--------- good evening everybody and uh thank you all for joining us for uh design subcommittee uh meeting of the Boston Civic design commission uh today's date is Tuesday March 18th and this is a this is session B of the bcdc subcommittee um
the planning department continues to host um public meetings in a virtual format um for help safety and accessibility of Boston residents uh and I should introduce myself uh I'm Diana Fernandez Vio and uh I am the deputy chief of Urban Design at
the city of Boston planning department and an ex official member of this commission before we proceed with the agenda the open meeting Law requires that I notify the public that this meeting is being recorded therefore Please be aware that commission staff are making an audio and video recording
of this meeting please turn off your camera and microphone if you do not wish to be recorded and uh just for the record here Commissioners I'm just going to read out names here commissioner Gilly Smith oh I think you're on
mute commissioner love present commissioner lubenau present commissioner Kim present commissioner manf Freddy present commissioner Ron
president okay fantastic uh so for tonight's agenda uh we will uh have two presentations uh for proposed projects associated with phase two of the 776 Summer Street South Boston uh project and one Jon plays uh
in the Longwood Medical area uh tonight's meetings uh will follow the typical bcdc design subcommittee meeting format beginning with a brief presentation from the pro from the proponent comments from
the bcdc Commissioners and public testimony uh so with that uh Lizzy do we have uh the presenters uh for the 776 summer team uh elevated to co-host yes everyone should be promoted
please let me know if there's anyone that was missing so let's see John clity are you here I'm here yeah okay fantastic I'm just going to read a summary really quick and then we'll hand it over to you guys great um so the 776
Summer Street Phase 2 project in South Boston is seeking article 8B large project entitlements in accordance with an approved PDA master plan and Phase 2 development plan uh which contemplated the development of two Residential
Building Blocks on block A and B with Associated part parking and ground floor retail a hotel and residential building on block e and the 198 sorry the 1898 building with Associated parking amenities and ground floor retail a
research and development building at Block C asso with parking and ground floor retail um and site improvements which include uh portions of the east of the Edison Plaza formerly M Street Plaza the public realm improvements of Summer
Street East First Street Thomas Edison way and supporting Phase 2 infrastructure this will be the second presentation of the article EDB application for these proposed uh projects to the design subcommittee following an introduction at the
February 4th uh 2025 public monthly meeting and subsequent uh design subcommittee which occurred on February 18th the most recent design subcommittee meeting focused on the shared public realm and urban form elements of all for
proposed projects this commission's meeting will focus on proposed projects at block a and block e it is expected that at a future subcommittee meeting we will focus on the proposed projects at Block B and Block C uh it is my
understanding also that commissioner Mimi Love is present and has recused herself uh from deliberation and I just want to make sure that there are no other Commissioners who are present who intend to recuse okay great uh so the planning department
will give uh presenters a two-minute warning uh and with that I invite the proponent team to begin presenting whenever they're ready great thanks Diana and good evening Commissioners uh K can you pull up the presentation
awesome I'm uh John it with hrp group and we appreciate the opportunity to be back in front of you for our second subcommittee meeting uh next slide today we'll hear from the Block a architect U the block e architect SCB and the
landscape architect field operations next SL and as always we' like to start with a list of things we heard from you at prior meetings if you want to jump jump ahead to the next slide uh I won't go through each one of these but big
picture for today as Diana mentioned we will focus on the public realm and the ground floor improvements we've made since our our last time together uh as well as how block A and E are working together at the important corner of Thomas Edison way and then get into some
of the design specifics for both block a and block e and also as Dana mentioned we will get to block b and Block C and uh at a at a future meeting next next slide please and as promised we've created a physical model
uh which is currently available for viewing uh at City Hall uh I don't know if any of you had a chance to get over there yet but it is there and we welcome you to go ahead and and take a look um and with that I will turn it over to Colin at field
operations thanks John um Colin curlyy uh with field operations Landscape Architects on the project um just starting here with an orientation um of our U public Realm in the context of Boston and particularly South Boston um filling in a missing link within the
harbor walk and really connecting to um some of the signature Open Spaces in South Boston um including Metal of Honor park for Le playground and then out um to the butler Memorial Park next slide um just as a reminder as well um we're really looking at the site um as
kind of being comprised of these four different character zones um Summer Street Gateway being kind of the active retail Frontage along Summer Street the Waterfront prominade being kind of more open and flexible programmable spaces along the Waterfront incorporating um old industrial artifacts the turbine
precinct which is really centered um and anchored by the old um turbine halls and turbine alley um Edison Plaza will be the focus of a lot of what we're discussing today U being really that primary connection from the neighborhood um down to the Waterfront prominade next
slide um So based on what we've heard what John was um uh mentioning earlier um a lot of the comments on the public realm we heard last time were focused on Edison Plaza um the service drive and really that intersection of Thomas Edison way um where it turns um and goes
towards M Street and so that's where we've really focused our attention um next slide this is the planet as it was presented um prior um and next slide um what we've done is really look to um address some of the feedback that
we received um so beginning kind of from the U the North End or the leftand side um looking at kind of creating more spaces um and uh actually being more explicit about program um one of the things that we've done here is add a trellis um that can
help to kind of complement the overlooked lawn um with a flexibility of programming for movie screenings or or um yoga classes things of that nature um just to the um West or um page south of that um you can see a game Alco that
we've introduced for scale that's showing U regulation siiz shuffle board though it could be you know any number of different games um we've also looked at trying to um kind of clarify their hierarchy of circulation there was a comment about there being a lot of circulation um kind of uh relatively
undifferentiated so we've really kind of um sought to reinforce that primary path aligning with the crosswalk um and leading you from the neighborhood down to the Waterfront um the flexible seating area between blocks F and e um we've enclosed with planting to make it
feel like it's much more of an enclosed kind of Outdoor Room rather than a space that's passed through um and then we focused a lot of our attention on that intersection of Thomas Edison way and well Block B isn't here this evening um a substantial um shift that we've made
in response to the comments we received um is flipped the ground floor program um where previously retail had been along East First Street and residential amenity had been up against Thomas Edison way um we feel that having retail at the corner there um can help activate that
corner of the public realm that we're showing as a dining Terrace um and then um the block a team will speak more to how the um the building massing has um been studied and in regard to the uh comments about service drive and making
it feel like it's not a place for pedestrians to continue um from a ground floor U ground plane perspective what we've looked at here is um continuing the concrete sidewalk um across Thomas Edison way as a raised Crossing
signaling to vehicles that pedestrians are prioritized there and creating a threshold um across one across which one might need to uh travel to get to the service Drive Beyond um and then over to the right hand side there up against block a what we've done is narrow that
pathway out um and angle it um towards the uh towards the building and an egress door there are some other building massing responses that block a will share um but the idea there to make that streetcape feel less like a sidewalk that's continuing um and to
make clear that there's not a destination at the end of that path and with that I'll pass it over to block a hi thanks uh next slide please um just reminding everybody again where block a is it it holds the the uh Southeast
corner and um plays an important role relative to the Open Spaces within the project but um the park across the street and the the long linear Tom uh Thomas Butler way that runs all the way to uh pleasure Beach and Castle Island
so um uh uh a lot of things we've been considering here um next please um this is the ground floor plan and um the landscape proposal the last time we met with you Collins's already
covered some of the things that we've done but I I think the big takeaway from our last session with the bcdc was the ambiguity about the role of service drive as a street or a drive relative to the major move of uh uh the public real
really uh taking a right and moving South toward the existing neighborhood and downplaying service drive as um especially a pedestrian destination not inviting people to the end of service Drive which is then mostly a service Court uh next
um so this is a before and after of that same ground plane in the context of the ground floor plan that Colin discussed uh in addition to the ground plane changes which um have has deemphasized the sidewalk which really now leads to
um uh what will be a parking entrance so that people can still find that um we've adjusted the mass of uh the north wing of the building which will be much clearer when I show you uh three dimensional drawingss of uh the adjustments that we made uh otherwise
the the ground floor uses the the same uh we've got the retail on the neighborhood side because the the park is such an important piece of the larger puzzle puzzle um we've got the amenities on the northwest corner um we've got
bike parking um uh facing uh the dog park and the the the driveway where the MB MBA buses uh access their drive and we've moved parking and loading on the far end where the streetscape changes and that really functions more again as
a service Court beyond the landscape Zone that Colin talked about next um this is just a a a blowup of um the landscape changes and a hint of the massing changes that you'll see you'll see that the alignment of the building
changes to signify where there's active edges in the building uh more glazing with the service end uh further east next slide um to remind you um our essential moves from a massing standpoint were to
take what's a a a c-shaped Podium building and break down uh the mass into three volumes a longer one on the North side facing building F which is a lab building um a shorter Mass uh uh designated by number two that relates to
the plan Moves In uh Block B and then a mass that's actually aligned with the street grid along East First Street which is much more about the Cadence of existing facades that happen uh both on the project side of East First Street but also the existing buildings on the
south side of East First Street um and to further def differentiate the facades uh the parit of volume two is taller than the parit of volumes one and three just to to put a punctuation on the the way that we're articulating
those volumes next um one of the outcomes of the feedback we got from the bcdc um relative to um uh thinking about service drive and the messaging was to go back and reconsider the massing again
um the decisions about the massing the original massing that we had um is diagrammed in uh alternative number one uh to give the punch line away I that's still our preferred massing to keep the alignment of the volume on First Street
on the street grid but um have that rotation which has a couple of advantages I'll describe in a minute we did try straightening out that Northern Wing um uh but we thought that that compelled the perspective much more down service Drive uh by opening up more view
of the sky um from a perspectival standpoint and then we tried making the volume along that segment of Thomas Edison way that connects to the neighborhood The Long Bar but we didn't like the scale of that massing relative
to um what's happening on Block B um um and the kind of presentation of that so uh next slide please um what we uh decided to do instead was to um break down the scale of that um volume along
service Drive in two ways um uh among other things we studied uh the first thing we studied was um rotating the geometry of the facade back to the street grid beyond the fire stair to turn away the face of the building uh
signaling where the service court is versus kind of the Lusher landscape of the service Drive closer to the park sequence that Colin talked about um but we also thought that um and and these aren't the final schemes that we might
play up the actual northwest corner of the building by making those uh balconies a little bit more demonstrative in a way to guide the eye around the corner um if you're coming down in this perspective and I have more perspectives to show that would a way
guide the eye around the corner and Lead You Out to the neighborhood so um uh the scheme that I'm going to show you is a combo platter of uh those two strategies so next slide please um this is what you saw last time I'm now teeing up with all
of those perspectives of kind of before and after you see um the alignment of that rotation actually even working pretty well we think in um this important stage set like view that you get from within the turbine hall building looking at the kind of urban
