. Uh next slide, please. Continuing down Thomas Edison Way, that
commercial space is to your left now and the turbine halls are straight ahead. The ground plane remains open uh inviting and glassy as it turns the corner and extends down the north facade. Um, this becomes a little bit more apparent as we move to the next
slide where on the left once again is the plan as it stood during the first full BCDC commission where the residential parking entry had its own curb cut uh along Thomas Edison Way. Uh we had not fully developed the architectural expression of this area at
that point in time, but on the top left is where things stood and it we're really using it to show the impact of how that residential parking entrance um what that impact is to the base of the building into the public realm as a whole. The vehicular entry point really bifurcates the base of the building
which uh was leading towards a more solid and and visually impermeable facade. So to the top right is our current design where that glassier retail commercial space is able to extend further along the north facade improving the overall public realm
experience along this edge. And the residential parking entrance again has been relocated to share that same curb cut with the loading zone reducing the overall number of curb cuts from two to one uh and allowing the building to really ground itself at this corner in a much nicer way.
Uh if we move to the next slide, we've also uh begun to refine the architecture for this area above the parking entry and loading space by working to develop uh a design that can build upon block B's close adjacency to the turbine hall and enhance how the story of the site's
history and significance is historical significance is told. From an architectural expression, we've developed a series of angled panels in keeping with the facade language of the building above. And the idea is that as users move around this space from block E towards the turbine halls, the visual
perception of this facade uh changes to reveal different artistic interpretations of that important historical story. Standing here in front of the 1898 building, users will see more of the solid panels that could display an visually rich graphic such as this historical drawing showing the
cross-section of the turbine hall 3 boiler house. And as you move to the next slide and closer to the turbine halls, more of the perforated metal that's being used to screen the mechanical louvers and back of house spaces behind is revealed with a screened graphic or per perforated print
that reveals an image tied to the site's history of power generation. This image is showing an example of the power meters that are found in the original switchhouse building um that were measuring the electrical output of turbines. And as you move to the next slide, uh, we've moved into turbine
place where users will see the this same imagery in context with the T8 turbine that's being preserved and displayed inside the T2 civic space uh, just visible to the right of this image. So, we're really excited about the ability for the blockb architecture to tie in
with the site's history and to both enhance and continue that educational component that's taking place inside the T2 civic space. Uh and finally here from a materiality perspective, we're continuing to use uh warmer building materials that include moments of
interesting detail and texture to articulate the facade and and moments of entry of entry and other key elements for the project. Uh, at this point I think we're going to switch over to the animations. And I believe the first one, uh, yes, first
animation begins with block C at that corner of East First Street and Summer Street, uh, and walks east down East First Street through the Turbine Hall Public Arcade and on to block B. So on the left, uh, you'll see block C and the public plaza space facing East First Street that Victor just uh, spoke about.
Uh, as we move past the building and look left, we see the Turbine Alley public space. um that connects the neighborhood to the waterfront which also includes entries into the T3 civic space. Uh from there we walk through the T3 public arcade uh with entrances into
the civic space, office lobbying and retail space. Uh now we've are exited and are walking along Faul B. You see that exterior porch space to your left and the facade articulation along the new residential lobby spaces to your left and sort of kind of complete the
animation as we hit the corner of Thomas Edison Way and East First Street. And I think the second animation is going to lead us through Turbine Place. Thank you. So the T2 civic space is just to your right. Through a glass curtain wall, you'd see the T8 turbine
machine that's being preserved. And as we exit, um, you see the perforated metal facade where that historic image would be displayed and kind of transition into two different images. Continuing along the north elevation of the building, we're now walking through that area where the second curb cut was eliminated. Uh, restoring more sidewalk
and landscaping to the public realm. As we get to this corner, we'll start to look left uh, and see the Edison Plaza space between blocks E and F that connects uh, the public realm to the waterfront open space. Uh, and now we're we're turning back towards block B and continuing down
Thomas Edison Way. Um, as you're continuing down the block B entry, just appear to the right. And then, um, we sort of end at the East Fur Street edge of the sidewalk looking towards the neighborhood. And I think that concludes
our our presentation for block B. Thank you, Jason. Appreciate the uh, presentation. Can you uh give us maybe a site plan or something just to start us off with our comments? And could you blow that up a
little bit? Thank you. David, you want to kick us off? Oh, no. I thought you were gonna go, Linda. Oh, no. Go ahead. I see your hand up. Okay. Um, so I'm I'm wondering about
um the relationship at the ground floor of this building to Turbine Hall. Um, by the way, I think there's a lot of really nice improvements, especially around the the base of the building on on East First and on the let me see east side of
the building. Um, and uh, bringing the lobby out to East First Street, bringing the retail into what I hope will be a very active four corners. Um, I'm wondering about the
um, oh, another very nice thing is eliminating that curb cut. I wanted to mention that as well. That's really nice on on on Thomas Edison. But I'm wondering about the relationship of the building on the ground floor to Turbine
Hall. And and I'm not sure. And when you walk down uh east first, I was hoping you were going to turn left at the bike access. And when you walk down Thomas Edison going um let me see, west. I was hoping you were going to turn down into
the parking entrance access because I don't I don't really understand the seam between the two. And I think what I'm seeing in plan now is I see the edge of Turbine Hall where it says Turbine Hall civic space where the purple is. That's
the perimeter of Turbine Hall. the kind of slate blue gray space is loading docks and all your your your um back of house stuff. And then there's and then there's um that no public
access space um which is the backside of the loading docks um and I'm sure supports the building. But was it always true that meaning in first time we saw this that
um there was no there was no uh pedestrian way through between the two buildings. Uh we can probably bring up that plan before but correct the the we tried to locate the block B transformer al cove
and back of house spaces immediately across from the turbine hall three spaces so that um we can maintain active uses along the perimeter Thomas Edison way and East first street. Um you know I think we tried to make it more clear in
this plan on the right that their intent was that there would not be public access through this zone. We also don't want to dilute the importance of turbine alley. So we really want people kind of walking through turbine turbine alley from the neighborhood down to the waterfront because we knew there would
need to be loading activities and back of house spaces and support spaces along this kind of spine between T3 and block B. So, the intent was to not have pedestrian access all the way through on this side and really focus that that
pedestrian connection on Turbine Alley. And so are those are the loading docks that are on Thomas Edison, are they open to the sky and visible from the street in both in um
the lo the the loading dock that says loading and then the dock just east of it where there two trucks or or a truck and a dumpster are parked and a ramp. Yes. So within the if we start at T3 within that gray space that says loading
um so just the cursor just to the right that's interior uh to the building just to the left of that where it says block BT3 shared loading that is um loading that's open to the sky. Um and then where you're seeing those two um trucks
just uh just north and to the right of that that is uh also open to the sky with a with a canopy structure over the actual loading dock. The the two buildings are planned right now to share loading access. Um, so T3 users would
come out um a door from that cray loading space onto that dock and use that ramp if necessary or the two docks could be used by both buildings. It's it's intended to sort of be a shared loading zone to try to consolidate those and and not have two different zones of
loading happening along this edge. I guess I'm wondering um you Thank you for that the explanation. Um, I'm I'm just wondering what um what I should see and what I shouldn't see. Um, and if
there's some kind of uh I'm not suggesting that the white has to be enclosed building. suggesting that there's that I don't I as a pedestrian I don't find myself wandering into your loading dock that there's some kind of
ornamental gate or something that that um keeps me out but also just kind of blurs uh what I can see on that loading dock because um you're serving all kinds of uses and I'm wondering about whether
um that's something you really want to the that whole ed that I appreciate the fact that you've turned the parking entry and I think that that whole edge has is greatly improved but between where it says
turbine hall civic space and where it says parking entry I'm I guess I I'd love to see uh when you walk down the street I wanted you to I wanted you to turn and look into that so I really understood it but I think you've got a lot
exposed stuff there that um um I'm not saying like I said it doesn't need to be building it it with a roof over it but I think it needs an edge that closes it off when the loading docks closed when the shared loading what however you
determine to do that I think that is part of public realm and should be a little um better defined I you know I'm a little bit torn about. Um, by the way, I think the definition of the ground floor and the
exterior um is is so much stronger in that one view you showed of before and after from the I think it's that's the southeast corner. um that well that view was greatly
improved, but I'm out on First Street looking um looking um north. I think it's from the Medal of Honor Park, so a little bit further up um in the presentation. I also wonder by Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I
think you had the one before this was kind of a side by side. Didn't you have In any event, the definition of basier is so much stronger. Uh, and and goes all the way down First Street. I think that's that's much better. Um, and and I
think now go I should have been paying attention to the numbers. Go into that little um um al cove that leads you to the bikes because I think I think that that's nice that there's a break between the buildings that light comes down. I
know there's a little bit of structure beyond it. I wonder if you just couldn't do a little bit more with this space. Um the trees in the in the planters feel like you want to move them at some time. Uh I don't know if you need to, but we
do that. They You're right. They do feel that way. So this is actually also where Eversource will need to get access potentially get access at some point get access to the transformer al cove and rooms beyond. So, I we I think we agree agree with you in terms of they look
like they could be moved and we would like to see more, but at the moment, we're we're trying to design for that potential need of having to get these out of the way. I wonder if the I'm not sure I know your plan well enough, but that's fitness to my right and if that
could even if you could even bring fenistration back further. Um Oh, I see you have a quarter there. But I'm just trying to animate that space a little bit more. Yeah. Yeah, because it it you know it you don't want it to be I I'm glad that you've indented and not
connected um brought the gray out further to first. I just wish it would feel more usable. I think we could do a better job with that core location and and to get to your point more administration and activity along this
edge. So I Yes. Point well taken. I think we can we can improve on that. You know, I wish I I'd love to say that where fitness is, I' I'd like to see retail, but I I I know you've really got a one-sided street here in many ways.
So, I think putting the retail into Thomas Edison um and if you really can make those four corners active, that that could be a really nice space. So, those are my comments. I do think there's a lot of lot of really good
progress and and um um uh our attention to where building enclosed building meets public realm. There's some edges that could get better. Thank you. Thank you, David. Um David Hine.
Thanks, Linda. Um well, I I just want to say that I'm I I think you've made huge strides. I'm particularly excited about the the retail residential lobby, the the reprogramming of the ground floor, Jason. I think it's just it makes so
much more sense to me in terms of um animating that central space in a lively way and and um and putting residents and um in a more passive way in a sense on this quieter towards the towards the neighborhood. I think that makes tremendous sense. And I I also really
very much like um the articulation of the building and as David mentioned the the the base and the warm tones. I actually think that this there's um a lot about this building that I hope migrates into other parts of the site
because it feels scaled a very human scale to it. Um, and um, I as I think about the project we were just talking about, um, I I almost wish that, um, you know, there is a residential character
that you've attached to a residential building here as it hits the ground, but I I I feel like some of the corporate character that's hitting the ground on um, some of the buildings that are more labor oriented on this site could maybe be softened quite a bit and could pick
up on some of the themes that you are um picking up on on uh in in this building. Um a few minor comments. Um the um I I see that you've like reorganized um the um uh balconies. Um and I think it's a
fine line between creating something that's playful and something that looks chaotic. So you may want to just, you know, as you develop that, just be thinking about that. like are there places where the balconies are anchored and then they sort of dissolve, you know, in different ways or but like I
was noticing in some of these views that it it might be fighting the legibility of some of the forms a little bit. So I just, you know, that's a that's completely up to you. Um the other thing is that in the view down um uh East
First Street um uh where you have that overhang. Um yes, there we go. Um, I think that's a really really nice space and I feel like some of the language that you were um looking at in terms of the the
perforated double reading spaces that are concealing mechanical spaces, you know, on the on the other side of the building adjacent to turbine. All is there an opportunity here for um this uh recess to get a little richer, a little
bit more ornamented? Um um the the the the underside of the canopy looks a little slick. Um you know, this is to me I'm really thinking about like trying to create um trying to create this residential character that that feels
so that everything doesn't feel like a form, but there are actually some parts of this project where there's layers of detail and layers of information. And that's why I was so intrigued by this double reading thing that you're doing on the turbine hall. Could that could that spirit
somehow wrap around the base of this building and create shade and shadow and lighting and layering that um could be really nice not only here but elsewhere on the site. But in general, I I think that um it's looking really strong and
um I'm that's it. Great. Thank you. I think we can definitely take a look at this. there's there's something unique happening with this particular spot. So adding that additional layer of kind of texture would be or something here would would actually be really good for the whole
streetscape. So yeah, I think we can definitely take a look at that. Yeah, it feels a little bit more like I mean I almost feel like the restaurant tour might do it, but it feels like something like a little bit more of a porch. It's almost like a front porch on the street and there's something really humane about that. And I hope that when the
other project um thinks about its storefront on this street, it may not be quite the same thing. I mean, it shouldn't be quite the same thing, but you know, again, how does it how does it have a rich neighborhood character up to 10 feet, you know what I mean? Yeah. So,
um, so there we go. Yeah. Thank you. Thanks, David. Laura, um, could we go to a plan? First of all, the changes, the tour around the building was really so helpful, and this is the first
time that I'm seeing this project in any form or any of the buildings, and so I appreciate the changes that were made, but I would love a tour around the building relative to uh topography. It's complicated. You're
meeting other grades on, you know, on the Edison building. And I I want to make sure that I understand that. Would you be able to do that, Jason? Or maybe Colin could do it. I can take it if you want, Jason. Go for
it, Colin. Sure. Um so, uh a lot of the grade change on the site is happening on East First Street. Those grades fall away, um pretty quickly. Um when you're at by number five, um you're around elevation 30. Um and then by the time you're at the entrance to Turbine Alley,
um you're down at 25. So Thomas Edison Way, um because we're tying into East First Street, um that whole frontage is around 30. Um and then similarly, Thomas Edison Way, um to the north, um has to dive down, um we're pinched by, um kind
of the intersection, um as well as meeting the 225 elevation of the turbine halls. Um so that side is coming down. um at around 5%. So um conditions, you know, grade um where it's flush is
pretty much along Thomas Edison Way. It's favoring that frontage. Um the that kind of um retail spill out um you know, you can access from the building. There's also a small opening um to get to it from the street. Um, but that's
why you're seeing um, you know, Jason's elevated um, you know, uh, uh, fitness spillout area there because that, um, by down by number two, I think we're down at 27 and change. Mhm. Um, at the bike access there. Um, and then you can see
elevation 23 over at the parking entry on the other side of the site. So, generally speaking, level along Thomas Edison Way, pitching at different slopes on East First and Thomas Edison Way. Yeah, it's a classic kind of Yeah.