scene that we've made um uh uh uh we came back to liking that that rotation and then next slide um the consequences of both and these are simple line drawings uh rotating that volume out where the service functions are to kind of slow
down the speed of the perspective at the end and terminate it um but also to take our existing vocabulary of corner balconies at um the end of each of the volumes and make that one more expressive by having each alternating
balcony Canal lever out from the volume a little bit um a kind of kind of urban dovetail joint um and that also keeps those two balcony extensions not under the one above too we have some renderings later to kind of explain what that looks and feels like in a little
bit more detail later in the presentation so the the primary massing moves were really are really focused on that that that longer volume on the North side that faces uh the block F lab um in terms of materiality um uh we're
looking for I'm sorry to interrupt you here I just want to let you know that we've got two minutes um left okay um we we looked for the kind of pallet from the existing neighborhood which is quite diverse next um uh this
is um a diagram rendering of how those colors will be deployed a sand tone on the North side partly because it capture Shadow better a kind of iron spot um in that middle volume which is where the entrance is located and then a kind of cinnamon color that we're uh uh uh
thinking of for East First Street but also end volume uh of the north facade these are some details of that um rendered next and then mo more importantly um some perspectives looking into the project um uh from the
neighborhood and then that corner we fussed with where the balconies are uh where Thomas Edison turns so that concludes block a I'll turn it over to um uh Kristen I think is gonna speak for
block a correct yes hi Kristen o' Gorman with SCB um so to start us off I thought I'd quickly run through how we got to the massing that we have landed on today starting with a simple mass of program in step
one and then step two the important move is really adding this kink in the mass and what this does is it helps direct views away from block F across the plaza but it also provides a wide entry to Thomas Edison Plaza from the South
Boston side but also from the Waterfront side and then last what it does is it helps provide a little bit more Breathing Room between our new structure in 1898 to help preserve some of the aspects of that building that we're we're interested in
keeping then next we really wanted to focus on the street wall and the urban realm and so what we've done is we've created a notch that aligns with the height of 18 98 to create that continuous Street Wall height and help to break down the scale um of the
building and then finally just continuing to study and further redefine the mass moving up the building and creating three tiers within that mass next just a quick section to talk about
stacking here um Hotel um at the bottom with residential we are capped with the um FAA Heights at the top of the building which we are staying well with under and then also meeting the um raising the first floor to meet the design plot elevation you can move to
the next so next we wanted to talk a little bit about the circulation building off of what Colin was talking about a little more closely to this building specifically and to note we do have Contours listed on here so it can help describe some of the grade changes across the property but the thick line
at the top of the page that runs diagonally is really the primary path to the Waterfront so this is the main pedestrian artery for people moving from the South Boston side and so what we're doing there is having that as our main connection and then having people Branch
off of that to reach the entry to the both the residential and the hotel when people move from turbine um side they will come up that set of stairs that you see along with that sloped walk that will lead you directly towards the
entries you're starting to see some of the scale of the drop off Zone we're providing about 10 to 15t clear along the building and a 22ft wide Drive aisle so that cars can comly comfortably Park unload While others can pass next and
then just starting to express the scale in section with a comfortable 18t height and then using these columns that are coming down at the building to help separate people zones from vehicle zones and then furthermore on scale it's always helpful to reference something
little locally that's built that folks might be familiar with this is the Four Seasons um and just for comparison they have about an 8ft wide sidewalk along the building a 16 foot width for the cars and then a 40 foot wi um length of
their drop off zone so we are we already talked about our width for the um sidewalk and drop off but we're also hitting 72 feet for so that there wouldn't be an issue with queuing of cars now we're going to walk around and start to look at this from a 3D
perspective this is from the turbine Hall side so what you can see here is some of that Portico drop off uh realized three-dimensionally but also to note once again that that Notch at the height of 1898 this is from that crosswalk I think
this perspective really helps to show the hierarchy of that path so people will move across here and we're starting to um Define entries with canopies and so just help pull people into that zone to find the entry to both the residential and the Hotel this is from
the vehicular entry so though materials are not yet finalized by any means we're we're looking at changing the paving material to really help signify to cars that this is a shared space and then similarly what we've done from a design element is study the core originally the
core was coming down along the exterior of that setback of the ground floor creating an opaque wall but we've worked hard to shift that back provide program and maximize the transparency at the ground floor here this is just a quick view of those stairs in that sloped sidewalk moving
towards the plaza once again we're starting to define those entries and help pull people in and really are excited about how we are engaging the plaza and then similarly to note here is that we're we're carrying that Notch from the 1898 also on this facade to
further break down the scale facing the park just to remind everyone of some of our inspiration we've always felt it was uh important to represent the Innovation that incurred inside this building and specifically the turbines um so starting
to look at how that starts to take shape with you know fluid and aerodynamic shapes and then while we're still once again working through exact materiality we do feel strongly that this should be a metallic expression so now we're studying different tones of that
potential gradients to see what feels appropriate so what we heard last time was that there was an opportunity for this to really become more of an icon for the site or for the development and so we've studied tirelessly um many
options to see you know what what would create a more impactful and cohesive expression so on the left is where we were in February there were many moves from this from a part T standpoint that we felt were strong with the rounded
continuous corner to really help anchor and Define Thomas Edison way and Thomas Edison Plaza once again that notched towards 1898 but we really wanted to simplify the approach of the facade once again we thought that would be a more impactful
expression for this building overall and as you step a little bit towards block F and you start to realize that kink in the building we think that this angled Mass really starts to create these shifting facade expressions with this new
articulation um and then also just highlighting that we're maximizing the height of the building on this south side where this corner is we are able to to add more height because of the the flight path but really it's helping to emphasize and ground this corner and
show importance but then also creating a dynamic Sky plan plane of the building that you'll be able to perceive from afar from the Waterfront side we're beginning to Echo that rounded Corner facing back towards the Waterfront and towards the
city because we also recognize this as a very important perspective as well so now you're starting to see how it fits into the skyline of the development and then a bit of the approach on the Summer Street Bridge thanks Kristen Diana that
concludes the presentation thank you so much and uh we'll turn it over um to the Commissioners um for their comments can start um from a landscape perspective if others don't aren't
chomping at the bit um paen so thank you for the presentation everyone it was it was very helpful and thank you for being responsive to you know to the comments that that we had the last time could we to the landscape the more recent
landscape plan so so Colin I very much appreciate the the spatialization of a number of the um the plaza spaces I I think one of the last as you you noted um one of the comments from last time was that it it felt like it was more circulation spaces
so I I very much like the addition of the trellis and the definition of the the pockets within within the area um and and I do think from actually I'm a little I'm a little sort of on the
fence about the the um the Ser the approach along the service drive because it it is actually the raising I I think that that's actually very effective but the the direct line to the you know to the to the Loading Dock Service stair um
as I said I'm on the fence about it if it's more direct rather than than I know it's not parallel but it is a it is a straight shot but I'm as I said I'm on the fence about that I think one of the things that this plan really raises to
me and it's something that in went on in a further iteration when we're looking at other buildings I think it would be helpful to understand the overall Paving strategy because for example since we're not talking about block F that that
gives a good opportunity for you to um Define that because that's a lot of open space that that feels quite differentiated um so so I think just understanding how much of it is concrete what are the other materials how do you
bring more of a human scale and even if we're not going to be designing every aspect of this project at this stage just starting to understand more about that that more sort of tactile experiential scale of the landscape as we're as um you know to give us cues of
how it's going to be developed I do think that from an open space perspective there's a couple of big questions that I still have the the first um was from the video that we saw
the last subcomittee through the turbine Hall towards the carport and it was quite a a a jarring um view from the last not from today's presentation but from the last video presentation so I
would like to understand what that view looks like as well which is also the sort of the correspondent view as soon as you clear the turbine Hall looking in the direction looking plan North what is the view of the the carport area from
you know from that perspective um Along Thomas said way so so the the passageway through turbine hall and then just as you step out out Beyond at looking towards exactly that that that
perspective and and then the other thing that is less clear to me is what the character of this quite large Hotel Plaza is on you know on the the left of the hotel on the plan to of um just by
the to the left no no go to the left this that exactly that that Plaza because again it's it's a it's quite large when you know when I recall the the scale from your views of how large that green lawn is at the top it that
Plaza is about the same scale and and so trying to get a sense of what what the character of of it is if that's something that's going to be designed by this team or designed by the the hotel um operations if it's if it's public or
private um I think it's public space so so trying to get a better sense of what that is it's in the same sort of bucket as the the big stripe along along block F but overall I really do appreciate the the thinking about the different spaces
as you're as um as the Project's being developed it's getting it's getting richer there's a number of really beautiful moments on on on this project and and each each time we see it it gets it gets it gets more um intentional and and uh distinctive each
area thank you I'll jump in um I just want to thank you for the presentation realize this is what I've seen presentations of previous proposals this is my first time seeing this specific one um I want to piggyback
on Shauna's comments but uh but translate them or address them in terms of the architecture that one of the things I had the opportunity to tour this site when we were um bcdc looked at a previous developers proposal and I was
really struck by how much this this site is distinguished by the historic character its proximity to the Waterfront the opportunity to uh kind of mitigate between the small scale residential neighborhood to reconnect it
to the Waterfront and it just seems like a a pretty extraordinary op opportunity and I but when I look at this proposal I am struggling to to kind of see that character expressed in this proposal so
just as Paula I'm sorry um shaa question sort of what's the overall Paving strategy I'd like to understand what's the overall strategy to the architecture you know how do you create both some how do you allow each building to respond to
its own individual conditions while also providing some continuity you know how does this create an ensemble um I I I'm also looking for the human scale in that tactile e experiential quality again
that's something that I really associate with this district and the buildings um that are presented today remind me of more of a corporate environment of buildings that we've seen and other developments across the city and I while
and I understand the the rationale for the The Kinks in the buildings but I wonder really how that translates in an experiential quality and I I would just really like to better understand the expression of the identity um we see a
lot of glass um and metal buildings and and when we review projects and I always I can't help but wonder you know how that translates to the exper experience of The Pedestrian how does that relate to the surrounding
context um so again how do we um you know how do we think about the overall character of this District in both a a kind of a broader sense of the overall development and then the individual buildings I also um am kind of uh
struggling a little bit with the rationale for the um the the the kinking of um the residential building because it seems contradictory to the idea of you know how do you guide people's views to from the neighborhood to the Waterfront so um sorry I have more
questions actually than specific comments at this point since this is my first time thank you I I'll go next um and uh I'm G to go to block a and Tim I'm GNA ask you to put up
I know I should have written down the number but I didn't um the page that had your um I think on one page you had three adjacent elevations right um and it had to do with color and yes that's the one thank you
so um I'm I'm I'm intrigued by this um I I think I understand uh what you're what you're doing what you're trying to do here in terms of
um creating three separate parts uh distinguished by um color texture um uh and to a certain extent that um the regularity of grid versus
the the um um the the irregularity vers that that that that um uh translates or makes legible interior exterior I this is always a hard thing to do um and and
I'm I think you're you're doing it well but I wonder um where do you um I well I want to hear you a little more to talk about what exactly I I know you're trying to make scale you're trying to
break down into three parts um and maybe you're trying to get at a little bit of what an Marie just said about translation across um East first uh in that in that scal making um I'm
wondering about how these pieces will come together and and where you think you are in this process of um making one building that has three distinct Parts yeah I think
um it's a good Quest that's a good set of questions because I think they're the same questions that an Maria is Raising I I think you know I think backing way up I don't want to answer the question for all of the Architects but Global Capital likes their buildings big um you
know we don't build little tow houses and things and um you know this is as any architect that works on the scale of development knows um there's a fine line between artificially break down the
scale of a large building using an approach that's more Disney like um versus making decisions that still have architectural integrity and and I think David you're sort of getting at that but but it it might help
to describe the rule sets we used to create the similarity similarity and differences because our goal is to be on the knife edge there for example um uh the north volume which faces building F and volume one that is the park use
essentially the same fenestration language which is the the fenestration is Freer range chicken relative to um the distribution of the units behind so bedroom units are smaller living room uh windows are bigger um all within that
30% or less so that this can be passive house and so the percentage of glass is actually low on these bu on this building um and then the middle volume which has as the entry um we call it the
iron spot volume um uh uh has the same Windows like many commercial and resid pre-war residential and commercial buildings that weren't honest functionalist and and that decision was made relative to
um setting up the architecture for the entry too that that's the in a way the more formal side of the building because it's where the entry is it faces B and so those are the rule sets we used for um two different fenestration strategies to create enough of a difference that um
we were breaking down the scale of the building from an Urban Design standpoint and then in terms of the coloration um uh those decisions are a little bit being driven by uh shade and Shadow studies um you know having the
lighter tone on the on the mass that faces North to get most credit for our balcony move at that very important Urban Design corner by not having that cladding be too dark um and then you'll see too that the base designs for each of the three volumes are different um
there there one story Facing East First Street in facing north and it's two stories facing uh Thomas Edison way and then that whole ground floor is going to be a combination of Rick and pre-cast concrete with a lot of detail so uh in
terms of the articulation of the building um uh that detail is going to be um uh uh uh expressive textured um and and really um signal more that this
is a residential building than a than a commercial building in in terms of those decisions we make because in fact um the legibility of this as a residential building both as a mass when you're standing back but also at that kind of sidewalk scale is important to us so
it's hard to see in these drawings because they're back a little bit and because you know we haven't fully resolved with the client team exactly what those details are um uh that's the logic there so um and then we're using different textures of panelized systems
um uh you can see hints of that with different kinds of corrugation and things to approximate that same detail above so that that's the dactic explanation of some of those decisions that we're making and if you go two slides forward
um uh you can see the manifestation of that even slight changes in plane to get uh some shadow effects with um slight reading of of of verticals and the spandrels uh through Shadow
decisions we're in that that level of detail yet uh already um and the way that um at the end of each of the volumes those um Corner balconies in a way highlight the connections between the volume so um those are all of the
considerations um we can't have balconies face the port which is the East End which um I think John or somebody was just pointing to uh but that that's the rationale for the moves but you know we're we're um the
fenestration in a way is driven by the distribution of the rooms behind um yeah what what what I really do appreciate and I think you're doing very well here is there is a restraint around um the the use of materials which
in so much of this genre the the seven story Residential Building I think there's an overuse you know opening up the sweets catalog to date myself uh and and uh using too many
material you're making the distinctions in color and texture but then you're being consistent within the piece which I really I really appreciate um I was a little bit surprised when you talked about I think you just said corrugated
metal but that's a detail yeah I don't I think it's coration as a texture not as a if I added metal to that that that maybe maybe we're not ready to um to to fully understand that but I I think I
think you're right if you look at um this scale of apartment building in the city um uh it's a kind of ABAB of bays and different materials at a at a at a at a at a middle ground of scale and so the Integrity of the building as a mass
is lost and I think we're pulling back the lens and it's saying a little bit and if you look at pre-war apartment buildings in Boston or New York um each of those volum and the level of detail is the level of detail that those
buildings would have so there there's a a a a a decision to go from detail to to mass instead of the kind of Middle Ground of busy bays and kind of the material pallet sample board that seems to be very popular these days yeah I and
I completely agree I think one of the real keys and you see it here especially on that in the drawing on the right the seam between the parts will be very important important um and um just and
I'm sure you'll you'll handle that well um I I have to say uh let's go back to I don't know any one of your I I guess your ground floor plan I I remain a little unconvinced about the the rotation on um
the service Drive um in a way I've SE I I see it almost as a invitation as opposed to the narrowing of the the um the perspective I suppose you could
you can um um argue that one either way but you know when I when I see uh Thomas Edison way uh and the way it rotates to East first that's an invitation obviously
there's a there's water Beyond and there's the continuous um walkway that's very strong um I'm not I I still remain a little unconvinced that there's a seam that runs north
south where you twist that um massing uh and your your I know you're I I know from the way you presented with your preference and your Alternatives that you're you're very um you're very attached to that I'm I'm not I guess I'm
still a little bit unconvinced that that's there's a little bit there's a little bit of an inside out interest too that it makes those units just a little bit better not to be completely right angles to a future lab building um uh kind of rotating away um uh it's it you
know it it can be challenging to live across from a research lab where you know um and so um we thought that by by by pulling the mask back into alignment where the surface drive would slow the
eye um and and Signal um a very different treatment where that I think I used the analogy last time that that the first drive is a little bit like the dead end of the streets and the sea port
like at Pier 4 and those buildings along that Inlet um where the streets kind of dissolve into kind of a shared space almost kind of a ly landscape service courts um and that's really what's happening on the business end because
it's across from um the parking entrance to building AF to right but um if you if you go back uh whoever's driving to the very early diagrams of the different alignment studies that we did it's like the third slide in our
sequence um the next one uh yes this one um you're really talking about alternative number too and I and I we we we got uh very nervous about that
parallelism um uh relative to uh what it does to the figure ground of the whole uh Park the kind North South Park alignment that Colin was talking about but just the proximity of the building then to
the lab building in the future yeah understand I you're right I am talking about alternate number two yeah and uh uh but understand your your your goal of of
creating a kind of um not a termination but um um the the definition of of Thomas Edison that Thomas Edison is actually turning this is shrinking in size uh both at street level and and
building that passing and and the yeah and the rotation also um uh sets up a um a kind of three quter perspectival view of the end of block a which makes it a little bit more object like um and I
think it does a better job in the in the sequence of perspectives approaching it um draw your attention more to the corner than than the long perspective if you go two slides or three slides forward um
uh not this one but the next one you know as you're as you're approaching it that kick in the perspective really sets the eye on the 100% corner there and not and not the kind of long to Sun running back but I you know I I I see your perspective too
I mean I just um we've been we've been studying this 5,000 different ways so uh your your your fresh perspectives are useful and well I I appreciate the Alternatives sorry D and David I'm sorry
to interrupt here but um one thing I I wanted to share as well is that um from planning department staff I think some of the feedback we had shared with the team was that you know we were thinking about these sort of broader view sheds and specifically the portal sort of you
know going through the historic 1898 building as being this really important moment where where we had that facade just you know a sort of parallel line to lab building it felt really flat as a Terminus to the composition of the
entire um you know how you're going to experience this at the ground level so um I really do welcome the Commissioners to come to City Hall and see the model because we only kind of picked up on that by seeing the three-dimensional model and getting a sense of like you
know how are you going to be navigating as a pedestrian the space and and what are the moments right that terminate your experience and Thomas Edison way and how do we want the architecture to both hold that corner um and also you know have some sort of Interest or
Terminus to that sort of back end um that you know provides that visual Varity right that we we all enjoy it that's a great I I I'll I'll try to come see and and the models in the model room is I'm sorry D yes so we do have
the model it's currently sitting in Seth's office but we're happy to move it into the model model room um they they uh they did a sort of genius little move here they made it a little Lazy Susan model so it's very easy to spin around I saw that yeah
that's just one more quick comment um I think we were all so um taken with your walk around the site last time we saw you The Pedestrian walk around the site um on the just staying on the sidewalks
and walking around was really really really helpful um I'm going to suggest when we come to our conclusions that when you come back with the next two buildings that would be a great way to see everything again uh up to date I'll
I'll stop and I know we have others I don't know if we've lost Bill and and David I just want to make one last Point too and I think anarie this is to your comment around kind of the historical identity right of of the neighborhood and and some of these features and I think
I want to hold that comment because I feel like you need we need to see the other buildings in the context um of the two buildings we were reviewing today because there are some elements of preservation here that are being held to right and I think there's a sort of
question around do we pick up on the you know I think there are moments where we pick up on the materiality I think with some of these residential uh buildings um there there's some detailing also in balky and and other uh blocks here that I think um really speak to that um but I
think this there is a sort of like gapos here between the sort of historic preserved element and specifically the hotel building right and and what the material expression should be there so that's something that um I think it's a worthy Point we've been thinking about
it as well we're just trying to think about the balance uh between between all these elements and I I think too if I could just chime in I put in the chat I as Tim and David were talking about the approach to the the building a I think
there's you know it prompted the question for me is sort of where's the building entrance because if you are and I really appreciate the efforts to address breaking down the scale um you know not over you know not making the design overly complicated but I do feel
like there's a little bit of a inherent conflict when you have one sort of big entrance to the complex but then the buildings read as three individual building so I expected I started looking at the plans thinking oh are there three