coming together of of um a lot of grades. What is this piece here? Is that into um some kind of service or how that's connected and why it's connected that way?
Sorry, I just want to make sure I understand. You're pointing to the Oh, that right here. Yeah. Um that along where that blue line is is is a continuation of that retail facade. And you know, um I see coming along the
north edge of the building. Previously, that was much shorter and there was more solid mass because we also were putting the parking entrance through that spot. So, the idea here is that we can wrap that glassier, more active facade around the corner. Yeah, exactly. place so that users outside of 1898 in the hotel are
coming out and looking at, you know, what's on the right as opposed to what's on the top left. Uh, so is that occupiable or is it just simply a it's occupiable space? It is. Okay. Yes. So dinky, right? It's could be a really nice
private dining or some other space that we're hopeful that uh could work. I mean, I think we're, you know, we're going to continue to develop the building, continue to develop how the egress kind of comes out the building. And if we can kind of make that space a little deeper and better, that's definitely a goal of ours as we um kind
of progress into the project. Yeah. And I noticed um you know, the way that you show grade around the terrace outside of the retail is pretty different um in some in your uh in your walk around the
building. it's different in one of the perspectives. It's different. And so I'm just going to take that as it's under development, but I think that that the grade should really be in that area. And if you could zoom in a little bit on
that area because it's as Colin mentioned, like you've got all these kind of planes coming together and it's it's really hard in an urban condition and there's a a couple of things. One is, you know, should you think about
whether or not there's a layer of walls here to help both kind of calm the grade on the lower level, but also maybe provide some opportunities on the upper level to think about this uh terrace as
maybe a different shape and not so beholden to the to being parallel with the roads. I think that it might feel a little more um generous and maybe more relaxed um since the you know the building has a lot of
um a lot of uh comes down and meets the ground. Um, so that's that's just one thing I think that u might be studied. And then could we go to the to this? I think it's the perspective. Maybe
I just say quickly on that corner, the idea is that the the planter is what's taking up grade. So we're kind of allowing it to sort of Yeah. Yeah. But I I just wonder if there's something that should should kind of hold the edge. Maybe it's a place for people to fit.
I'm not really talking about like this. Yeah. You know, um even you may not even need the the wall, second wall that I drew, but it's something to think about. Sure. Um okay, let's look at the perspective that goes
into the alley. So, if I'm understanding this, these planters th this is an access for who did you say needs to get in there? Eversource would need to get access because the transformer rooms for both
buildings are behind um the screen wall that's at the end of this space. Yeah. So, I I don't I I looked at the plan and there's doors along this side, but you know, you can't help but wonder like is there instead just an opportunity to do
some planting along this edge so that you don't have to have those? I mean, moving these is like a, you know, a crane almost because they're they're so heavy. And then architecturally, you know, why not pay this a little more
attention so that this space actually has a background to it. And it it doesn't feel like there's one architectural, you know, expression, another one, and then a third one that is clearly the poor cousin. Um, and so I
I wonder if you if you thought more about what this space what this facade to that space does that it actually would feel like a much more sophisticated space and not a leftover space. And you know if there's feeding
in there um and you know my my suggestion that maybe the p the plants come to the edge is that you never have to move anything. Right. the take the planters out, let let Eversource have free access anytime it wants. You don't
have to think about it. Um so some things to study I think. Absolutely. Yeah. You know, I mean, frankly, both of the architects have, you know, one of the best landscape architects in the country, if not the world. And so I'm
sure that that they can um help you to think through that. Um, I I think that's it. Otherwise, I I I think there's been some really great and terrific changes and um all of it
feels really respectful to me of the of the landscape. So, I appreciate that. Thank you, Laura. Almost all of my comments have already been said, which is great. I have just a couple to um maybe elevate.
So on slide seven, I really wanted to compliment the team on this. The kind of narrower peers and the decision to really lighten up that ground floor is huge. And like we
were talking about on building C, you know, this also will be the gateway into the site along Thomas Edison. And then you've got that long view to the water. um from here if we just kind of even turn the perspective a little and and I think um it's really it's really going
to be very successful. So I appreciate you listening to our comments about that and making that change. I wanted to talk a little bit about porches before I get to um the loading area. The porches in my mind for this
building are a really unique element. I love the surprise factor with them. And I'd really encourage you to be thinking about the language of those porches in maybe a little bit more of a playful way
to me right now. They feel very practical. Mhm. But if you imagine what's happening coming out of the fitness area, you know, juice bar, whatever, that could be a really great social playful space. and you don't
really get that reading the way that it's detailed now. And then on the flip side, I think on the north side on Thomas Edison, the idea that the retail continues and the grade drops and then you've got that porch
condition. Um, right. Uh, yeah, there was the other diagram that might have been a little easier. Right. I think that also could be a really wonderful outdoor social space even though it's more intimate in scale. And so I would think about um
that a little bit more. Can those porches actually even become a little bit wider? And as you're thinking about the animation of this plaza area and you know kind of food and beverage coming out onto that plaza area, you know,
could you continue it onto those onto those porches as well? So I I like the idea of the surprise element and I would love to see it become a little bit more than it is. The last comment and David Manf Freddy talked a lot about this is really about
that loading area and the changes you've made with this building have been terrific and I feel like this is the area that really hasn't been studied as much as it should be primarily because of the views into it
from uh you know across Thomas Edison and for anyone that's essentially walking into the site And so are there opportunities here for screening um with walls or plantings? And are there
opportunities to close off these areas that you really don't want anyone going into? So I would love to see a few ideas about that when we um kind of have all of these groups come back for the wrap up.
Okay. Yeah, we can definitely look at that. I think our focus has really been on that facade expression along this edge and making sure that that part of the building which sort of back of house in nature can have an opportunity to kind of interact with the public realm really more that zone that faces the
loading dock um gau. So, but yes, I think we can take we will take another look at what it means um at the actual ground plane in front of those loading dock spaces. Yeah, that would be great. And there's a good view of the porches there that I was talking about earlier. Yeah. Yeah. Jason, I'm I'm thinking like
uh David mentioned, you know, the possibility of gates or something in that area. Um Linda was talking about these porches and this expression. Uh Laura mentioned the the the gates literally to the the vaults um around
the corner. Um and I was talking about the retail porch, right? And I wonder if there's just an opportunity for you and your landscape architects to put your heads together around a language of uh
metal work gates um detail that is essentially integrating the landscape and the architecture, bridging between the architecture and the landscape and wrapping the entire building in a way that's really rich. uh because it feels
like we're all kind of zeroing in on all the potential that exists in those places. So, I thought, Lindo, I just wanted to put that in there because I I I was sort of hearing like little pieces that could all theoretically come together as
something more thematic around the base of the building, which could be really nice. Yeah, I really love that, David, because I think it also creates a new level of animation um with with that. and uh and helps that ground plane because it's sometimes
raised, sometimes at street level and kind of helps it read all the way around the building. So, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Well, we I think there's a lot of great opportunities there. There's even opportunities to that point as you're saying, it makes me think we can tie in because some nice landscape areas
that are happening in front of the building or near the building entrance on Thomas Edison Way that could also connect those dots all the way from the loading to the east first porch space. So yes, that's that's those are great comments that we can take a look at. Great. I don't see any other
commissioner hands. Christina, do we have any public comment and then we can come back and talk about next steps for um both buildings and for the project. At this time, we'd like to invite any members of the public in attendance who
may wish to contribute public testimony to raise your digital hand and staff will call on you. If you're calling in by phone, dial star 9 to activate the raise hand function and star six to mute and unmute yourself. Please state your name and any relevant project affiliation information. And please keep
your comments to two minutes. Eileen Smith, are you able to unmute yourself? Yes, thank you. Um, I just have a couple of quick questions that I didn't understand on the curb cuts from the 2
to one. Could um Jason King explain where where that second one was removed from? Is it? Yes, thank you. Yes, we have um I forget the slide number. Thanks, Kate. So, on the bottom left uh is the plan uh back in February.
And so we've got two kind of large arrows pointing at to where on the top there was a parking entrance uh off of the road into the building. So that would have been the first curb cut and then the one below just below that which is a curb cut into the shared loading
space. So on the bottom right is the new plan where that that first one was eliminated and returned to landscaping and sidewalk space. And now you would enter uh using the same curve cut. Um
yes, exactly. A place to enter the building parking entrance as well as the loading. So it's all kind of shared uh in that one space. Who shares that curb cut? Uh blocks B and the turbine hall for their loading functions and for their uh residential
parking or block B's residential parking entrance. And do they have access to the summer street entrance as well? These particular loading docks are dedicated to Turbine Hall 3 and block B.
So um they just they you would drive up Thomas Edison Way and connect into them right at that point of where that pink arrow is. Okay. Thank you. And I I have another question for you. Um, are those porches
or balconies and uh are you going to uh provide a certain amount of them and why are they so um just thrown on the building? So there's three questions
in one. Uh so the porches we are referring to the spaces that are at ground level um where those uses on the inside of the building you can open up doors and kind of walk out and have an indoor outdoor experience and again kind of activate the street life that's
happening around those. Uh the balconies are currently located uh with intent at uh units with um better views um towards either the water um or to you know above the residential buildings on East First
Street and out to the the park and kind of the greater South Boston neighborhood. Um we definitely heard you know the commissioner's comments about taking another look at those balconies and how they interact with the building and making sure they don't have a halfaphazard look to them. So, I think that's something the design team will
continue to kind of refine as we move forward. Okay. My last question for you, I'm sorry. Uh, predominantly it looked like the building materials are going to be brick. Is that correct? We're exploring a bunch of materials to be honest uh
with you. But yes, we we we're looking at masonry um including some metals, but all in kind of those warmer um kind of color tones where we can find ways to add detail and texture either through coursework um or specific um materials
that have a little bit more of a of a vertical ribbed texture to them. Yes, definitely warm to the neighborhood is appreciated. Um thank you. Thank you for the questions. Thank you. And thank you,
Eileen. Are there any anybody else here who would like to provide testimony? All right, commissioners. At this time, I see no additional hands raised, so we're going to close the public testimony period. Thank you, Christina.