separate entrances I think there's maybe some mediation between maybe at the base or is there some way without over with keeping the the Simplicity and the Elegance of the design that again maybe strives for a little bit of unity
between the three without introducing a new material we um just to answer your question it might be good to point out where the entrance is if you go to the the last couple of slides maybe the last perspectives um it's where uh sand meets
iron spot and um uh it's a it's a twostory entry it's probably best in the in the elevation on slide 24 yes I see that in I see that in the elevation I have to say when I look at it from the perspective it it's not intuitive to me that that's where it
would be it there's something very contradictory to it so I I think that's again I appreciate all the work you've been doing to the explanation the rationale but I I would expect three separate entrances and not sort of one
large entrance which actually I think might help you if you begin to think about you know what are some opportunities to to to unify these while also you know taking the approach that you've had well we're going to we're going to have
a a retail entrance um we are going to have different entrances to the building it just won't be the the residential entrance I I see that yeah I understand that thank you yeah uh this is Bill I have my hand raised but someone may be ahead of me I
don't I don't think so Bill you should go for it so let me ask a um a question uh I've I appreciate the presentation today and I've long enjoyed the development of this
project uh that said um Building E I'm my question is about building e um historically Building E was a narrow rectangle the the long part of the rectangle was running north south the
narrow part East West if I've got my coordinates correct and um and it meant that when you were uh within the community you you saw this Tower yes but it was a kind of narrow narrower piece
and it gave a kind of liveliness to um The View looking north um ultimately to the water of course um two or three times meetings ago we saw you bring the
can I'll call it the can uh uh into the shaping of that building and I thought that kept the building made the building feel looser and uh uh less fixed shall
we say and I thought that was a good thing in one of your slides tonight you showed looking from the southeast um at the corner of that building and it feels like the the
narrowness of it has been lost that it's it's become significantly wider and therefore I worry that's significantly chunk chunkier there yes there we go so on the right that that
that even in this U comparison the U rendering on the left looks taller and narrower than the rendering on the right uh I may be wrong and I'm going to ask you if I am but I'm a little worried that the building has
gotten uh significantly more chunky uh uh from this from this view which is of course the view of the project from South Boston so sure I I can jump in if this is a
good time um it has not gotten it hasn't changed Dimensions so I I um I think it's just a play with perspective on the left we had Corner balconies that face towards the 1898 so that might be what
you're perceiving um as more of a void to make it look a little more narrower um but the overall width has is the same as what we what we had last time I uh May so I would think maybe
then the difference is that the earlier rendering uh had a lot more vertical verticality to the drawing uh and it may be these indentations in the building at the three points they occur is making the
building look uh slightly squatter so I I I would observe then that uh at least from my perspective um the rendering on the right feels still feels chunkier and is there something that uh you can adjust
to U alleviate that or not you may not want to so uh hearing you talk about uh your company's uh fascination with big buildings uh I just was worried that
this chunkiness was something that you were wanting to do no chunkiness is not a goal um so we definitely want to further study that I think um one of the other massing moves um that happened
between these two is we really tried to highlight different tiers moving up the building so it actually fans out ever so slightly As you move up and so that's actually probably what you're perceiving so it's not actually wider it's just the
perspective of this building and how you're catching it that you're going to catch the building getting a little deeper at the the upper upper level so lengthwise it's getting longer towards you towards us if that makes sense so so
let me ask because this we this came up in buildings um ABC uh C and D in the last meeting where some of us were worried that there was much too um um
many two times when the um the upper parts of the building uh C levered out beyond the lower parts and made the buildings again seem uh heavier so does are you telling me in this rendering
we're looking at that the the upper quartile of the building is actually extending beyond the middle quartile and Beyond the lower quartiles yes and is that and what's the
reason for that so we thought it'd be interesting to start to catch and it's not a it's not a deep Canever and I I'm forgetting the exact depth it's a couple feet but to just catch that Underside to help Define different tiers moving up the
building because we too were very excited about the verticality and I think on a few pages back you see the thousands and that's not even half of what we've studied and we've always wanted to express this as because this is the most slender and the tallest building on this site so we really
wanted to celebrate that um but we thought it'd be interesting to start to break it up as you approach the building to catch to catch the bottom of those buildings and then change the The Edge um where it terminates towards 1898 once again this is going back to that
inspiration of the turbine that this is really that rotor that holds the structure and then the blades fan out so it was this movement of you know once again we wanted to simplify the moov so we made three um but to have these kind of movements fan out to really help
strengthen the corner that that that sharp corner or rounded corner but that clean corner that comes down the building to really anchor it so that was an approach that we took to help but you would acknowledge that it makes the building seem a little
heavier I think from this perspective I can see that comment truthfully we weren't I I didn't really notice it reading that way I think sometimes when you're so close to it you don't see that but as you move around and you looked if you looked at it more straight on um
it's not actually wider okay well that is something that concerns me it may be a detail but uh it's the tallest building on the campus and uh uh it would be too bad if it made
the uh feeling of the composition heavier certainly we do not want that okay I agree I actually wondered to Bill's comment um and and you've got you showed
us very quickly 30 different versions of this maybe there was more um much more um but I I I I like your your your rotor um metaphor the movement of the building I wonder um to bills comment if
it rotated the other way it root instead of rotating out it rotated in in this in this View and I know it would be different from different views but that's just occurred to me as bill was speaking and I wonder that also given uh
the explanation we've just heard yeah from this view anyway which is so important because it's the the view from first um it would make the bu it would make you would see more sky it would make the building feel [Music]
slenderer great I know we we've got a packed agenda today and this is the really mey discussion so I wonder if you could help wrap us up with sort of like concrete next steps and feedback for the team um and then we can transition to a
public comment um and our next project yeah you let me try to do that um I I heard several uh uh requests from Commissioners uh when you come come back to see us um and I'll try to hit them
um as as requests for your return one the broadest is um kind of explanation or maybe even diagram of the strategy of the architecture uh that that uh an Marie um
articulated and I guess that that's not that's not to say that it's well I don't want to speak for her but in a diagrammatic way to understand that kind of holistically across the site now that we've will have seen all the buildings um and
um uh another com a great comment from Sha but um more about the U uh Paving strategy for uh the ground plane um uh
there's a two is and maybe I may have left something out from you Sean and number three uh Bill's comment about the the apparent width and and uh maybe even uh ascending width meaning getting
getting wider as it gets taller at least from this View and then I'm going to say lastly um um my request that we get that wonderful walk around the site again at a pedestrian level that animation which
was was really really very helpful and I think by the way um that um maybe some of our comments on that actually affected some of the pieces here did I leave anything out fellow Commissioners the the only thing which I
think will be solved with the with the walk around is really that view coming through the the turbine Hall passage and seeing and seeing the experience of of the carport because I'm a little bit worried about it about that and and David your comment about
building a you just some the continued questioning which I would agree with the the kind of angling of the building and then just also sort of defining the entrance you know so resolving this goes back to the question kind of how do you
how how to what's some what are what are the um what's the language of continuity among you know both an individual building like building a and then throughout the the development okay Lizzie I'm sure you've got all that um should we see if we have
any um comments from our neighbors at this point um we are going uh to invite any members of the public in attendance uh who may wish to contribute to public testimony to raise your digital hand and staff will
call on you if you're calling in by phone uh dial star9 to activate the raise hand function and star six to mute and unmute yourself uh please state your name and any relevant project affiliation information and please keep
your comments to two minutes I don't think we have any hands so I think that concludes the public comment period uh thank you so much to the 776 summer team uh and with that we're going to transition uh to our next
uh Team um so we just want to make sure that um Michael and Kevin are elevated Lizzy but um while we do that I'm going to go ahead and just uh say a couple remarks as it relates to the project um so one Jon Place uh is located in the
Longwood Medical area and is a proposed project that contemplates the development of 495,000 square ft of Hospital use and 250 parking spaces in a single building on approximately a 1 acre site in accordance with their
approved 10-year institutional master plan for um BMC and uh Dana Barber Cancer Institute um this will be the second presentation of the article EDB application for this proposed project to
the design committee following an introduction at the December 3rd uh subcommittee uh full commission in 2024 um and a subsequent design committee meeting on January 21st um the most recent design subcommittee focused
on the immediate public realm elements and proposed pedestrian Bridges and this subcommittee will focus on the architectural expression of the proposed building it is expected that a future design subcommittee will focus on broader public realm interventions
including adjacent public right of ways joclyn Park and updates to the proposed pedestrian Bridges and it is my understanding that commissioner Kim um has recused uh herself from deliberation um and at this moment I just want to make sure that there are no
other Commissioners who intend to recuse okay hearing none uh so a reminder um to the proponent teams that you have um 15 minutes to present uh we'll give you a twom minute warning um
and with that I invite uh Michael and Kevin uh to uh present Dan thank you very much good evening everyone my name is Michael Hinchcliffe uh with pet joined by my colleague Kevin Sullivan uh thank you to uh Commissioners for your
time uh this evening uh to talk about the future cancer hospital uh or one uh jws in place this evening uh we will be discussing with you the Building architecture uh as Diana said uh for uh for orientation purposes again we are at
the critical T between the Dana Farber campus and the Beth Israel deist east and west campus uh the site of this incredible collaboration to bring a dedicated hospital for Cancer Care uh to our city uh and to the region we uh we presented this to you uh as with a the
last time for the building as an an overall uh U orientation to the project back in in December uh we heard some commentary from you that uh the building needed to be uh have more studies in terms of its scale uh and it's articulation uh we needed to look at the
urban realm particularly the ground floor uh but that the exuberance of the architecture and the expression uh that we were achieving uh to uh of the the program use uh was was laudable is as Diana said in our last subcommittee meeting uh in January we reviewed the
connectors in the public realm uh we got tons of great comments uh from the Commissioners uh and are continuing to work with the city staff and the proponents uh to bring uh revised information and materials to you soon I do want to note as well that last night
we had a task force meeting uh where we reviewed the project progress uh with the uh the Butters and task force members uh and the project was incredibly well received uh in terms of its expression uh uh its materiality it's uh fit within the neighborhood from their perspective uh as a Butters uh and
residents and proponent and uh uh those that are in the district every day uh but we did hear some comments uh that when we return to you additional uh study is needed uh to to conform uh and coordinate with the city and the npta but let's get into uh the building itself uh so as we said earlier today
we're focusing on the overall building design uh we'll return specifically to address updates on the connectors the public realm and Jin Park the building organization just to refresh your memories of of the project is organized with 10 uh floors of
inpatient beds uh these are 10 uh 30 bed units two 15 bed units on 10 floors the upper portion of the Tower with mechanical spaces encl fully enclosed above and below uh the base of the building is uh Support Services a range of patient and other amenities uh that