So, uh, commissioners, we should just talk about next steps. The original idea was that we would have one more subcommittee now that we've seen these blocks um, kind of in individual chunks. The
idea was to have a a subcommittee where each of the block proponents would be invited back to show updates and changes. How does how do you all feel about that plan? Kind of collective update and a
collective review. I'm sorry, Linda, you're saying see the the pair of buildings that we saw again at another subcommittee or separated. Yeah, let me let me try that again. So the original plan was that we would have
one last subcommittee where we would invite all the proponents for all the blocks. Oh, got it. Okay. To come to come back and share any of the updates and changes that we had requested at earlier subcommittees. So we would have
one kind of comprehensive subcommittee where we would see all of those updates and be able to see them kind of in the context of each other. I'm wondering if this could be I'm I support that, but I'm wondering if this
it's four buildings, correct? Um so I'm wondering if um you know there were for example tonight I feel like there was a lot of discussion around the base of both buildings. Um, there were some other comments, but it was mostly around the base of those buildings. Um, and I
don't know, uh, maybe Christina can speak to the subcommittee meetings about the other two buildings, but it feels to me like it might be a good idea to come back, have each proponent spend not more than 10 minutes or 15 minutes max, just
sort of talking about the the the building, focusing on the evolution and the comments and uh, have them just run back to back and then giving us um maybe an hour to dialogue on the whole um
assemblage um so that we don't get bogged down. I'm thinking like you know um in each building again yeah more of a pachukucha kind of a style with lots of with lots
of time kind of left for talking about the interstitial spa you know the spaces that are being framed and formed by the buildings as as a district the the four teams at one point I can't remember which point in this um did a
did a combined walk around all four buildings. It It wasn't You didn't see one building and then the next building, the next building. You walked down Congress Street, not Congress Street, um Summer Street, uh turned left onto First Street, turned left onto Thomas Edison,
came around the corner. That was really helpful. And we spent a lot of time tonight talking about the seams between buildings. Uh it would be really nice to see it all together and understand from just from a pedestrian point of view. Uh
and look down each of those u the the the uh into that space where the transformers are back into the loading docks across the street at the at the hotel building. Um that would be very
helpful. Yeah, I like that. David, I I think that um that makes makes a lot of sense. Uh happy to facilitate that. I think the one outlier and um Commissioner Manf Freddy was present at
the last subcommittee meeting. I think that was one that maybe Seth or Diana facilitated. I think there was a lot of discussion remaining um on block E that maybe was a different scale than the kind of conversation E being the tower, the uh hotel tower.
um that was different than I think A B and C um which are the two residential buildings and then the the lab building at the corner that we reviewed tonight where really the discussion seems plainly focused on this ground floor
um relationship to the public realm. Um so I think I'm what I'm hearing from the commission is that um the pro the you know all four proponents should return together for a kind of penultimate subcommittee discussion. Um, and then I think Linda, we can, you know, we're
happy to follow up with you and the proponent team to discuss how um, we format the structure of that meeting to make sure we're hitting on all of the outstanding. Well, Christina, I guess my question again, not having been a part of the
scheme e discussion, um I worry that if that was lagging relative to the other three sites that we could, um get um tripped up by that. Um, does it make sense for building E to have another
subcommittee meeting on its own before we review the whole project um so that it gets caught up in a sense um with the process? It's just a question. Yeah, I think I'm wondering actually
from a timeline perspective just because we're scheduling so far out at this point if we might just simply structure another double session like the one where we had tonight where we make sure we give plenty of time and space around E and then um another session um focused
specifically on this public realm and ground plan of all all four buildings together. Oh, that makes sense. I really like the idea of a double session. I feel like we just can't get through it all um in one hour. Yes, understood. I think
um to the proponent team um and the project managers who I see here, we'll we'll work together to make sure that the scheduling for that works out um and that we can get to all of this in a timely timely manner. Well, um with two minutes to spare, we
did it. We are right on time. Um, and we appreciate the commissioner's time, the members of the public who contributed public testimony, um, and the proponent team for their time this evening. Thank you all. Thank you. Good night. Good night. Good night. Part: 2
Hey, good evening everybody and thank you for joining us for a design subcommittee meeting of the Boston Civic Design Commission. Today's date is Tuesday, April 22nd and this is session B of the BCDC design subcommittee. The planning department continues hosting
public meetings in a virtual setting for the health, safety, and accessibility of Boston residents. My name is Seth Ryman, deputy director of design review at the City of Boston Planning Department. And before we proceed with the agenda, the open meeting law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being
recorded. Please turn off your camera and microphone if you do not wish to be recorded. For the record, commissioners present include uh Commissioner Gilly Smith, Commissioner Love, Commissioner Ron, and Commissioner
Sykes. Tonight's agenda will include a presentation or multiple presentations. It's actually a double header for the proposed project at one Joslyn Place in the Longwood Medical Area. And tonight's meetings will follow uh sorry tonight's
meetings proceedings will begin with a brief presentation uh from the proponent focused on pedestrian connections followed by the comments uh followed by comments from commissioners. Uh then the proponent will give a second presentation focused on building
articulation followed by comments from the commissioners followed by public testimony and um next steps. So, a proposed project at this location contemplates the development of 495,000 square ft of hospital use and 250 garage
parking spaces in a single building on an approximately 1acre site in accordance with the approved 10-year institutional master plans for Beth Israel Deaconist Medical Center and Dana Farber Cancer Institute. This will be the fourth presentation of the ADB
application for this proposed project to the design subcommittee following an introduction at the December 3rd monthly meeting and subsequent design subcommittee meetings on January 21st, March 18th, and April 15th. The
commission previously reviewed the approved IMPs uh for both institutions which set forth the regulatory context for the proposed project. The most recent design subcommittee meeting focused on the proposed reconfiguration of adjacent public rights of way and
Joselyn Park. The design subcommittee uh this design subcommittee will focus on updates to the proposed pedestrian bridges and architectural expression. A reminder to proponent teams that presentations will be limited to 15 minutes. Uh we will give you a
halftime and one minute warning. And with that I invite uh the proponent team to begin the first presentation whenever ready. And commissioners we will sort of roughly time about a 45minut discussion period on the first uh presentation uh
and then suggest uh to see whether we are ready for the second presentation after that. Okay. Believe the proponent teams have been elevated. Yes. Michael, are you there? Yes, we are. Great evening.
Uh well, Seth, thank you uh very much uh for that introduction. Uh this and good evening to the commissioners. Thank you uh for joining us this evening uh to discuss the pedestrian connectors. Uh as Seth uh said earlier, um I'm Michael Hinchcliffe, uh principal in charge of the project. Uh good to see you all
again. Uh we'll be covering two topics this evening. Uh the first uh will be the hospital connectors uh and then the second uh will be the overall building design. Uh so to jump right into it uh this is a view from Pilgrim Road uh uh looking at Joslin Park which we
discussed last week. The Pilgrim Road connector uh is on our left hand side. uh is what we'll be count uh talking about first this evening to remind you uh the pilgrim connector is that vital link uh that joins uh the future cancer hospital uh to advanced clinical
services and specialties on the Beth Israel Deacons West campus. So that's the emergency room, the arrival of patients by ambulance, the advanced imaging surgical operating rooms. Uh it's a critical link for the operation of the hospital uh to the rest of the medical campus. uh it's uh navigating
about 3'6 uh in elevation change between the two buildings. Uh and we were challenged uh at our previous meetings uh to look really carefully uh at this connector both from an urbanistic standpoint but also from an architectural standpoint. U how we articulate the depth of the overhang
alternate configurations for the crossing. How is this uh becoming a building unto itself and being respectful of its surroundings? Are there alternate materials or massings or approaches? and what's more over the pedestrian experience uh from the urban realm. So, I'd like Kevin uh to uh to
take us through uh the progression uh that we've had since we last met with you. Thank you, Michael. So, uh what I wanted to do first is just uh start off where we left off last time. And this array of uh schemes on the left shows you where we were the last time uh we
presented to you. And in this scheme uh the connector was very much a connector uh very uh light transparent volume and subsequently we've worked on some schemes that have tried to embrace the park and the landscape in in several
different ways. um the progress scheme that when we were working with the BPDA on 226 um we were trying to integrate landscape with the connector and you'll see that in the form of um sort of a linear planter at the top and the the the the
walking surface elevation of the connector and then our current proposal which is a bit of a departure um and it it's almost a building that anchors the end of the part that that's very much an extension of the landscape shape itself. And so it has a very different tone and
texture. Um, and the more transparent connectors that are very much analogous to the Brooklyn connector actually go to the far building on one side and the new cancer hospital on the other. And this axon shows this idea where the landscape really becomes an extension um of the
connector. And we've actually widened that planter strip in front of the building to actually have a more robust landscape connection. Now, as we look at the U connector in a little more detail, um we'll notice you'll notice it's made up of three different se segments. The A
segment, which spans essentially from canopy to canopy on the new cancer hospital and to the Rosenberg canopy on one side of the building, and then it has uh connector type B, which are these lighter, more ephemeral connectors. They're analogous to the Brookline
connector. Now as as we look at the architecture um this is a view uh from Deaconess uh you see the edge of the Rosenberg canopy on on the left uh this weathering uh steel uh building uh very
much of the landscape the tone and the texture. You'll notice actually that there's a a row of trees in front of the building. This was actually to use the landscape almost to define that rhythm of Loia that's in front of the building as well. Um, as we move a little more uh
towards the park uh with the next view, you'll see um how it nestles into the landscape. Michael, I'm not seeing it move. Oh. Oh, I'm sorry. Um, and so this is also just giving you a sense of we were thinking very much how the building
responds to uh the different times of the year and we wanted it to have that earthy tone whether or not uh it it's it's part of the season where there leaves on the trees or not. So this is a view from the center of the park. You'll you'll see the the the shading strategy
opens up as you get to the center and then it closes down when you get to the edges. So it's it's quite dynamic. Um, and the next view is going to give you um a sense of what it's like up along the new cancer hospital. So, you'll see the canopy of the new cancer hospital.
Um, and the deaconist building's very much in the background here. We're using uh some planting on the top of the building uh to help screen uh the very top of the parapit of the deaconist building and some additional uh landscape along the the base of the
building too to buffer it uh from the street but also extend that landscape from the park to the other side of the street. So the next if you could go to the next view Michael uh this is a view of what we're referring to as the Loia.
Um there's different planes in this walk. It it gets a we've we lessened the canal lever quite a bit so that it's not quite as pronounced as it was. Um on this end of the Loia, there's plenty of room for seating up along the wall there. Uh the wall steps as you get to
the end and then you have this robust planting strip uh bookending the end of the park there. So I wanted to take us through just a a couple dimensional things and to give you a sense. So, these are some precedent planning strategies that we've talked about in
the past. Um, and Chris from MVVA uh in Q&A can go into more detail if you have some questions about these things. Um, and the this is our overall approach for the planting on the top of the building. Uh, so there are some uh uh non-deiduous
uh plants uh both at the bottom and the top as as you can see here. And then on the next uh series of drawings uh you can see how this works in plan. So uh this is a uh plan view at the level of
the connector. Um and you can see that the the armature that's sort of framing uh the the building fronting the park actually uh tapers to allow room for these trees in the front. Um and then as we look at the uh ground level and the
roof level, you'll see some of the planting strategies. So, this next view is going to show you sort of the planting bed at the street. And you'll see there's this 5 1/2 ft planter with uh the trees aligning the sidewalk and
this sort of stepped wall along the back of uh the connector. So, this what we're doing here is we've actually reduced the width of the street by 2 and 1/2 ft to give us this more robust planting zone uh in front of the connector. Now, as we
look at the top of the building on the roof of this too, there is a planting bed um that's at the top of the building that gives it um sort of this essence of uh the planting sort of screening the building behind but also draping over the facade and and some strategic
locations. So, what we wanted to do now is uh take a step and start to look at some of the sections. So, the these sections show the relationship at the base of the building. You have that uh roughly six foot planter up against Print Pilgrim. A walkway that varies in
width, but at no point is it narrower than 8T feet. Um and then you'll see the the clearance uh the roadway clearance that we're trying to do below the uh pilgrim connector that's going uh back to the new cancer hospital. Now, we
wanted to show you some details of the sections to give you um some more details. So, Michael, if you could just advance it. Kevin, you're about half time. Okay. Uh, so this is showing a view you haven't seen. Um, you're sort of looking at New Cancer Hospital on the
left, uh, the the Pilgrim Connector on the right, this tapered strip site wall, and some of the planting. And then Michael, if you can quickly cycle through this next view. It's a little further down um pilgrim up against the new cancer
hospital sort of beyond uh the the the angled connection to the connector. And then these next views quickly just show um some section studies and the ideas of the uh component B uh the lighter connectors
are very much like what we're proposing for the Brooklyn connector. And then this next slide just shows you these two different conditions of type A and type B. Type A anchoring the end of the park and type B um connecting to both the FAR
building and the new cancer hospital. Michael, you advance it and take Thanks very much Kevin. So there were some questions raised about the routing of the connectors. Uh more particularly the the angled connector over Pilgrim Road connecting it from the uh the section
along the Decess building to the future cancer hospital. Uh we've looked at a number of uh different variants uh on this pathway. We looked at routing it through the building. We looked at moving staircases within uh within the future cancer hospital. Uh we looked at the structure uh as well as the abing
buildings and uses. uh and in the end uh we've resolved that we feel that with the most efficient structure with the least impact on existing programs and with an overlay of the best pathway for safe patient transport uh that our proposed angled connector uh between the
FAR building and the future cancer hospital uh really seems to make the most sense not only from uh an elegant crossing urbanistically but also one that solves multiple problems uh and challenges on the inside of the building um for for patients for structure for for efficiency uh and for existing
programs uh most notably an inpatient psychiatric unit that's located on the uh the top floor of DECess. What we'd like to do now uh is transition to the um uh the other connector that we'll talk about which is the Brooklyn uh connector. Uh as Kevin
said earlier, the the bridge portion of the Pilgrim connector is meant to be a variant or a sib a close sibling of this other connector that spans across uh Brookline Avenue. So let's go over there. Uh right now uh when we last presented it uh we heard uh from you
very clearly that we needed to carefully consider uh the trans transparency and glazing and proportion uh of this connector uh to really look at the lighting and the sophet conditions uh as well as priority for this to be as elegantly detailed as possible uh as
well as uh resolving the interior uh of the connector. So let's look at this in more detail. uh when we step uh back from the city uh let's move in now you'll recall on the at the center of the screen is the multi- height uh lobby space that the that the bridge enters into uh the bridge on the right. Uh we
looked at uh and shared some of these images of study models that we've developed uh to really carefully assess how uh the connector works separately and in conjunction with the building uh and how it it meets the adjoining structure across the street uh at the Dana building. So in in this view here,
uh we're looking outbound on Brooklyn Avenue on Brooklyn Avenue. Uh different than Pilgrim Road connector, which is a little bit lower. Uh here we're almost 30 ft above grade uh with a light and delicate span uh that is bridging across the uh across the street. Uh uh in the
outbound view here, a little bit closer in, uh we're spanning the roadway with a pair of box trusses underneath. uh and we've worked uh over the past few uh weeks to lighten how the how the connector meets the sky uh as well as to try and thin up as many
profiles. As a reminder, we are at the third floor here. So connecting a series of uh patient movements uh for ambulatory patients uh or outpatients that are moving into the cancer hospital at the third floor. Those are still under uh under study uh as well as how it elegantly connects into the vertical
circulation and arrival system in the new cancer hospital. In this sequence here where we started uh we were a little bit heavier uh and uh a little bit maybe more conservative in our approach to to the structure. Since then uh we've evolved uh to uh look at refining again how the connector
meets the sky with a glazed corner. We've tried to lighten the structure uh below uh and introduce the idea of a flyby. So a little bit more transparency and lightness uh at the base of the connector. Uh it's relatively narrow and shallow. Uh so about 15 feet high, lower
than it was before uh and about 12 foot three wide. Uh we're working uh with our closely with our engineers measurer uh again uh to look at how light and elegant we can make this. So with all the structure below uh we're burying the the roof on a series of very slender
tube uh uh tube steel uh columns uh with no millions uh for the glass. So we're aiming to get the highest transparency uh for this triple glaze structure. we are meeting all the new energy codes. Uh so as a patient transfer route we this is a fully conditioned uh route uh that
will provide a no uh no interruption in the quality of the environment or care. Uh so the insulated value of the glazing uh and the the the the careful consideration of frit patterns uh and bird protection on here has been uh at the forefront as we've evolved the
design here of the connector. We have begun to look at the coloration uh and in this outbound view. Uh this is something that we uh were now wanting to study in close collaborate in close uh coordination with not only the future cancer hospital trims and architecture
but also the adjoining uh Dana and Mayor building. Uh here we're tested a range uh of colors. Uh we think that in the slightly lighter uh cooler uh shade uh might make more sense for integrating the two structures and the crossing. Uh but in the end uh we are looking at
multiple uh options. uh in the field and in true daylight. Uh in these final views uh here we are looking at how the connector meets the Dana and mayor building. Uh we are restricting our work here to one structural bay. Uh so we do have to do some structural work uh to
receive uh the new uh the new connector. Uh but it aligns now with an entry, a staff entry to the Dana building uh that we will clad below it uh with terracotta panels uh that evoke and tie through some of those key lines in the existing building uh adjacent. And Michael about
a minute left. Perfect timing. Uh so looking then uh at how the build the connector meets. We're we're aligning as many regulating lines and proportional lines uh to resolve conditions uh with both buildings. And finally, we are studying the underside of the soffet knowing that it's really our a facade in
and of itself. We did look at options where this was a glazed or backlit illuminated glass panel. Uh we've studied it now in a bead blasted reflective stainless steel. We think that the quieter, lighter uh version of stainless steel uh is more respectful of the adjoining buildings and leads to a
general elegance uh as well. uh we can return to these uh in discussion to talk more about the dimensions uh both of the clear spans uh and the connector itself as well as answer any questions you may have uh about um the u about the the
tunnel that exists below. Uh uh we can talk in uh in detail as well about some of uh the work that we have uh in terms of uh the details of the connector. Uh but in general uh we're quite pleased uh with the elegance uh that we've achieved. So with that, I'll stop my presentation now uh and we can
transition to uh any questions or discussion you have. I'm more than happy to return to any image uh that you would like to focus on. Thank you. Thank you, Michael. So I think commissioners, there's only four of us, so I don't know that we have
to be so formal and raise hands. In fact, I think a dialogue going back and forth might be beneficial tonight. Um, so if there are any comments, Seth, you're not following up with comments, correct?
Nope. Okay. All you. So, Mimi, I think hearing from the commissioners that were at the last subcommittee would be helpful since that was the guidance. I got correct. I I do the pedestrian bridges
were a couple of meetings ago. I would say three or four. Yeah, they were a while ago. Um I I do um know that I was there and uh Shauna and and Bill, I believe you were there.
Um but I'm happy to to to get the conversation going. Um, you know, I think the one that's the most prominent of the pedestrian bridges is the one across Brooklyn A. And I am, you know, starting to, what I'm pleased
about is that every time we see it, it gets a little bit more quiet and a little bit more lighter and airier in feeling. Um, and so I I do think it will be present. Um, it's going to be an object. Um, that's definitely going to
be a gateway to that area, but I do think you've worked on refining it to be lighter and lighter. I I am seeing the impact though on the building across the way with a terracotta panel
underneath and that to me doesn't feel I think you're in a tough position, right? because it's enter. If you can go to that rendering where the bridge connects um it's just in an upper quadrant of a
larger field of glass and it almost feels not intentional where it lands. And I I definitely not convinced that that terracotta panel underneath is the right move, but I do feel positive about
that entrance being there. And so maybe it's not exactly that terracotta material or um you think about what that should be more. It's just a little bit awkward and I I I'm sure you wrestling with it and think that you know you've probably
tried a lot of options but that connection into the adjacent building gives me a little bit of pause and I wonder if even just being more silent about it the way you have been with a bridge is the right attitude. like maybe it's really just a dark metal panel um
and not that terracotta panel. That that's that's in the details, but that's just stood out to me as a area of study to continue studying. Um that's a good point, Mimi, because I think as the bridge is
refined, that's one area that um we haven't looked at as much after we refine the bridge. So, we can we can think about that. Yeah. If I could just ask a follow-up question with that, Mimi. I I see that that the existing has these horizontal
sort of spandrel bands um and that you're making a choice not to continue them in in what looks like a redo of that whole uh structural bay right in between the um pre-cast elements there. Can you talk a little bit more to to
that choice? Or was it more Kevin what you were saying you got to look at it more now. Uh yeah I think we need to study it a little more. I think the intention here was um because of the way the the connector is hitting um you know those
the the horizontal connections of the other you know the other banding. It's it's almost an extension of the other building. And once the the the connector in the bridge defines this gateway, we we actually thought breaking that system
made some sense. But um holding, you know, maybe thinking about that color choice and that material choice of that that piece. Uh I think what Mimi said, quieter is better in this case. Um and
um I think continuing the banding might heighten uh this the fact that the connector is uh sort of an intervention in existing fabric. So I'd try to maybe not have that tension.
Are we to understand that that curtain wall is going to be replaced in its entirety once the band goes away? It's it's all new. So it' be a much lighter sort of more sort of ele elegant system
that's more of the new than um the existing yeah I think that might give you a lot more freedom because it could be that even a framing of a pyuster equal on both sides which is doesn't exist today might be something that rationalizes that bridge
where it connects I'm going to pass on to Kirk yeah I don't I don't think this is sort premised in in the construct that pay no attention to this bridge. It's going away. I mean and it's it it is there. It
is long. And so I think the way the touchdown is is a kind of rationality of of physics. You know, it is supported somehow. It doesn't levitate whether it's above a terracotta panel or a piece
of glass. um it it actually has to rest on something. And so I I guess that's part of where I wouldn't say it doesn't belong to one building and it doesn't belong to the other. Um I think it has to express itself as it meets those
buildings. So that's that's just my personal thought. Um I guess my big thought is I'm not sure I I believe it has gotten better. I'm not sure why the horizontal the
bottom and the top both have to be as opaque as they are. Um, I mean given their significance and their structure, it seems you could have a bottom or a top and then you would have more
transparency through it to the sky, you know, because and part of this is premised not just in a design preference, but in the fact that you're in a kind of a canyon coming down through these big buildings on Brooklyn and anything you can do to make opacity
go away, I think is benefit. And so I'd almost imagine the bottom exists and the top goes away and or gets very transparent or or vice versa. But those that's that's going to be my comment. Um
I do we want to stay on this before we go to the other Pilgrim Road maybe uh to not confuse people. Yes, I recommend that. All right. So why don't I lateral to one of my fellow commissioners?