will support the hospital as well as this very clinical uh very critical uh Hospital connector Links at the third floor uh to the other campuses that we'll talk talk to you about in a little bit uh but let's uh refresh everyone's memory on the Building Concept itself in
this updated massing model uh of many that we're studying uh seeking to uh Express uh to the city and to the district uh the quality of patient care uh that is received at Dana Farber uh the incredible uh focus on family members uh and health and well-being for
uh for staff members from that improved M massing that was discussed uh from the Imp plan uh the mass itself steps back uh through land easements uh from Longwood Center uh We've Eed the corners uh and the roofs to mitigate Shadow impacts on the neighboring structures
and Parkland uh We've stepped to building back at the at The Pedestrian zones for widen sidewalks uh and public accommodation uh and then uh We've started to explore the articulation of the building for its programmatic expression we believe that uh these come together with
intentionality to express the softness and warmth uh of the care that will take place in the hospital uh so whether that's the organic expression or forms of of the building to the veil likee qualities at the facade uh or almost like drapery they find their expression
in the pedals that Kevin will describe to you in a moment that are the primary components of the building facade so with that I'd like to ask Kevin to uh take us through the building in urban context uh and discuss the the facades in a little bit more detail thanks Michael so first um I'm going to just
remind everyone in terms of how the building sits in its contest context this is a view of the building looking from Brookline a um there are two primary pedals on this facade as well as a base and a at the corner um three-story space that's framing an
interior Garden that we're going to talk about in a little bit later as we turn the corner and look at the view from josin Park they're two petals that are sort of formed by um a stem in the middle of the band and we're going to go into a lot of detail today talking about
sort of the fabric of uh the glass of the petals as well as the other materials around the base of the building and as we go along Pilgrim Road uh the pedal turns the corner and it transitions from um a glass rain screen to a metal rain screen system up along
the back of Longwood Center so let's look at a little more detail um sort of at how this system works so this is an axom metric that's sort of showing you the view from the corner of Brookline and jlin place we have this glass rain screen um on three pedals on those three
exposures um a Ste steel frame structurally glazed curtain wall at the base that's framing the garden that's right at the corner and an Ornamental Metal cladding that's uh cladding the stem and um and a terracotta system that
sort of wraps the corner around uh Pilgrim Road and Brook line as well as the gasket uh up along Longwood Center we have a simpler system uh a metal a metal panel rain screen up along along with Center it gently wraps the corner
um and is separated with a GL a gasket uh with pedal on that facade so let's show you a few views um of this in its context this is what um how much you can see if you're you know further down the road uh looking up Longwood Avenue back
at the complex you can see it just peaking above so we wanted to give you a sense of that okay so let's just talk about um the elements so they're the the petals that form uh sort of the the glass rain Scream the stem and then the
base and the lobby and this transitions to this rendering where we have this very elegant skin that is a combination of um frit glass that sort of uh provides a performing of elment but also gives it the the identity almost of a
lace curtain that is over that uh facade so this idea of softness on the petals and warmth in the middle of the building with the stem um is really the fundamental idea now as we look a little bit more um we studied a lot
um some of these elements and this just shows you the base of the stem as it transitions to the canopy at the base you can you can see we're having a lot of fun of these things I missed the old days when we were in a room and you could look at these things together but we're going to try to show you some
models um the next view is the view um from Pilgrim um and Deacon is looking across Joslin Park um you will notice that there is uh there are some changes on the pilgrim connector we're going to talk about that at another meeting but
it's much more of a building and something that's of the park it's a very different thing um so uh our building itself you'll notice that there um are these um uh slight projections on the
facad that give this added texture that's uh almost like if you were looking at a pedal under an x-ray there would be a scal or n notion to that and so we're adding this little element of detail on the facade and as we turn the corner you'll see it a little bit more
so as we look at uh from Brookline Avenue this is this is the other view um you see the definition of the pedals but more importantly at the base of the building we've been working a lot and as uh we zoom in a little closer you're going to see what we're beginning to
talk about we have this interior Garden um that's on inside of the lobby that is looking back out to the park so there's this wonderful El element of Green Space inside the building and outside the building uh which we're going to talk about in a little more detail when we
get into the lobby and you can see a hint of the Terracotta to the left of the main entrance and this Ornamental Metal work on the stem um uh the these models are going to just show you um just some studies we've done of this corner how it transitions
to the upper massing uh the voluptuous shapes of the petals and then in the next view just a little more detail a closeup as you look at the relationship of that uh Corner Green Space and how it uh looks facing josin Park and Brookline
Avenue and really just the volumetric shapes in this particular image on the far right how the pedal on uh Brookline Avenue transitions to a smaller scale canopy um above the stor pruns with the uh Cafe space just above peeking out
Michael's going to go into a little more detail about the systems um thanks very thanks very much Kevin uh so we've worked to try and uh refrain uh uh from uh or restrain the pallet uh to a limited number of materials so the The Petal trims that you saw in some of
those models are intended uh to be uh metal for metal panel uh with a mat or a texture coating uh that the majority of the facade is a rain fritted rainscreen glass cladding uh that's a combination of vision uh and U rainscreen panel and
then we've worked since the last time you saw it uh to integrate and conceal the louvers into a more comprehensive composition uh that seeks to quiet the quiet the building down I wanted to take a moment though to tell you a little bit about the typical inpatient floor plan uh the the intentionality of of the
pedal design uh and the overall part is meant to express the clear functionality uh and the relationships of programmed to the exterior so that stem that Kevin spoke about is the expression of the patient family uh respit areas uh that are their primary arrival to guests and visitors on the floor each of the pedals
uh in turn uh enclose and hold the the units uh at patient rooms uh with that sub volume in the back uh against Longwood Center primarily being uh staff and support areas uh yet still exposed to Daylight uh with a clear expression at the joints between the pedals of daylight at the end of every Corridor
for wayfinding uh and staff benefit the unitized uh rain screen facade is really focused around the the window and maximizing the amount of daylight into the patient room uh So within our unitized system we we have about a 7' 6 wide by 9t high window uh
that incorporates a seat uh We've really looked to maximize the amount of daylight and views for the patients but also to look at the frit pattern from the outside in and the inside out using the veiling qualities of the frit pattern to ease uh glare uh and sunlight
into the room uh very much uh uh focused on the patient perspective of the building out when we look at that from the inside inside out we're proposing this very gentle frit we're still in the process of reviewing this with and family me family patient and family council members uh to look at it and
refine uh this from both inside out and outside in it's uh we as uh you saw in some of our earlier studies uh We've looked at many many different patterns uh and variations for this uh and how uh we can balance the expression of the building uh the experience of patients
and family members looking out with adding a level of scale uh and softness to the building from the exterior our current volume uh in this current image here uh We've sett uh settled settled as Kevin said on a very simple uh fade pattern uh that works in combination
with these uh uh elements that give scale in terms of a mullon cap on the facade uh we're also working to integrate uh the louvers very carefully uh into the composition uh so a concealed uh screen uh Works to um
create a Harmony of composition uh with a major intake louvers uh for the mechanical systems at mid-level and roof uh composed within the overall fac so we uh wanted to oh I'm sorry Michael no go ahead Kevin no you can go through
this one yeah so as we saw in some of the model photos uh the profiles of the metal panel that enclose uh the pedals uh they're optimized uh for fabrication uh but they have a great Variety in terms of dep depth and profile uh so really working to ease the eye around
the composition and provide dynamism as each of these forms meet the sky as well as transformation at the base uh to canopies that shelter uh the vehicular drop off and pedestrian areas so what we wanted to show you a little more detail of what's Happening
uh on the ground floor at the base of the building so just to zoom in and show you what the lobby looks like uh as I mentioned before we have an interior Garden at the corner on along Brook line and chazman place um as well as the main lobby and reception area and the main
entrance um right at right at the drop off so this is really a signature p piece of uh landscape that actually connects topographically with the street through this section so you'll see that there's this inside outside experience where the grading from the outside of
the building both on uh Jin place as well as Brooklyn Avenue uh trans transitions up seamlessly into this interior landscape and that there's a med multi Faith meditation space on the inside of the the garden looking out and
Michael's just peeling away the landscape on the park and the landscape in front of our building just so you can see these details in a in a little more detail uh the main entry on the left um the primary building uh lobby as well as
this interior garden with the Interfaith space within we'll be talking about the hospital connector at um at a future meeting with you so Michael's going to go through a little bit more the base details then we'll be all done uh so beginning at Brookline Avenue uh uh from
the pedals above uh the stems are meant uh to be an exploration of textured and perforated metal uh serving both as air conceal air intake louvers but also to ease the forms to the ground uh here along Brookline Avenue we see a clear uh articulation of the 5,000 foot retail
area uh underneath the canopy that faces Brookline Avenue uh and then beginning here a pair of book uh the book ends of the building base uh that's meant to be uh exploration of terracotta uh so looking at various tone tonality as well as
uh to enclose the service areas of the building but also to provide filter views uh to staircases and staff areas uh at here seeing at the little pocket park uh to uh towards Longwood Center uh with a granite base uh that unifies the bottom of the building as we move along
here uh to the jnon park uh View and the main entry there is this 10- foot grade change so now we've sloped up uh to the main entry from Level G to level one uh the the stem forming and signaling uh entry into the building under the canopy and this richly textured and varied
terracotta facade uh that moves around the building the granite base Rises to provide an opportunity for signage but that terracotta screen also conceals veiled glazing to patient and staff areas that are just behind on the ins inside as well as some uh air lers air
intake louvers uh that are working uh in conjunction with the mechanical systems back around to uh to Pilgrim Road on the end uh in this rougher progress rendering uh the intention is that terracotta uh rain screen continues up completes the volume of the mass uh we have the the corrugated metal panel on
the facades above and we continue that same that same Rich uh articulated language at The Pedestrian realm uh this is all to say that we're uh we're still beginning to explore uh the subtleties and variety uh that we can bring to the material pallet uh in terms of not only the frit testing
surface one versus Surface three patterns and density how they read from the outside and the inside as well as from afar and as Kevin said looking at the uh at the richness uh and correspondence of the building pallet uh with the neighboring uh with the neighboring Community as well uh so that
concludes our update uh on the building we'd be more than happy to uh to go back to any of these images uh as we as we listen to your comments and feedback uh stressing again that we'll return uh to focus on uh the public realm connector and Jin park at a future date so thank
you thank you Michael and Kevin Commissioners comments I can jump in um first of all thank you I really really appreciated the um the your presentation and how you how you described the approach the architecture of the building I I think
it's a really very elegant uh proposal that does a a lovely job of balancing kind of the Practical aspects with the the aesthetic aspects uh particularly the transition from the stem to the
canopy and the subtle variation uh within the materials I although I realize we are not focusing on the connectors today um one thing I would encourage you to think about for that presentation is how you can bring
the elegance and the kind of the approach to design to the building to your treatment of those connectors thank you thank you David manf
Freddy I I I think this is really quite extraordinary um I really appreciate the the the the your your story line but