So I'm just going to jump in on this. Most of my comments are on the other bridge, but the the one thing I was wondering about could we go to the view we were just looking at previously for a second. Um, and and I do understand you've I'm sure worked at looked at many
many many options, but I've always been wondering about the kind of softening the underside and the corners on the underside if that was explored as part so that it is picking up on some of the um not exactly the same as the the the
main building the the curvaceousness but just feeling more a little bit anthropomorphic than than it does currently. like the, you know, belly of a snake going across or something. If if you did look at that. So, Michael, if you put up the the
section. Sure. I I think Shauna is maybe talking about, you know, even something as simple as filleting the corners. Yeah. Curve. Yeah. Curving the corners more. Yeah. Yeah. Uh that might
also make it appear lighter as well. And I don't know if it's a good or a bad idea, but that's what I've always been wondering about since since the very first viewing of this because coming underneath so much Kirk's talking about
a very strong expression as you're going down the street, but when you're right underneath it, having something to um you know to celebrate. Yeah. So we are uh we are working with studio NY uh as facade consultants uh on
the bridge and I think uh we are uh endeavoring to make this as light and elegant as possible. Uh we are caught in some ways between the energy code uh and patient privacy uh as we cross the bridge. So I think we've tried to strike a balance uh between the continuity of
that patient experience as they're crossing uh but also to make it as light uh as light and open as possible. Uh but the resolution uh and continuing to look at how we meet the sky uh and support the roof and drain it safely as well as the minimizing the structure at the
bottom are are absolutely next on our list. The um uh the curved underside of course ties it the bridge together with the new building uh in a pretty obvious way but a possibly good way. But then it does
ask the question when the bridge connects to the old building on the other side of the street. Uh do you want to do Sorry, Bill. Sorry, I apologize. Uh what? So the the where where you were
drawing the curved underside of this bridge connecting to the new building does bring you know a desirable connection to the curvaceousness of the new building. My question is would you also somehow
where the bridge connects to the old building across the street bring some element of those curves into that that moment? Um just a question as you're looking at it in the future. Yeah, that definitely though would be something to
consider particularly in the portal itself that those forms and shape might inform that I would think that if you're going to do that fillet at the bottom, which I think would be a really nice softening move. I do think that there's this weird tension
now with the glass coming all the way down to the bottom. It might want to stop short of the top of the fillet. And maybe the section is the best way to describe what I'm talking about. It's right now the glass, if I'm looking at
the detail in the lower right hand corner, it disengages from the bottom. So if that element the bottom now curves, maybe the glass is a little bit shorter and not
um it still has that hang overhang but not to the bottom of the curved surface. Maybe I'll just draw it if that's better. Yeah, for sure. Sorry. So, so this is here. Maybe the glass wants to,
you know, be tangent with where it starts to have a a radius edge and that overall reading might not be as tall as a suggestion. I'm not here to design it, but just thinking that there is some geometry that's going to be funny if you
have a curved and then you have this very plain clean glass adjacent to it. That's an interesting point, Mimi. One of the things since we're on that section, um, one of the things we've been studying is the lighting. And
you'll notice uh you know we're trying to light these sort of cavities both under the under the uh connector but also um the upper one as well so that it's more of a continuously lit plane of
glass that um uh runs top to bottom. We are looking at it. Yeah, we are looking at an acid etch uh for the pattern here uh so that it will catch the light uh in in a very subtle uh and diffuse way uh for for the vertical surfaces of the
glass. Uh it's also very uh much more transparent uh and integrates in with the bird protective frit. Uh but I think we did Kevin maybe this is a good point to talk about the the underside and our position on the the bottom. Yeah. So we had an interesting
discussion in our office about this. Um initially just because some of the other bridge precedents and some previous comments we were thinking about um lighting the underside u with some illuminated glass but we just felt like
it was creating a little bit too much of a um almost like a spectacle where it wanted to be more quiet. Uh so so we sort of went back with this sort of uh very simple uh stainless steel um uh
underside uh just so it didn't call too much attention to itself at night and it'll be fairly obvious anyway just because of the vertical glass service. So we we didn't feel we needed uh to go all the way there. Uh so definitely
wanted to see if uh the commission the commissioners agree with that move. Um because there was also another thing as we were thinking about this as we're coming u from the uh east looking
towards the bridge that um it actually defines an interesting portal as you get go past the bridge and then you enter enter this new precinct with the park. it it actually defines that in a fairly um interesting way. Um and and on one
level, both sides of the street with some of the landscape on either side could help reinforce that as well. Um so, uh particularly as you go past this threshold and encounter the new landscape that we talked about uh last
week, uh we think it's a pretty interesting urban moment as you go through that. But let me just ask again in this view on the left the bridge uh uh touches the new the old building
in a way that doesn't uh kind of connect in the same way it connects to the new building. Is that desirable? Um or is that a rendering? I it felt like it was being a little bit more continuous in the other views, but this
looks like a reveal. It is a reveal in that it's like a sleeve that receives it, if you will, in the way we're detailing it. It's not that obvious. Um, but uh I think could have more intention. I could I would
urge you to look at that pretty carefully. I I I personally am totally happy with most of the details of this bridge uh and the way it engages the new building and this is the only part of that bridge that I you know it it
bothers my eye there when I Okay. Can I just ask you about making the top tier more transparent? Did you look at trying to make that go away? Uh we do uh we did Kirk. Um so originally we had no uh no glazing to the sky at all. Uh and
we've been working uh slowly and steadily uh to try and reduce the width of the actual uh perceived ceiling. Uh again we are uh uh we're fighting and coming up against the the energy code uh which would have no glazing uh on the ceiling whatsoever uh versus where we're
trying to cut some corners uh and ease the edges uh to the side. Uh we also got some feedback uh from uh the patient experience uh about a sense of protection uh and cover uh as patients make their way across the bridge. So there was some pretty uh strong feedback
uh from the proponent side uh that a fully glazed uh bridge or a bridge that didn't provide a sense of shelter to patients as they were moving across the street uh was uh was not resonating uh well. Uh but we have tried to to pull it back and ease the ease those corners as
much as possible. Okay. But but we did uh we did start uh with a with a uh from both ends and have tested uh tested the limits. Got it. Thanks. You're welcome. Maybe just to answer the underidge. Oh,
go ahead, Bill. Can we start talking about the other bridge? Yes. I was going to make that switch right now. Oh, I just wanted to acknowledge that I think the the reflected stainless steel is is a more positive direction than the illuminated glass. I feel like the illuminated glass
calls too much attention to itself and I think we're all about lightness. So, I just wanted to give you guys some feedback on that. Um, thank you. Thank you, Mimi. Thank you. But I agree. Let's shift over to Pilgrim Road. So could I ask you to show us the view
that you see the ground floor and the second floor in the same uh rendering. In other words, looking across uh Pilgrim Road. And I'd like to have something that shows us the ground
floor condition as well as the second. There we go. That's that's perfect. So my my one concern I I I by the way all everything you've done at the second level here from my point of view is
quite uh beautiful and elegant and um and maybe I would add the the roof. My problem is the first floor that is seems very solid. it. So that there's not a clear
relationship between the first floor and the second floor even as the first floor is is actually quite visible to people in the park. And I'm wondering uh I'm not asking it to be all glass, but right now it looks like it's
85% is it a stone material? It's a it it's the same material, Bill. It's the the weathering steel, but it's perforated. Uh, and uh the the slots are where the windows are. You'll you'll notice there's some vertical slots. That
happens to be where some of the windows. But my question is why why can't you have more vertical slots and more windows in that? Not as much as on the second floor, but the juxtaposition of the nice glass of the second floor and
the absence of glass on the first floor makes the first floor seem very cold and and unwelcoming. Well, the the first floor is a little different in the sense it's a screen that's in front of the existing
building. So, there is no glass, but we could add more apertures or gaps between the panels. Michael, a plan might be good to just show or section plan or section to show the relationship.
So, So the hatched zone is the area in between the screen and the face of the existing building. In this particular plan, you
can't see the cadence of the windows on Deaconus. But what we're doing is the gap the gaps in those panels align themselves uh with uh some of the windows on Deaconis. And then the panels themselves are also uh very perforated
so that you can sort of see a filtered light through them. Um we didn't make it very easy for you to see that in some of these renderings. Well, let let me just ask. Is there um uh a reason why in a
project of this size nine nine figures or 10 figures and nine figures um that you can't remove some of the uh the uh the stonework or whatever is in the deaconist building uh so that it opens
itself up like the rest of the building is trying to do. Michael, I'll let you deal with that one. That's a hornets's nest. Uh it it it is uh so uh the balance we're trying to strike here uh Bill is to minimize
the disruption to those programs. Uh we do have a meeting uh later this week with the proponent uh to review carefully all of the functions that are will occur and do occur uh in Deaconess uh and the far building behind here. Uh we do want to make sure that uh that those areas on the ground in the first
floor. Let me just bring up a a detailed section here with some of the existing photos. Uh we are uh we're in an English basement situation here. Uh so there are some windows that are are giving light uh into the basement below and some to uh to some office spaces that are on the
first floor. Uh so I agree that trying to coordinate some more filtered light and transparency uh to those openings is uh would be beneficial. uh but we're also holding uh holding the connector back so that it's completely structured independently of the deaconess building.
Uh partly we want to avoid uh seismic upgrades or any disruptions to some pretty critical programs uh that occur on multiple floors uh that building cardiac care units uh inpatient u uh units for uh for mental health and behavioral health uh that really can't
take the interruption of having large sections of their facade uh undergo uh extensive renovation or uh or or opening work. Well, it just it seems sad to be spending this kind of money and then having these kind
of to me seemingly minor architectural details starting to dominate this one part of the project. I mean, that's, you know, I I I don't know what
it takes to remove some parts of those walls or opening it up, uh, or, uh, reusing those spaces in a different way. I mean, I don't know those details, but we're seeing right here, yeah, what
you're left with, and it just doesn't feel very good. And I I I do think this second level is is perfectly fine and good. And so it was this lower level that feels like
it's um much too solid. Michael, maybe you could go to that perspective of standing underneath the Oh, sure. connector and that relationship there.
So here I think what we're seeing uh the there's a there's a very definitive rhythm that we've established uh that telegraphs the uh the module uh of the glazing and the sun shades above uh that then translates uh to a rhythm here at the at the Loia. Uh as we're negotiating
structure uh that's supporting the building some uh some changes in plane in the building behind uh we're working in this view we push that back to create these niches uh for for seating in those. I think this is Kevin was saying are some of those areas where we might get more transparency or maybe look at
uh uh at uh the pattern or or the um the uh the apertures of the perforation uh to try and get more of a sense of connection to the building beyond. But we did uh I think carefully study through many iterations the balance between a solidity and a weight at the
base of the connector that that implied a building like aspect to it uh versus a lightness. uh and that when we started to have too much open blow uh that a certain stability was lost uh to the overall structure. Um so I think Kevin you might agree that we're trying to
find that right balance. Yeah. And I I actually think Michael for maybe the next time we pres present this we do a view that's like standing straight in front of the panel so that you can actually see what you can see behind it because it it reads very solid here. Um
but that's not the intention. I'm also thinking the uh pilgrim view, Michael, that's sort of oblique looking up gives you a good sense of this too. Um I do think we could you you can see the rhythm of those apertures and we can
sort of add additional wrap apertures, but we can also increase the intensity of the peripheration so that you you sort of have this simultaneity of the the surface in front and the building behind and you're aware of both. uh
which is part of the intent. Well, this this is a very good view to deal with what I'm talking about. And I uh I hear you, Michael, when you say you wanted to have a solidity, but I'm I guess I'm questioning whether that solidity has
gotten too strong. Yeah. For this is a understood. This is going to be a welltraveled sidewalk and um uh and it just it feels out of you know alien to the the rest of the intentions
of the project. So that's my comment. Okay. Otherwise totally happy with what we're seeing. Thanks Bill. Shauna, do you want to go ahead? Yeah, thanks. Um yeah, thank thank you for the presentation again and on this and I have two very conflicting directions to
be be talking about the project. First of all, I think that sort of architecturally um it it's been it's developed in a very nice way, very handsome way. I think that the planting on the top works. I think the the figit trees are a little bit awkward. it might
be worth looking at, you know, a green screen or a living wall strategy or green columns, but something that is more directly responsive to the architecture because I think we won't be able to, you know, to keep the fifth digit trees in sort of perfect clipped
um condition and and they also aren't particularly working well with the um I don't think they're working very well with the with the spacing of the of the mullions or or whatever they're or the fins, particularly as they're
spllaying. So, I think that that is is awkward. I I I like the idea of the green, but doing it in a more architectural way, I think, might be might be more helpful. Um, but and I think I said this in in the in the very
first meeting, for me, this isn't a bridge. um where the other parts of the project are bridging across you know across the roadways and and I'm not I'm still not comfortable with the idea of the circulation can
levering along over top of the public sidewalk. Um so so from that side well the while I think the building is it looks like a building and I I it's very handsome and looks you know looks like a
a fitting end to the street. I wish it were a temporary um connection until the time that the deaconist was was redeveloped because I know we had talked early on in your
first presentation, could we absorb that into the deaconist building and at that point which I think is still very much the case that the um that the psychiatric beds um are so critical in that building currently. Um but at some
point I think there will be the expectation that the deaconess is is redeveloped and at that time I would love if this albeit extremely handsome um circulation connection is absorbed
into the the you know the private property and not the public property of the street. Uh yeah. Oh, sorry. Maybe. No, go ahead, Michael. I was going to say that uh Chris Donahghue uh from MVVA uh is here. Um Shauna, if there's uh more particular
questions about landscape or planting you'd like to engage him on, we did look at uh options of the green screen uh or or other variants uh as opposed to trees. Chris gave us some pretty uh pretty strong feedback uh from a landscape perspective about uh the maintainability uh of that landscape
over time as well as what it's like from the patient experience uh on the inside out. Um so I think Chris is here to answer those questions and Jared uh from BIDMC is also here uh if we want to delve into the idea of the the lifespan
of the connector and the when it might actually be replaced in 20 to 30 years. I I mean I'm I I have a lot of faith in um you know with respect to the because I know there's I know the complications of of green screen or living walls to to
maintain. I know there are strategies to to do it. It's it's not necessarily um you know the most straightforward thing that you plant it once and leave it. I know you can you know the idea there could be some of the plants are replaced um once or twice a year in order to to
get something. But I guess what I'm really getting at is I don't think that the architecture and the landscape and to me it looks like the trees are masking the architecture at or trying to um but I have faith you have an excellent landscape architecture team and landscape architect. So I have faith
that you can you can work that part out. I think I'd love to hear the other part though about the lifespan of the the connector. So, I think uh I don't know uh Seth if uh if we want to promote uh Jared to respond from BI's uh particular perspective around uh the the advanced
or long-term planning uh for the site. Um but I think we've heard Jared I don't want to speak for him uh too too strongly, but that the if you could elevate Jared is quite some time in the future. Jared should be elevated now.
We we put you on the spot, Jared. Not sure if you want to respond to that. I'm here. I was just trying to press the uh unmute button. Um yeah, I mean we do not have that in our 10-year master plan right now. Um you know, we we that is a
site that's in the future. Um but we you know it's hard to say um what's going to happen over the next 10 to 15 years but we do not and and we've said this publicly is like it's not in our next 10 to 15 year plan. The one thing that I'd
be concerned with with having to take this bridge away is the constitu continuity of care. Um so we we have to provide this connection obviously. Um, and if we were going to have it go away
and integrate into a new building, we would definitely have an impact uh for the the patient care for the future cancer hospital. So, it's a tough question. Yeah. unless it were active until the new building
was constructed. But and and I know speaking from the city's point of view, obviously any uh connectors over public rights of way we do not take lightly,
uh no pun intended. Um and I think in this case we've traditionally seen connectors that are perpendicular or generally perpendicular to the right of way. Here is one that is proposed along and above a right of way. And it is certainly the city's preference uh that
this not be a let's say um uh you know uh true forever condition um that you know this but also recognizing to Jared's point that it is not something that's envisioned in the lifespan of the
10ear IMP that's before us. So I think our our desire would be that any future redevelopment of the sites behind it would include a connection that operationally you know would be integrated into those buildings. Um so that over time this you know
uh element over the public right of way uh has the possibility of going away. Specifics all to be determined down the road. Maybe I'll chime in and say I will acknowledge that from the first time you
showed us this bridge, you guys have come a long long way. So I think you know the fact that we're even, you know, talking about planting, I think you should read as pretty much a good sign. Um I I do want to go back to um I to me
this would be more successful as an arcade rather than a cantal lever. And I'm sure there's been some back and forth with PIC that they're not letting you, but I'm going to bring it up again because I really feel like those end conditions would benefit so much from
coming down to the ground only at the ends. I'm not even suggesting to have a real arcade throughout. Um, and I'm just going to reference, I'm sure you guys know this example, you've been probably looking at it, but the St. James Terminal in New York City in Hudson
Square. The way the end walls come back down and it has this garden end condition, I think would be one to look at, I really think it would it would just rationalize this as an arcade rather than a bridge at this one moment.
And then to reiterate on Shauna's comment on the on the trees, I think the issue that is happening is that they're too um well, they look too tight. They look like they don't even have a place to grow, but they're too repetitive of the architecture. And I feel like this
the the landscape is is l used very loosely on the roof and very organically and you know carefree but somehow that architectural rhythm of the trees it's opposite that. So, I think some softening of that. I'm not saying no trees, but I
just feel like that just emphasizing that vertical rhythm doesn't to me isn't a right balance between the lushness of the landscape and the rigidity of the architecture. And then the one comment
in plan that jog. I just want to question that jog. Do you really need to follow the jogs of the building behind? Um I'm not even exactly sure what happens between the screen wall and the
face of the deaconess building. You know what happens in that gap? Um but there is some let's call it you know some a gap. Could you just make that gap uh instead of consistent in from the
offset? Could it just be in a line in one plane? And in order for this to really resonate, you probably have to go to a plan to show what I'm talking about. Yeah, I totally understood. Mimi, do you want to start? Kevin, and I can fill in. Yeah. So the area so the the
offset is created um because uh there's there's structure that comes down in the that gap be behind there. So that's why it's so pronounced on the right hand side. And then you could extend it in that same plane. Uh but that that offset
that we created where we could step it back, we did that so that we could sort place benches along the sidewalk. So, so if that wall was kept all at the sort of the same area, you know, you'd only have
the 8ft sidewalk. And um that that sort of that's why we did it. We thought it was um made it a little less monolithic, if you will, too. But and we how wide is the sidewalk on the right hand side? Uh on the right hand side, it's 8t wide and
then it's wider than that on the left hand side. So that that minimum 8ft dimension uh is established at the narrowest point uh and carries through. So once we clear uh the pinch point of the columns, we widen the sidewalk and then we create uh niches uh on top of
that uh where we're able to. So in in general there's there is a a small zone in front that's more in front of the current formal uh entry to deconess where it's compressed, but both to the east and the west we're really expanding that public realm uh as deep
as we can. uh around the structure. But Michael, we could in that setback zone extend the wall in a single plane, but then carve out niches for the seating in le of that's what I'm wondering. I don't think
it's going to be a place where people are going to want to sit. In fact, I even I think if you're building a bridge, I hope they're using the bridge, not necessarily a ton of traffic on the sidewalk. So I think in this case we could have just an 8ft sidewalk and then
niches where you can accommodate benches. So I guess I'm going to offer contranian view on not wanting to use the ground plane. Um I'm wondering how we can make it an experience that people do. And I
mean, I can think of a range of things that might do that from heat lamps in winter to, you know, water vertical water walls in summer to digital scrims that could either be on this level or
both levels that might be backdrop to the park. So I mean there's just a lot of opportunity to maybe make this a place people want to go and look out from or at different times of the year and maybe think about all the static
individuals who are stuck in rooms and can't be mobile. How do we not uh sort of make this go away with architecture but celebrate it say with the digital scrim that might I don't know be flowers or be green or whatever you think. So those that's just a
different approach to it from my view and I don't know if you thought about it at all. Well, what the one thing Kirk that we've thought about quite a bit is the lighting um under there. not necessarily, you know, water features or things like that, but in terms of
creating a cadence and a rhythm of the light that's sort of lighting the the the rhythm of the the underside of the sophet, but also lighting those panels, so that you have a very sort of inviting cadence of light at night um in
particular. Um, Michael, I don't know if if there are any other things that are coming to mind that you you you can think of too, but It's this fine line. We're trying to create a place where, you know, if it's raining, people could sit and be outside
or if it's in the shade versus in the bright sun that it there might be um a real benefit to sitting there. Um yeah, you took the words out of my mouth, Kevin. Yeah. I also think there's a balance of too much investment which
makes it feel more permanent and and we're you know I'm on the Shauna camp of temporary as this could be I think it's a real benefit you know uh for us it has to be nice it's going to be here a long time
and I don't know I just wonder if it if we start putting water walls and green walls is it become too um become a more permanent draw long term. So this is Jared just one one thing to note is a lot of
patients are parking in the Pilgrim Road garage and walking to the ED or you know may have breathing issues that like we do have a bench or two there that they can sit down and for respit. So it it is kind of important um because those
people won't be taking the bridge. They'll be parking in the Pilgrim Road garage and walking down this area. heavily traveled or they're going to the far building uh to provide you know for other care. Um so there's some like there's a heart failure clinic in
the far building which that's the route they would take. They would park in the Pilgrim Road garage and walk down this arcade. So it would be nice for patients to be able to sit if they're feeling a little out of breath. I just I I guess the only point I was make is that given that there's only one
park in the LMA that I'm aware of or one large park to waste an edge, you know, it there is no sacrificial edge. You know, somehow this has to become a place people want to be in my mind because it looks out to what you're seeing right
here which you can't see anywhere else, right? So I guess in the public realm benefit parlance uh in my mind one of the benefits is proximity and enjoyment of this. However you make that happen I'm not sure. So anyway that was
the only comment I was going to make. Okay commissioners just as a time check been deliberating on the bridges for about 42 minutes. um like to have some additional discussion on the bridges or move to
look at the building. Can we look at the building? We can of course always return to bridges now in the context of the building after that presentation as well. I I do just have one comment that I just don't want to forget about the
the connection. I don't know what we call the glass connection or the pilgrim road bridge. Um I know that you're doing a lot of you know from point A to point B and I know that study that you showed us in plan Michael of how you're
connecting. It does feel I'm a little bit torn about the fillets and if you know they're necessary that that's just my only comment like is that the most direct way to get from one Joselyn to this new
bridge along Pilgrim Road and where you can see the fillets is through another perspective. So that's just a question that I have. It's a it's an excellent question, Mimi, and we did uh look in in exquisite
detail after your challenge uh to try and see if we were able to move Let me go to uh perhaps I'll go to a plan uh of the connector that might be easier here at the third floor. Uh so we're uh we did look at trying to move that fire stair uh that is one of our only um uh
spaces in the cancer hospital uh that links uh across. We tried to move that as far to the right to the left on screen as possible. Uh and the the fillet connections are actually rather eased uh here. What uh what they're doing is mimicking the pass uh the path
uh that a patient stretcher or a bed uh would take uh when a patient with uh with their equip uh the the set of caregivers might be moving them to or from uh the emergency room uh and back and forth. Uh so that specifically on this this crossing those eases the
easing of those edges are very much derivative of the patient movement whether that's into the observation unit to the elevators or rounding that corner. Uh at the other end um we uh I think we try uh we're again trying to find a balance of an efficient structure
uh but also making that other chicane uh into the elevator lobby to the left hand side. I think we would uh we would definitely have tried to regularize uh the crossing uh as much as we could. Uh but this is the this is the closest we could get to a clear span um straight uh
from the where we can bear in the in the hospital uh to the connector. I only raise it because it's the only place where you're actually curving in plan um of all of the connections that you've shown tonight. So just wanted to make sure that
Okay, we can move to the building. Thank you. Let me uh transition. Believe it or not, the building should be simpler because there's nothing completely brand new in there. It's just refinement.
Let me share my screen. the building architecture. Yeah. Uh so let's uh let's return to uh to the main structure uh knowing that it is linked to the hospital connectors. Uh when we last met uh we uh got a number of challenges uh from you to address uh
parts of the building uh in more specific detail. uh where the pedals uh land or their relationships to to the entry. Uh are those fixed or is there any flexibility uh to look at modifying those entry positions? Uh we've taken uh a deeper dive and are working around the
louvers and the frit pattern uh to assess that materiality uh as well as our development on the trim. Uh we also took a very critical look again at the north facade uh at the abuter uh so our view to our neighbors at Longwood Center uh and both uh the composition and the
materiality uh of that uh and then uh we can return again to uh what we've just covered uh of how the connectors meet the existing building. uh for uh overall just as a reminder the general architecture is drawn from a combination of uh or the synthesis of
softness and warmth uh meant to express the the the patient care uh and the interior environment uh as well as the expression of program on the exterior. As a reminder, Kevin, if you want to step in here at any point on
these views. Yeah. So, we'll we're going to show you just almost a reminder of where we're it's this is where we are, but it also is very much where we were the last time we met. One of the things that and you can cycle to the next view. Uh Michael, one of the things that we've
been looking at is um the color of the stem, which is uh a dark bronze, and that uh is in the the middle of the building. it connects the pedals and and and actually thinking about simplifying the pallet overall for the building. And
and so as we look to the different parts of the building, particularly the back of the building along Longwood Center, the facade on Pilgrim, we're starting to think of all the metal on the building that's behind the pedals being that same color. Uh where we had that as a dark
gray before. So, as we cycle through these views, you're going to start to see that color emerge um in a number of places, and it it's really representative of the stem, but it's also representative of the armature that's behind the pedals. Um so, this is
uh yeah, I was going to say, Kevin, yeah, in in this view here, uh we've imposed the new or the proposed roadway realignments of Jaws in place. Uh so this would be that uh that extension of the park that expands uh the public realm uh at Brookland Avenue. We remove
we removed the trees uh uh but this now starts to clarify the relationship of the of the new entry uh and stem landing uh with the proposed road alignments. Yeah. One of the views you put the trees back. I don't think it's in this one but later I think. Um so this is um sort of
the view the elevation looking from uh uh from the park Joselyn Place. Uh there were a couple things that came up in uh our last review. Uh the louvers uh were an area where you wanted to see how we're going to develop that. So we have some mockups we're going to share with
you. Um the uh the the the the rain screen with the fritted glass cladding. We'll show you some details. are largely the same and and there's been some tuning of uh the mullion caps or these uh ornamental trims that we're we're going to show you. So, if we just go to
the next view, um this is uh the tower pedal system, the the glass rain screen uh largely the same uh from the last time we met. The next and then the next uh this just shows you sort of the
relationship of uh the mullion cap to the vision glass window in the patient room. It's really tuned to represent that dimension of the the vision glass. Um and uh and you can just see the the metal trim in that interface detail
here. The next view, um, this is indicative of all the studies that have been done, sort of looking at the cadence of these mullen caps. The the one that's on the facade is in the lower right. Um, when you look at a a petal under a microscope, it has a cellular
structure that is pretty regular, but also not quite. And so we have this sort of uh regular yet dynamic quality to these uh mullian caps that are all justified to one side or the other of uh
the patient windows. And Kevin, it's probably important to note that these uh these patterns are consistent on the two primary pedals uh or sort of the three primary pedals. Uh so the two that we're seeing here facing Dland Park uh but also the corner of the this and the then
the uh the third pedal which face Brookline Avenue. So that staccato pattern uh does exist comprehensively on on both the pedal surfaces and then um uh the louvers. So uh this is one of the things that uh you asked us about in
the last meeting. So, what we're going to do is show you a mockup for the louvers that are in the embedded in the pedal, which has um sort of a perforated uh metal screen with the louvers behind them. Um and the dots in the screen are
uh very much analogous to the frit. So, if we cycle through, Michael, we can maybe uh look at that. So this is a a plan detail of what we're what uh we're talking about in terms of the relationship of the the screen to the