especially how you've um how you've then made that tangent um in how it relates to the use and um who the who the visitor and who the
guest who the patient is here and um U the the sense of of a uh of a very special uh in embracing kind of place uh in all of its aspects I I I think it's
quite a wonderful proposal I I I I wonder um um how much how how you come to to um understand the the facade looks um so
regular in your renderings and yet um you talked about all the different things that have to happen in this facade meaning you know this is a hospital um and and so you have um some kind of important um U mechanical space
low in the building you have important medical mechanical space on the top of the building I wonder just how um um confident you are in how homogeneous that envelope will be because it the
that's really important the images are beautiful um the language and the and the geometry trees are I think are just wonderful um and I'm not I'm not this is not in any way critical I'm just wondering how you get to that level of
confidence that in fact um when you put all these pieces together and I'm thinking especially about the fritted glass and inlaying those louvers and those several different places where um different things are happening uh that
affect the exterior envelope um that you can get to this this very um um I don't know it almost feels like a piece of fabric it almost feels like a piece of clothing uh in a very sheer sort of way
but also in a very homogeneous way uh I I really want the building to look like what you're you're showing us and I'm sure there's a lot of there's a lot of um um mockups and things to come to really understand that but I it's really
very beautiful thank you thank you David sorry thanks David Shana like my colleagues I'm I'm really impressed with the with the with the from my perspective the voluptuousness
and organic quality paired with the with the very um clear restraint I think I think that's that's an exceptionally beautiful um combination because there's enough to keep your eye interesting interested in moving all the time while
at the same point there's a quietness um so a a couple of questions you know I know we're not talking about the public realm but when we come back I'm curious how the landscape I don't know that it has to Echo it and have the same character but what is the
relationship between those those two um particularly given the qualities of an indoor landscape and an outside landscape not being exactly the same I'd also like to understand the sectional experience when you're right against the window and again this isn't isn't for
today um and then the other part that we haven't really looked at um today which is the other the loading dock and the pilgrim Street edge of of the project and given how much sort of how much Beauty elegance and and
energy is is in this of course it's going to be quiet of course it's not going to be the same type of thing but but how is that um how is that facade achieving the best
solution it can given you know given this project given the languages you're developing of the project Shauna um all the things the landscape I definitely those are great tips and we'll make sure to uh there's plenty of things to chew
on the next time we present but in terms of the the the loading dock the pilgrim Assad and actually all these areas we're talking about there's something in the back of her mind that's been fundamental to our thinking which is whatever we do we want it to look somewhat
effortless and we've got all these you know louvers and things and and and spaces that maybe need light but they they don't want to be seen and so how do you do that and I think in that area we're just getting to it but you can
even see on this facade there's like a family Lounge visitor Lounge that's sort of right next to the main entrance it's a very private thing but we want to get light we want to have a sense of occupancy uh but it needs to be very private and then there's like a staff
Lounge that can be a little more public but then they're Louver so we're using this Veil to sort of mask all the complexity and on the loading dock uh entrance side in the garage Michael would say we're still working
the recipe but we're still working on it you know and so um I think we want to get that even more effortless than it is right now uh but the the system is working we just have to work on some of the grammar a little bit wouldn't you
say Michael a absolutely Kevin and we're just uh We're Coming to Terms uh as well with the technical coordination uh so with BR plusa David as you said making sure that our our Louver strategy uh is rock solid with enough space uh to give
us uh some uh some tolerance and leeway but also for all the things uh the the ground Furniture uh uh that we know needs to be around the base of the building uh that uh the uh using the granite base uh and these zones of solidity uh to collect all the devices
uh so that there's a a logic uh and a place for them uh so that as a as a visitor arriving the building or a patient uh that and if I go back to this previous View uh we can really focus uh oh sorry uh uh at these Prime areas uh a quiet uh dignified uh passage into the
building uh and Shauna I would love uh as we go forward uh and we will have uh Michael Van valkenberg uh Chris and John uh our Landscape Architects join us uh to talk in much more detail at Future meetings uh about the intentionality of these inside outside relationships uh we
are being uh challenged to make sure uh that we address All Seasons uh so understanding the interior Garden uh will will grow uh at a different pace uh and reflect a different season than the outside uh so how can we with intentionality uh make sure that that
transition feels feels natural and not artificial thank you I believe we have bill on the call go ahead B yes unmuted myself um I just uh you can
keep this uh uh r in for us to talk off of uh I I've been fascinated by this project from the the GetGo and um and uh I I was totally fascinated by the way the the bottoms of
the pedals uh open up uh the building uh at at the height that normal human beings can experience it uh whether you're in a car or certainly by foot and
so I found the intersection of the pedals and the bridges the bridges have become kind of integral to this not uh kind of add-ons not feeling like they're just a a
connector but they're integral to the building so I've been fascinated by that and the one thing that worried me until today was the seeming flatness of the general
elevation um uh and and that flatness um uh didn't have a kind of life or someone use the fir word voluptuousness um that this uh pedal
system deserved and so today I mean I'm still getting a sense of it and I think it'll be interesting for you to share with us even some models of uh the window system and the rain screen and
louvers but today we're getting that sense that you one has the the texture of these two flat spaces facing Jos um are um are themselves wonderfully
textured and I I just want to compliment the team profusely for what they've pulled off here and I I just hope that budgets or conservative reactions to the building
uh do not carry the day because I think right now this building contains both the crispness and the um uh the rain screen window system but also the
curv nature of the shape and I just don't want people to start um uh cutting away those things out of the project because I think that's what's going to make this a a very memorable
building for the city of Boston so uh please keep going in the direction you're going and uh let us continue to defend it thank you thanks
Bill I I don't know if we oh no no commissioner Kim is recused maybe I'm if anyone else uh has comments uh I'm just going to chime in here and happy to hear your comments after I think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and just applaud
the ambition of this project I do think um that you guys are really trying to um design something that not only you know um meets the programmatic needs but really uh addresses uh the architecture
uh in a very meaningful and distinct way so I think I think that's that's great I saying that I do have a couple of of things I just want to make sure little they're small uh moments but maybe if we go back to slide
34A I I am questioning where that Center pedal lands it feels like it minimizes the entrance and I'm just wondering if that geometry it's really it feels to me the way this gestures you
want to have the entrance on the right hand side of this big gesture and programmatically you might not be able to but this entry point feels so diminutive for this large building that I just wonder is there any way to bring a little bit more presence to it because
I do feel like it's signaling a different entry point um something to to think about about um and I know you have that program with the you know um Family lounge or whatever you mentioned so just throwing it out there I am glad to see
that you're really you know working hard on models and making sure all the dimensions are right that trim around the beautiful glass you know double glazed wall could get Chunky and so I think
continue to explore that and study that till the de proportions feel absolutely right um it and I'm just saying that as I know you all are so good at this and we'll continue to study it but you know is it
um more about curving planes or is it really you know three does it have some three-dimensionality that I just curious how that resolves itself and I I curious about this window wall the glass wall with the frit as an
you know somebody who's always obsessed about the in indide outside experience you is that frit going to be comfortable so I'm glad to see those studies that you have of where you know you want Vision Glass or where you want good views that's a really
important aspect to the success of this wall and just thinking about this at night what is it going to look like what are we going to actually see I have a feeling that we'll see a lot of you know rectangular windows where patients have
their lights on and so I just that reality is I think is okay but I just think it's worth seeing what that would look like in a night rendering um Mimi there's a little surprise there at night but it's GNA
have to wait till the next meeting oh okay it has to do with the individual rooms and what you'll see outside but we we it's not all here yet but you'll see it the next time awesome and then the last thing I'll
just say is I know this is going to be a fantastic wall I have no doubt but I am unsure about what's happening behind and I know you showed us that perspective where we only see a little bit um from the public realm but I still think you
have neighbors that will be looking at this wall and so if you could just bring like an elevation so we understand that or maybe want to just show it again here so we can see I don't understand the adjacency of the in buildings as well as you obviously do so what are we talking
about you know in terms of distance what are we talking to in terms of you know what how much um can we see from an elevation rather than a perspective sure uh so uh so there's about 30 feet uh minimum between uh Longwood Center uh
and uh the future cancer hospital uh that we've mapped out to PR uh to preserve uh views not only from some of of the research Labs that exist on the upper floors of logwin Center to make sure they receive daylight uh and Views uh but also on this facade um we see a number of elements I'll Point them out
so there's uh there are uh there's elevator Banks uh so patient and transport patient and service elevators are receiving brout uh daylight uh through here uh and there's a number of Staff areas uh um staff lounges uh some office areas as well as additional
corridors uh uh the daylight to uh to this joint um between the two buildings um looking out towards the Riverway uh so the building massing is um it's about 60 UH 60 ft above 67 feet above uh uh the Longwood Center on the Longwood
Street side um but we can come back with some views uh that show the impacts of the building from a distance I think that would be great wanted to add one small comment to to Mimi's comments about the entry because I I completely I love the composition
you're working with and wondering if playing with the eyebrow slightly might be a way to to address it where the where the eyebrow comes down so low just as not as much as on the right hand side but any that's something you can look at
as or maybe have already um and then that's that I also just I love I I love and applaud the ambition of apparent effortlessness while we're here here is there any obviously you have conviction where
the entrance is but is there any thought about moving it over to the more gestal side whybe a couple there are a couple things Mimi uh one of them's technical which is the grading is killer like right we we
moved it as close as we could get to the corner to actually get the grading to even work so that's that's one thing but I I feel the scale also just let's just suspend disbelief and even say we could
move it over uh you know the scale is so much bigger on U the right side of the stem in the left and that's still like it's well over 20 feet tall I mean the scale is very deceiving so that's a very
tall vestile and entry and um and so um in our Lobby is actually quite small so making it even smaller would bring compression to all those functions and and so but it's mostly the grading and
and that we just yeah we can't slide it down we slid it I mean we we actually since the last time we presented it down Michael how far did we slide it like uh yeah so we pulled it uh we pulled it to uh to the east uh by about about 10 feet bring it closer to Mid block uh and
compositionally and and there's a balance between where the stem lands and there's also an observation unit that uh is above uh that we're trying to maintain Windows uh through uh so there's there's a tension both from the left and the right both of those I mean you know and maybe the entrance is
perfectly sighted or not I'm not arguing that that stem just feels like it's facing towards you know the street and it's putting its back to the entrance so it could even be the sculpting or the shaping of the stem as it hits the
ground just to be a little bit more directional but it's my any additional thoughts if not we could see if there are any public comments so um at this time uh we'd like