louver um that's uh well this is the typical glass I'm sorry uh no so uh so this is this is show Kevin showing the the coordination of uh the unitization module of the building uh and the
integration of the stainless steel scrims uh that can seal the the rain louvers uh behind This is uh where we started to now look at both the materiality uh and the finish. Uh but it's I think in these Kevin we we took them outside uh we're spinning these
around uh uh to try and look at the the and gauge the relationship of the frit pattern uh to the louver itself. and that that so the the bottom here is a literal mockup with um a perforated metal panel and the and the
frit texture below that. So we're just starting to really look at these things, but uh this was at least a first litmus test that proved that it um looks pretty looks pretty good. So we're going to take this further and do some tabletop
mockups and things like that as a next step. Um, these are the same models that uh Michael showed you before, you know, with the pedal and the trim and all these intersections. So, so now Michael's going to take you on a tour of some of the refinements along uh
Brookline Avenue and the garden and um and then we'll get to the Pilgrim Road facade where there have been some refinements there as well. Thank you, Kevin. Uh so zooming in more closely uh we were uh I think challenged to look at the materiality uh more specifically in
the public realm uh and to I think Kevin used the word or earlier to to calm the pallet down uh and bring a little more refinement to it. So more specifically uh if we start here at the corner uh the primary visitor entry the main lobby uh with uh what we're developing as an
interior interfaith garden space and then the retail frontage uh to our right as we move uh move beyond uh developing the transparency though of uh of the lobby and this interior garden uh is incredibly key. Uh again Chris is here uh taking precedent from a halibet state
point uh of blurring the lines between the inside and the outside uh as the main u facade of the building wraps the corner uh and this uh this beneficial space for both the patients and both the visitors and staff u telegraphs itself out to uh to the corner and beyond. Uh
you do see now uh Mimi that the relationship of the of the main entry and the critical dimension from our accessible drop off uh to uh to the the vestibule uh we've really worked to try and find the sweet spot east to west uh for balancing the necessary patient
amenity spaces uh the size of the reception and vestibule area and then uh balancing the space uh at the side we're a bit over half time. Perfect Seth. Thank you. Uh as we move now to uh to the materiality of uh along Brookline
Avenue, uh we did uh make some revisions here uh that we think uh are adding a lot more continuity uh to the urban realm. So what we've done here uh with the storefront uh is to extend the language uh of Terracotta that begins at this gasket uh that separates uh the
future cancer hospital uh from Longwood Center to the right. So, as a part of our project, we will be recladding portions of the Longwood Center to match and extend that existing uh metal panel cladding to where it will meet the new building. We're a little lower uh in some parts for this gasket than the
existing JSON building, but that terracotta language that's both a veil uh for uh for glazing into staircases and interior spaces is now extended all the way along the along grade uh creating panels of opacity that separate out up to three potential uh retail
venues. Here we've also changed and warmed the tonality uh of the louvers uh so that everything now uh within the pedestrian realm uh has this rich warm tone uh uh drawing from the terracotta uh and the copper metal panels. And to look at that uh in perspective uh again
apologies uh that the the fruit patterns are not respective in this of the glazing on this sketch view rendering nor are the perforations on the stem. Uh but the idea is that with this slight cantal lever uh of within the property line over the retail area that we're creating this arcade that extends the
language uh and the active streetscape of Longwood Center uh at the ground plane uh with this uh warm uh warm series of bronze colors uh that set up distinct entries uh for the retail. As we move around now to the main uh to the main entry, uh we're
developing a a very I think uh refined kit of parts uh for these terracotta baguettes. Uh to remind you that they are serving multiple functions here. They're both screening uh veiled glazing for some of these more private patient service areas uh near the main entry, but they're also concealing louvers uh
for uh some of our air intake. all sitting above a very robust uh stone base as how the building meets the ground uh in um in a way that's uh that collects all of the accutraal that we need to have there but also protects the system as well. So we're looking at a
series of A, B, and C profiles uh where with a very simple language and a kit of parts uh that we can add a lot of variety and richness uh to uh the ground plane here between the overhanging canopies uh and uh and this uh stone base which collects us around the
outside. Uh as a reminder, we it's hard to convey the the depth uh of the facade system here. So in this model that you see on the left hand side, uh as the trims do protrude uh as they wrap the pedals, they expand to become uh the canopy that then reveals a skylight to
bring daylight through it. Uh but we're at almost 21 ft uh or greater at its lowest point. Uh then as the roof as Jaws Place slopes up uh to about 16'6 clear uh at the lowest point of that canopy uh at the uphill slope for the drop off. Then as we round the corner uh
looking uh at uh Pilgrim Road uh we've changed the tonality here. So previously uh uh again using the same uh terracotta system uh to conceal uh some glazing and louvers. Uh we've warmed uh the tone of the of the setpiece that uh that
collects uh the loading dock doors, the parking garage entry, some additional garage ventilation louvers uh and the staff entry into a singular unit that then begins to carry the scale uh across of some of the setbacks at Longwood Center uh to really calm down uh the
pedestrian experience here uh at the at the Pilgrim Road facade. Uh Kevin, maybe this is a good point as well to talk about the change uh in coloration and materiality for the north portions of the building. Yeah. So, so the last time we presented this, this was a dark charcoal gray that was on the upper
portion of the building in the area behind Longwood Center. Um what we're proposing here is the the dark bronze that we're using for the stem. And then that would continue back along Long Longwood Center. Uh the loading dock
doors, the parking garage doors, and the metal panel at the base are intended to be very very uh the same tone as this. So it's almost one system. Uh you have the terracotta, you have the pedals, and you have the dark bronze. And this is
just to show you a comparison between uh the charcoal gray and the the dark bronze um on the uh Longwood Center facade. So it it warms up uh the building but also at the same time creates a much more holistic pallet uh
for for the entire thing. So, with that, Michael, I I think uh you know, the back facade really um we're just showing the windows are, where the elevators are, and some of the uh staff zones or quarter transparencies on the
back. We tried to keep the facade incredibly simple and planer um on the back. And we did look at uh several different systems, things that were more horizontal in nature. uh we aired on the side of simplicity here given the simple
planer language of the glass and the glazing on the other facades. So that concludes our update on uh some of the design challenges uh and explorations uh that were uh performed in request to uh some of your comments at the last section. But we'll close uh
with this Brookline Avenue view. Uh here uh we see the updated rendering uh that we shared uh of the building. Uh but winter is long uh and nights are dark uh in New England. Uh so we are working very closely with Borealis, our lighting consultant, uh to see what the uh what
the impact of the building is at night uh on the landscape of Longwood Medical and Academic Area as well as the city. So the idea here uh is to have a very very subtle uh lighting uh effect uh that accentuates the inner trim uh of the pedals. So, this would be a very
very subtle lighting uh feature uh that would offset and accentuate the differentiation of the pedal uh versus the stem uh at those key uh moments that Kevin described, but also at night, the warm inner shell of the building uh begins to reveal itself uh through uh
the fritted glazing uh of the exterior. Uh so in the the blowup image on the on the left hand side uh you see hints uh at the wood u uh the wood sophets uh that enclose the family areas uh of each of the patient rooms uh as they make their way along the facade of the
building. So as day turns to night uh and the building comes to life uh there's this uh reveal of the interior of this very warm uh and sheltering embrace uh at the patient level. So again, uh that combination or synthesis of the softness and the warmth that was our original concept transcribed now uh
to uh to its reveal uh at night. And Michael, I just want to clarify one thing with the lighting along the stem. The artificial light is only at the portion that's down where the canopy uh sort of bends. Uh everything above that
point is just ambient light that's coming out from the inside. So, we're not lighting it all the way up the facade. It's really mostly supposed to be a little more intense at the base and very gentle at the top. Thanks, Kevin. Okay. And with that, you
guys are at time commissioners. I'll go since since no one else I'm actually not going to be very long on it. I I think that the um I I as we discussed the last time we looked at the building, I think it's very very elegant and um and and you know the conceptually
strong. I I like the improvements um of the or I I don't even know if we saw it before, but the development of the retail space along Brookline um now and I also like Pilgrim much um much much
more than last time. I'm a little bit confused though in the presentation because the the elevation we were looking at we could look at that elevation on Pilgrim. Sure. One second. Really it's the coloration I'm confused
about because the elevation that we were looking at the prior there was a prior elevation to this prior view to this where everything was light color. So, this is what what I'm a little bit confused about if these are the same color tone, these two views we were just
looking at, because looking at the the door um the garage doors, they look quite light and silvery and then but you were describing them on the next view, they're they're quite dark. Um what I don't like about this view is sort of the patchwork of the dark doors and then
the light um panels on either side. So either they Yeah. So either they become all dark that whole bottom part that isn't the skinny fins becomes all dark or I think that's the direction I like or I think all light is a little bit too
much. Um but any but that's this is that's a small small detail. The intention, Shauna, is that um all metal that isn't pedal is is that uh sort of dark bronze color, whether it's a loading dock door,
the panel next to the loading dock door, or the upper body of the building up above. So, I agree with you. It's a little patchwork. It has to do with some of the lighting, and we didn't really nail it in this view. It's a little better in the blowup view.
And then I I do think that the that the evening um experience that the views of the lighting on you know kind of the the sort of um the Brooklyn and the Joselyn Park facade are really beautiful. I think it's also important though now we
let's go back to pilgrim to take the sort of care and elegance that is has been put into the thinking about the lighting and simplify this and bring that same I know it's a different type of of um of facade and expression but
again you know I I don't the the care isn't quite here yet. Yeah. And you would still get um I want to let people know this though. You'd still get the sense of the shells on this facade as
well. So that what what's happening at night that's so interesting on that other facade gets revealed in a slightly different way here. Um but um there'll be some energy here that you're not seeing in this particular drawing.
I'm just wondering if it would be simpler on this elevation to have that one end be a petal and not have this darker metal panel. It's It's the only place where you have, I think, hospital beds that
aren't in the petal language. And would it just simplify this end elevation? Uh, we had uh we had looked at that, Mimi. Uh I've I've gone to here uh to this view. So there are a few patient rooms that are not uh in pedals. Uh part
of of the change here uh really had to do with proportionality uh of this facade. And having that change of expressing an inner core uh of the stem versus the pedals on the front uh really seem to lend a verticality and elegance
uh to uh to the program road facade as opposed to if it were two uh two pedals um which is which is where we had started. Kevin, I don't know if you want to expand on that anymore if I just butchered that response. No, no, no, that's No, that's fine, Michael. Um, yeah, our first instinct was that, uh,
Mimi, and it it it just it lost some of the hierarchy that maybe we had on the Brooklyn facade here, just because the similarity. Um, and to be quite honest, um, there is a big cost issue that's going on here. So that the the the main
pedals on Brookline and and Josland Place um you know carry a certain amount of civic weight in terms of their frontality. Um and and so this seemed to be a moment where we could scale it and it and it has a lot to do with that
language of the loading dock, the garage doors and the back of the building as it goes up along Brook line. So, it's almost like we got to this point where we saw it as almost revealing uh the inner fabric of the building
that's behind the pedals and that it might be interesting in that way. U if I might speak up, can you bring back the views looking at Joselyn Park and Brooklyn have at GS? So, I ju I just
want to compliment you. I think the pedals have become much more subtle and um uh more interesting. Uh the patterning of the windows and all of that I think are are quite brilliant.
And I think the the what do you call the background elements that are not petals here? Stem stem the stems. The stems are uh very exciting. And what I I guess I
like about this so much is that um the the the excitement of the stems and the tying into the bridges and even the tying together with the park uh is still um kind of well controlled uh and the
boldness of the pedals uh is not a boldness that overwhelms the building. And uh so I just say uh you've really reached a nice balance for the stem and the pedals and keep keep moving in this direction. I'll leave it to others to
deal with Pilgrim Road elevation. Yeah. And I I agree with that and I feel like you've added these vertical mullions from the last time that we met which really gives it a nice texture. Or am I misremembering that? Are those
vertical malians as pronounced? I don't think we've refined them and uh that they're a little more a part of the narrative than the last time we spoke. So yeah, and I I do think that that rhythm gives it scale because I was worried that it's just too flat of a
surface. Um but that's what's also nice about it. You know, that attention to the perforated louvers matching the frit pattern, all of that is great, but these vertical elements will give it scale, which I think will be a positive for
sure. You know, I'm just going to make one last pitch for that Pilgrim Road pedal because that's just the way you're seeing the Brookline A, you know, corner detail where you have the pedal in the corner, it breaks and then becomes
another pedal. I really think that that would be an awesome improvement to Pilgrim Road. Um, and I'll rest my case, but I will also agree that the ground um, elevations really gotten very very
nice and elegant along Brookline A with the retail, the entry. I think um, looks really good. So, do do you mind if we sorry to be a beat, you know, uh, I'll keep beating up on the same the same um,
topic, but could we look at the Pilgrim Road facade again? I'm just looking at Mimi's idea of folding the petal around the corner. Oh, which it already is doing. Okay. Um,
yeah, I think just the the more the simplification on this this facade, I think is is the better. Do you have any elevations of the Brooklyn Avenue view looking towards the Jamaica way of this
facade? Uh so Brooklyn uh Brooklyn Avenue towards the Jamaica way. Yeah. Looking from the Fenway uh down. We don't see much of that because obviously it's less. Uh so this uh this
is a view from uh from the riverway uh uh back toward the building uh to the to the east. I think Kirk you were looking for perhaps this view uh which is from this view is from the riverway looking inbound.