to invite any members of the public in attendance uh who may wish to contribute to public testimony to raise your digital hand and staff will call on you if you are calling in by phone dial star9 to activate the raiseed 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 missioner love I don't see any comments great um so maybe I'm GNA call out what I heard and Commissioners add
any if I've missed them but one is it seems you're going to come back and explain more about the envelope and um uh answer David's comments about you know the confidence you have in it um
and how it stays homogeneous but yet addresses program and that night view I think we heard a couple of comments about um the connectors um how you know some of the gestures that we're seeing in this building how they relate to the
connectors um where does that language start and stop I think was a theme that I heard um we talked about the loading dock um that that elevation still needs a little bit more um consideration I think you even admitted that so it would
be nice to see the next time what you're thinking um along that facade you're going to come back with the landscape the in and out that's uh assume that's a whole separate meeting anyway and then um two more comments we we talked about
the entrance if there's anything that you want to bring back we'd be happy to see that and more information on the rare elevation okay that that that makes sense it does
we'll be happy you know to bring Clarity on all those items next time yeah and and maybe just one comment about the rear elevation if it really doesn't have any impact you know except for its neighbors does it really need to be a full glass wall do you want to think
about more simpler strategies I'm just throwing that out like why you know those continuous curtain walls um is it programmatic that's driving it uh or is it just um a real art design choice that
I think it I we we can show you like we we tried some actually simpler systems horizontally and things like that Mimi but we felt like it it wasn't in the character of the whole building per se and we said okay it's not the same as
the other facade but it needs to be as simple as the other facades but we can show you sort of that but sure all right I think we uh are done here with the comments and we'll we'll be back
with uh the team for another subcommittee so really thank you for your presentation tonight um and I believe this uh includes our our meeting tonight Lizzie am I did I miss anything did I do a good job okay yeah I think
she covered everything yeah four minutes under so that's great okay I was worried at that first project I know me too well thank you thank you very
much everyone thank you Lizzy thank you d by Part: 2
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 March 18th and this is session A of the BCDC 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 at 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 Therefore please be aware that commission staff is making an audio and video recording of the meeting Please turn off your camera and microphone if you do not wish to be recorded For the purposes of the record uh commissioners Eastley Evans Hine Morris
and Solano are present and I believe we are expecting Commissioner Codoritus to join Um I'll announce as soon as she does Tonight's agenda will include presentations for the 10-year institutional master plan for Northeastern University Tonight's
meeting proceedings will begin with approximately half of the presentation from the proponent followed by comments from BCDC commissioners followed by the remaining presentation from the proponent followed by further comments from the commissioners then public testimony and finally closing remarks
from the commissioners Um I'm going to promote Maryanne Victoria and uh John to co-host here in a second And then I'm just going to read a very brief introduction before you guys get started with your presentation Sound good marian I believe you have screen
sharing ability if you'd like to get started Great Thank you so much Um let's see if we can get this started Excellent Can everyone my screen
perfect And uh just before you do Marian if you don't mind me reading uh this brief intro So sorry Um so a proposed 10-year institutional master plan for Northeastern University seeking article 80D entitlement contemplates approximately
2,224,000 ft of new construction and approximately 935,000 ft of renovation across eight proposed institutional projects This will be the third presentation of the IMP to the design subcommittee following an introduction at the June 25th 2024 monthly meeting
and subsequent design subcommittee meetings on December 17th 2024 and January 21 2025 It's my understanding that there are no commissioners present who intend to recuse themselves from deliberations A brief reminder to the proponent team that presentations will
be limited to 15 minutes Um and we'll give you a two-minute warning Um and with that uh Marian please feel free to get started Okay great Um good after or good evening everyone Um good to be here with you all today Um I think that my um
team members uh Corey and Victoria and John and Sasaki team members are part of this Hopefully everyone can hear um and feel free to speak up or chime in Um but ultimately our agenda is number one focus on what we heard um with past BCDC
meetings doing a quick recap on on what we heard and then moving really into the latest design strategies based off your great input and working through four different campus communities or districts of the northeastern university
campus Um and then having room for discussion and for next steps So for us first and foremost um we have a great amount of good insights um from the January BCDC meeting
um see here um that were everything from um really focusing on the walkthroughs and appreciation for understanding the campus and understanding uh the kind of historical patterns um that have been
part of the evolution of the campus outstanding questions relative to campus open spaces and form um thinking through different ways that we're understanding service and the big ideas um in the December meeting I think there was a desire to see street level views um to
focus on open spaces and how those work with connections and edges in the relationship of the city understanding the experential and the opportunity for accessibility as part of a bigger kind of design strategy as we think about
moving movement and legibility and and then really focusing on Huntington and foresight um as well So in this regard I think that we're we're learning from these meetings and and very happy to build from those insights Um I'm not
sure if anyone from Nor Eastern wants to comment on that but if not we can move forward Okay So with that in mind I think first and foremost we want to um look at the different neighborhoods or
campus communities that exist And I think for us um we are focusing on the foresight park um campus community as well as University Fins and West Village um in the east end So those are the four neighborhoods that we'll be focusing on
relative to campus communities for Nor Eastern's campus Our proposed plan has eight different projects uh that are put forth in the IMP that you see in the white building footprints there But what you'll notice in the the lighter pink is
proposed renovations of buildings and then just the existing campus Highlighted within this um is a series of paths um as we think about the public realm and open spaces And what you'll see in the proposed landscape or our
proposed network of open spaces is that the red lines begin to depict where we're seeing really active edges that explore the indoor outdoor relationship um through transparent facades and active ground floors um as though they
front the kind of public realm and open spaces that make up the main campus So for us first and foremost if we go to foresight park um you can see on the left that we have the existing um conditions that we're working within Now
Foresight Park is among the oldest parts of the campus We have a lot of indust industrial buildings here um like the UR complex that exists the foresight building that's along foresight But we know that this is a significant corridor
as we think about foresight street and traveling from Rugle Station um from the south towards Huntington Avenue in the back bay fence So for us on the right side you see the proposed plan um and it's rethinking this academic core going
from past industry to a way that we're understanding research academic student life and and better public realm um and pathways um in this area So what you'll notice that there are three different projects Um the first is the UR complex
site which we're imagining through a phase development that's looking at academic uses but looking at Leyon Street and reconfiguring this area of the campus as we think about the relocation of the plant and phase development for academic and research
use How to redevelop this western end of Foresight Park as a district how that's relating to creating a more active foresight street and more open spaces Foresight building um formerly foresight building um is redeveloped as well for
academic and research uses as well as the cab site that we see in the upper right hand corner of the plan So in this case these three buildings are redeveloped so that they can be phased and that we can really understand how to
expand um the sidewalk widths and activate the fourth sight street kind of um experience with new open spaces that are emerging on each side of the street including a new gateway plaza along Huntington Avenue and Foresight Street
moving diagonally towards Snell Library library and the Curry Student Center for that being the kind of heart of the campus Um but what you'll also know notice is that we we made some changes since the last time that we met in regards to simplifying and thinking
about how these the massing works for foresight and for cabb as we get sky views and understanding again those active edges So moving forward you could see three-dimensional kind of massing of the
UR complex foresight and cabb um understanding again the kind of circulation patterns that make up foresight street um and those interior open spaces that begin to knit different parts of the campus together as we think about movement towards the north and the
south east west and then diagonally And so one major project that we've talked about in the past is looking at the cabbage site In this particular site um we have a site rationale that is maintaining a lot of the Avenue of the
Arts guidelines um relative to creating a 60foot street wall um along Huntington Avenue and then looking at proper setbacks as we think about increasing the width of the sidewalk um to be 30
feet wide having that sky view um along Huntington Avenue and stepping back the building so that we have a set back of 22 feet from the curb um with the tower that in this case is is down to 200 f
feet tall You see here also this kind of public realm with the ground floor as we think about active uses uh for social and study spaces exhibition spaces um collaboration spaces and how this building will function as a site
relative to um anchoring um foresight street with a welcome mat or what we're calling foroth pla foresight plaza or a gateway kind of entry landscape And then we can see here that the proposed height is approximately 200 feet with about 800
380,000 gross square feet of research academic and student life space Um as we look at the elevation south fronting south facing south along Huntington Avenue what you'll notice is then the
200 ft height of Cabat Um but seeing it within the family of this kind of corridor where there's a lot of height starting to take place for planned projects We see Huntington Theater at 362 ft high Um and then we can see
Krenman Quad and the lowerrise buildings that are white brick buildings the original kind of parts of campus But Cabbat is at 200 ft Um in the background we see 840 Columbus at 285 And then as we move down to our other districts
we'll see that Bernstein Rubenstein is at 170 and that went 500 Huntington Avenue project is approximately 240 ft high So seeing the height of Cabbat relative to this larger elevation of Huntington
Avenue you had asked for more grounded like ground level views and what we put together um is you know looking at the existing conditions of Huntington and Foresight and that corner and the Cabbat building um right in front of us and as
we move into a proposed vision um again looking at Cabbat the new Cab that's in front of us and then seeing to the right the new foresight building um and that diagonal kind of entry uh gateway plaza that would meander towards the student
center and snell library and seeing church hill um in front of us we see also within foresight park this is for street we are facing towards ruggle station which we see back here um
we have the UR complex on the right and uh the foresight building again these industrial buil build buildings that are remnants of the past As we think about the future we want to enliven this kind of corridor where we know there's tons of people moving from uh Rugle Station
towards the Huntington Avenue and Back Bay Fins but activating that edge with wider sidewalks lighting street trees and really these active edges that we can see um along each side of the street
So as we move to University Fins um this particular district is really focused on um what was formerly known as Whiteall or now is seen as 21 foresight Um and this particular area is very close to
Backbay Fins Um so we had a lot of good kind of um work sessions in regards to understanding the shadow impacts on the Backbay Fins And what you'll notice is that in our submitt we had a taller tower um and at 230 ft but we've lowered
that to 170 ft So again we can really um you know limit the impact of shadows on the back bay fins Um you also see that we've been thinking about stepbacks as we push and pull on the the base of this building but also seeing that we've
created a smaller plaza as we relate this kind of plaza um across the street from the Marino center plaza and then our gateway plaza So small medium large As we think about the different sizes of these different kind of how this
intersection is working and how we can create these welcome mats that were part of the Avenue of the Arts guidelines Um what you'll see here is that 21 for building This is going to be again residential and so trying to accommodate
um more than a thousand beds in this area Um and that's a a use that we're really um working through relative to the different communities on the campus Um you'll see that we have a 30foot street wall here that we're we're trying