Uh what about the other direction? In other words, what what does the building do on its leading edge closest to Shapiro for instance? Uh yeah, you can't really see it from here, but when you're like on the corner
part of Brooklyn and what is that where Children's Hospital is uh from Shapiro Plaza closer? Yeah. Yeah. Closer to the east campus at Longwood. Uh that would be u approximately this.
Uh, so this is a further this is a a little further out. So Shapiro Pero Plaza is here. Um, we've just stepped closer. Yeah, I'm just trying to see where if you're closer to the CVS, you actually see the building. Is there a view that
looks obliquely towards? We do uh we do not have that view, Kirk. We took this view looking in the opposite direction. So back towards Longwood uh to study the relationship of uh of how we meet at this gasket to from from our building to Longwood. We do step back uh to widen
the realm. Uh it may be a view uh if I is it more uh hold on one second. Uh sort of this uh if we look at the model view on the right uh sort of this view uh this would be taken almost in front of the CVS uh looking back towards Shland Park.
I'm actually just trying to see where the building returns towards the existing structure that's on the corner. Uh that not to get anybody woozy. Uh let me go back to this view. Uh this view here uh so the um uh I can show you it in
plan again. U uh but Longwood Center uh so the Longwood Center facade is at the street uh is at the property line. It does set back uh at uh Longwood Center set back sets back at grade. We set back a little further than that uh to create a widened pedestrian realm for a little
bit more area in front of the retail. Um so we do um the what you're seeing on the right hand side of the screen uh is uh our gasket stepping back and it does the building is still a little proud of of that but we do not align uh with the long center facade. Got it. Okay. Thank
you. You're welcome. I will beat a dead horse and just say from the riverway, I think that was even more convincing of a view. I don't even think you showed us that view about the Pilgrim Road elevation. So, I really would love for you guys to think about it. We will we will discuss it with
proponents. Commissioners, any other comments? Not we can go to public comments. Not here. Hey, Lizzy, if you can put up the public comment slide, please.
So, at this time, we'd like to invite any members of the public in attendance who may wish to contribute public testimony. To raise your digital hand and I will call on you. If you are calling in by phone, dial star9 to activate the raise hand function and star six to mute unmute yourself. Please
state your name and any relevant project affiliation information and please keep comments to two minutes. Okay, I am seeing one hand. Uh Dolores, um can you unmute yourself?
Yes. Hi, good evening. My name is Dolores Bugdan. I live at 452 Park Drive in Boston. Um, and I understand these hearings and discussions relate to the public realm. And in that context, this
building will cast at least 90 minutes of new shadow on the riverway and Emerald Necklace Parkland in the spring and fall seasons when sunlight is most important for triggering triggering all of the natural systems that depend on
light. And all of them do. If you've looked at the shadow study for the building, you will have made note that this building will fill in one of the few remaining gaps of sunlight on this stretch of the park in the spring and fall. In light of this, whatever
planting beds or greenery are put in by the proponent, they are excuse me, cheap and inadequate substitutes for our existing public parklands, which also happens to be an historic landscape. The proponent's landscaping plans are merely
improvements to private property and an institutional campus. Our parks on the other hand are public land and a critically important source of oxygen if there is photosynthesis and if there is sunlight as well as a source of mental
and physical health. We may treat cancer but we will never beat it as long as we continue to desoil our environment and stress our bodies and immune systems. I am despairing for our parks in Boston and I am losing respect for our city
agencies and officers that and who should be protecting them. This project should be modified to avoid casting additional shadow on our public parklands and I call on you to demand that. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.
Thank you Dolores. And a point of clarification for the commissioners um as this project is part of uh two IMPS institutional master plans that were previously approved. It was during that process that the zoning envelope was set
for this building and that the shadow um shadows were studied as part of that process. Um so I wanted to just offer that clarification. Um, I also want to add the clarification that as part of the mitigation uh for this project,
including the shadows that it does create uh 90 minutes, as Dolores mentioned, um in the springtime on the fence, uh the project proponent is investing significant funds to the redevelopment of Joslyn Park, which is a
city of Boston park and will remain a city of Boston Park, as well as additional funds as mitigation um for the impacts. Uh, is there any other additional public testimony? I see Allison Pineis, can you
unmute yourself? Yes, thank you. Um, I have a comment going back to the um Pilgrim Road Bridge uh discussion and this might have been brought up a long time ago, but uh the impact of um this
uh the screening um arcade or whatever device you want to call it um on the Deaconist building and how that impacts um the staff and patients that are currently in Deaconist And it was
mentioned it's a behavioral health mental health uh patient uh beds in there and so the the height of this and the solidity of the arcade um will be
blocking light. So wondering if there's a reconsideration of how that uh will affect those patients. Thank you. Thank you Alison. Let me make a a clarification for you on that and that comment u to my earlier uh description.
The u inpatient unit uh that is in uh the deaconist building is on the fourth floor. Uh the fourth floor will not be covered uh by the connector and it's at that point uh where the new plantings uh on the roof of the connector uh will act as as a benefit to that inpatient unit
uh as a kind of healing garden or mitigating their view a way of bringing the park to those patients at the upper floor. uh we are working very closely uh with the proponent uh and have been working very closely with them uh to assess the impacts on the lower floors of the building uh which are other
supporting uh supporting departments as Jared uh mentioned earlier. Thank you. That's really good to know. Thank you. You're welcome. Okay. And do I see any other public testimony or commentary? I do not see
any other raised hands. So, at this time, I will close the public comment period. And um Michael, if you could bring back up the presentation for commissioner discussion. Um any additional comments
on any of what we've seen this evening with an eye towards possible next steps uh including the potential for final consideration um at a full commission meeting. And Seth, I will note I'm not seeing
Commissioner Ron on the call anymore. So I believe it might be up to Shauna and Kirk and myself. Yes, he mentioned that he had a a conflict close to seven. So it looks like he did drop off. Okay. I
have both presentations uh available. Let me know. I can return to either. So I think our charge is to decide if we have any um recommendations for them to revisit. Um
maybe we should start with the bridge presentation. I think uh Brookline Avenue um comments we heard we're looking at the underside of the bridge trying to soften that up and we talked a lot about
the connection detail. Yep. At that view point. Um and I think we're, you know, Kirk, you asked about um being able to remove some of the solidness of of this of the
roof area. I think there's that tension between patient comfort and opening that up. Um, but I'll just offer that as still a comment that you're concerned about. Yeah, I I think there's a there's a happy medium somewhere between um how
you address that and also the the view for the majority of the city who travels on this road and there's no doubt more transparency would be better in my mind. Uh so I I think going back and looking a
little bit minimizing or I don't know if it's suspending something more at the pedest experience level that could be more minimal but that the actual you know fuselage would be more transparent.
I there's got to be some thoughts about how to do this but clearly you don't need all that structure. Um the there's very beefy structure in the base and the more that appears as an elevated
uh plank to me is is advantageous to the street experience and how people view the panway etc. So um I would encourage you to continue to work on that. I I don't see that as holding the project up. I I do think the way the touchdowns
happen on each side is worthy of some consideration. it's not levitating. So, um, you know, deciding how to deal with that. I think I'd be very comfortable with staff working through that with the proponents. Uh, and with the comments
you made, Mimi, about addressing the the terracotta panel and sure, what family of grid of glass this lives in, it seems to be a tweener at the moment. Um, so I think it could it could be more about what's on the Josson side of the street
coming across or however that's working through. But I do believe staff could deal with that. I think the bigger question is um really Shauna's question about projecting over the public way with the other bridge. Yeah, let's look
at the other bridge now. Um I and I'll just start and by all means Shauna and Kirk jump in. I definitely think we talked about planting strategies that might be looked at um so that it doesn't seem so tight of a
planting zone. We talked about needing to maintain this the uh benches at the walkway underneath, but is there something that doesn't change the width of the sidewalk or make it just seem like it's um not fully considered? I think the
paracity of that lower panel bill raised as a topic to look at. Um and then I'll just throw in, you know, is there a way to make this seem more arcade-like? I I um agree with all those points, Amy,
or sorry, Mimi. Um and and I you know and and then the other one of course is is the more um I don't even the know how to frame the word but the more um the larger issue of the temporariness of the of the project and
that I think all of those I don't know how others feel about it but I think all of the I agree with all of the the comments that you you made as a summary. Um, Mimi, I think personally I think those could be also be worked with with
through with staff. I think it probably um the the question of the potential temporariness of the project is also something that might be um the complexities of that might be
worked through best with staff rather than from you know from our commission. I agree. I will say whenever you do come back to full commission, I would really appreciate you walking the full
commission through the evolution of this piece because I do think um it's it's a hard element to digest but understanding the process and the iterations I think will be really helpful.
Okay, I we understand. Yes. Yeah. All right. and then to the building. I think um I feel like we have very little comments on on this. I think the direction is moving in a positive,
you know, direction. We feel good about the glass. Um I will say there's some comments that were raised on Pilgrim Road about the coloration of the garage doors. Mhm. And then um the comment on the pedal and if you go to that back
elevation there there's an axon diagram that you have of that back elevation and you see where you have that vertical window um right there. I almost feel like that's where the pedal could end and you could wrap it around and it would be
really complete and it would actually even benefit the rear elevation where you don't have this awkward little slot there. So, just throwing that out as a last attempt to convince you all. And I know it's a dollar bing,
but it is I I I think I completely agree with Mimi on on that um because there's a real conflict between um sort of an asymmetric organic elegant facade and then we have something that's very very static when we get to the pilgrim um to
the pilgrim facade. So I I think Mimi's suggestion is an extremely extremely good one. Agree if that can be possible. Yeah, I think it's consistent with the way you've treated the pedal on Brooklyn as well. I mean it peels up to
accommodate functionality whether it's a bridge or a door or whatever. And here it just goes away. So I think it'd be worth revisiting that. Any other comments that were raised regarding the
building, Sean or Kirk? I think we Yeah, I think there are those views that we don't really get to see because they're buried. Um I think staff should continue to work through that the fact that the building is four-sided, not
three. and um that you know look a little further into what is visible of this from the Jamaica way the river way um park I mean it's impossible to show all the views fly through but I think
you get the idea want to address all yeah I do like the idea of standing I think the CVS is on the right hand side of the street but seeing it more oblique rather RA than just straight up Brookline AB might be a nice
view to add. Sure. Okay. Commissioners, Kirk, go ahead. Yeah, I was going to say with those comments, I would make a motion that this be brought back to the full U commission for
uh review. I guess I mean if if I'm wrong on the process it was artic I think that was it but if you want to clarify yeah I don't know that we have to make a motion but we all have to agree and I think um I I'm happy to support that. I think
you know I I think it's ready to go back to the full commission given the comments that we just went through are addressed. Agreed. So, you are right. No formal vote is
needed, but uh I'm hearing a I guess a uh a vote of acclamation here um for moving this to um a recommend for final consideration and a vote of recommendation back at full committee uh with some very clear direction uh from
the commissioners on each of the connectors and the building articulation um that I wrote copious notes of. Um and there's no formal provisos as this is subcommittee but um we've got this and we'll be working with the proponent um
on each of these items before bringing it back to you um for full commission. So with that I'd like to thank uh the proponent uh the public and uh of course the commissioners for your time and counsel as always. Um, I hope everybody
has a great evening and looks like the fog has rolled into not quite the snowy view that we saw of the uh, Joselyn Park today, but uh, another calming occurrence at least down by the harbor here uh, as we got sucked in by fog. So,
hope everyone has a great evening. Thank you. All right, thank you. Thank you very good seeing everyone. Bye. Take care.