to continue and um we're limited by the typology of building as we laid out each of the upper levels to think about how we're loading up this building to accommodate that density Um how does that work and so recognizing that we're balancing the typology of housing um
with the massing um seeing that we have an 18 foot wide sidewalk So those are very narrow today How are we expanding those um from 18 and 15 ft around the building but seeing retail um lobby space and other services for students um
and again lowering the building from 200 more than 230 ft to approximately 170 ft tall um as a tower When we see that within the greater context here you can see this is the north elevation of Huntington Avenue
Um and so we see 409 Huntington as this mixeduse tower um that has been you know conceptualized at 200 ft We drop down to 170 ft here but we have pretty lowrise buildings or lower buildings along um
this side of Huntington As we see um the the amount of traffic um crossing here at 21 Forsight we can see that this uh building of White Hall was demolished And so we see that here
uh we see the Marina Plaza to the right And as we think you know this was a very quick study that we we created but understanding that we have this new plaza on the left um and that this would be um the kind of proposed housing that
we're seeing on the right with that um plaza area um floor activation with retail and dining here and then understanding Marina as a as a Marino as a plaza Um and then understanding again to bursting rubenstein which we're going
to talk about next So for the west village um you'll see the existing conditions of what we're considering to be the west village Bursting rubenstein is located here uh that is currently housing in the impn We
submitted that as a um project that would be focused on academic and research um as well as some student life So this is what was submitted at 260 ft tall and about 190,000 gross square feet
We've dropped that and changed the roof uh changed the use which really went from 260 to 170 and trying to accommodate more than 900 beds um for this building What you'll notice is that we have a setback um that's pretty
generous as we think about expanding the sidewalk width to 24 feet with the setback there We have a kind of 30foot street wall and then setbacks that are working with the building typology of
housing and how we began to lay out ways to think about the floor plates but also recognizing this is a zoning envelope And so what do we need to do need to do from a zoning perspective for massing as far as urban form again that street wall you see here there's a lot
of wind So how do we break up the wind relative to how the the facade could be designed um and thinking about the kind of height of the building relative to being 15 floors Um again 500 Massav um
or Huntington Avenue is about 245 ft Um so seeing that difference you can see that we've created a welcome mat at the corner here between Parker Street and Huntington Um that this is a space where people can can you know have room to
cross um and to to sit um and to enter this building And so as we look at this site again a very quick snapshot of being on the ground and then seeing what this proposed housing could be for students across from the MFA with that
kind of welcome mat um larger sidewalks Um and then thinking about the building massing um across from the kind of MFA entry plaza So I think if we need to move forward Christina I can um talk about
the East End unless we need to pause here for any discussion Yeah thanks for that Marian I think commissioners we were hoping to break the the presentation into two So um it's a lot of buildings Um allow you to have some kind of deliberation on what you
just saw and then we would return to the presentation after maybe half an hour 45 minutes of deliberation Could we return to um a plan earlier that shows all of these um together
how about the isometric i find that maybe just a little bit more helpful Um yeah those are the projects we talked about right they're all there They are Yeah Okay Thank you Is that okay Laura
yeah perfect I think bursting I think they the only one that's not on there Yeah it just doesn't have a label There it is Okay Yeah it's halfway on there Yeah Can I ask some height questions just uh understand the logic of of a few things
that you've done um and I'll just let me just ask them all at once so you can answer them all at once So uh the bursting building which is off the the grid here uh was brought down in height uh considerably from the last iteration Um and yet it's flanked by taller
buildings So I'm I'm curious as to know why So that's that's you know one question I I'm not particularly afraid of height I just the question is where is it um uh I also have a question about
um the on 21 foresight when you showed that edge of the uh opposite side of Huntington Avenue that had a pretty consistent I want to say 60 foot um uh 60oot datim
across whether or whether you considered that 60oot datim as part of the 21 foresight massing in its current form or not or or and or and if not why not um and explain to me I think we talked about this the
last time Churchill Hall What is it and and and um it feels like um a you're creating this very dramatic path from the tea uh through to arguably the two most important buildings on campus the
student center and the library and there's this building there that seems um small and in the way to me So I just was kind of curious to know what's the thinking there So those are just um and why isn't that I guess that gets to the
issue of height of why isn't Churchill Hall on that relatively small volume being accommodated in one of the new buildings is my question Great Well thank you for the questions and I maybe I can start um with the
first two and then um Victorian team can can answer some more about the some of the questions about the Church Hill Hall um building I think for bursting and Rubenstein um we we did drop as you mentioned we were approximately um I
believe it was about 260 feet in height as we were thinking about bursting and Rubenstein which is this little building here Sorry it's off um the page but essentially that was going to be an academic building And as we started to think about the change of use and having
more housing on campus um we we also went back and looked at the Avenue um of the arts and guidelines there and how to minimize shadows relative to walks across the street And because of the
configuration of the housing and and how you were stacking it it brought us to 170 ft um for that height so that we would not you know create shadows for more than two hours across Huntington Okay So that was an environmental
decision basically Okay that's helpful Yeah And then for 21 Foresty for White Hall I believe that you asked about the street wall and maintaining the kind of datim perhaps of 60 feet when we're thinking about this
building Um this too is housing and when we started to do studies of 21 foresight we we saw that the ground plane here was um conducive to retail and student life spaces and may have food and so forth
here But as we we started to think about the density of housing that this site may need to take with more than a thousand beds we immediately went so that the third level would start to become um student housing And so the layout for student housing with a double
loaded corridor um and and building up that accommodating that many beds meant that the street wall was dropped down to 30 so that we could start putting beds on the upper levels Right And I can talk to Churchill Um apologies
for being a little late Victoria Abelina MVP for campus planning and design So Churchill is part of the white brick buildings Um and was developed um so as as the campus developed from Huntington towards the
tracks slowly we talked about that last time um that is one of the kind of the quad forming white brick buildings and it is in good shape and it is very well utilized So we didn't anticipate that would be redevelopment
um has what is it what's it used for what is it is it a classroom building it's an academic Yeah it's an academic building and our um has our provost office there but it's also like a pretty active ground floor and it it is a well
um used building But the buildings that we're showing now the develop redevelopment is of the singlestory cab um athletic facility right now And then the foresight this an industrial kind of building that we're using also for
academic uses but they're part of the kind of the more industrial um history and so is the UR complex So we're focusing on buildings that don't um serve the university's program and
that could really deliver really are due for a lot of investment and deferred maintenance but the just the facilities are not uh cannot be updated to meet our needs Churchill meets our needs and is an academic
building and it's also like part of the kind of the older um modernist white uh brick architecture So if we tear it all down you know what is the character of the campus
okay Well thank you That's helpful just to sort of understand I was thinking of it more from the perspective of the the the um pathways in the organization and the linkages between significant buildings
and spaces um rather than as an artifact let's say Um so just a that's Anyway thank you I'll let other people ask questions David you're bringing up something that came up and that um the team responded to I think in our last
subcommittee which is Church Hill just feels like it's in the wrong place And um and I thought it was really helpful to go through the open space discussion during our last meeting Um fascinating too that you brought your arborist and
you kind of got into more of the understanding of the arburetum I had a series of questions I wondered if we could go back I think it's slide five Maryanne that I actually forgot to look at the number Yeah this
this So what's interesting to me about kind of the macro level of urban design moves here is that if you kind of squint at this diagram you begin to see these um kind of
semi-ircular swaths of open space that begin to cut through the campus And I haven't picked up on that before And I think it's actually a credit to the design team that those are beginning to emerge as real
organizing principles of the campus because I think as as you all came to BCDC the first time one body of comments was was about the fact that this campus is just so confusing It's hard to know where you are It's hard to navigate once you get
in You're not sure which direction you've turned you know once you reach um the buildings And so this is beginning for me at least to kind of create these almost organic kind of pieces that cut through the campus and that then help to center
the building So I wanted to compliment the team on working working hard on that even since we've seen the presentation at full committee on slide eight Yeah this is great Um I also when you
look at the image on the left and then you look at the image on the right what's always struck me when I u come to campus is that this UR complex as it exists today really divides the campus And it's hard to tell that completely
from the plan view but when you're in person because of that um really sharp angle that the complex makes there's no sight line back to the campus uh back to the rest of the campus kind of to the
map east of Foresight And I'm really excited about the idea that as you replace that form into kind of these two buildings and it's hard to tell if these are connected or if they're separate that again you're
inviting this um this swath to come across and help to connect one side of foresight to the other and I think that will be really powerful So I loved that move And then I looked to the south of
Church Hill and I think what I'm seeing is the introduction of a new parking area right in the middle of the campus And so then I am scratching my head a little bit because it seems like you've set up this really nice piece coming from
Huntington Um I can just grab my pen coming from Huntington cutting across and helping you get into this area that David was talking about And then now it looks like you're passing through some kind of parking So I would love to have
you talk a little bit about that And then I had a few other questions Yeah So I think and feel free to chime in Victoria Um I think that we're we're maintaining um is there a shared way that we can think about service for
where there's already existing service that's happening on the campus and some of the parking as we think about accessible parking spaces And so I think that what you're seeing on the left side is that existing condition where we're we're pretty much maintaining that Um
this is it's yellow It looks like it's gray but that is yellow So this is pretty much like do we do we have to keep some of these service zones um since we do have circulation coming down this way can this be shared
in such a way um that we bring people in um and we we have this kind of shared service zone still maintaining that while thinking about pedestrians coming through there um in that particular space
So it may just be something as you continue to develop that you think about I mean it looks like there's service a service zone here that will cut back behind and you know is there a clever way to tuck that in somewhere else mhm
And then this becomes what could be a really fantastic receiving space for Cabat Park and um for the West Village and then you kind of bring everyone through to this the student center So that's that's just a thought because I
think what you're doing here with these swaths has been so successful and then it gets interrupted in this way Um I wanted to then either slide 20 or slide
30 So my last body of questions is really about um yeah this is fine is really about the tricky um geometries that you've inherited from
the Boston streets And so in in three places so UR complex that we were just looking at although we weren't looking at an axon 21 forestythe and then this uh bursting building each have a similar condition
which is that they have an odd geometry that you are negotiating and a canal lever um where the building can lever over the street and over public's public open space And
so I'm still wrestling with that What I do appreciate is that the ground floor of the building has been pulled back to allow kind of the urban fabric to breathe a little bit and and provides some open space I think you're calling
it a welcome mat And I and so I I'm thinking about that And then I'm also thinking about the condition of having this repeated kind of overhang canal lever condition in most of these
proposed new buildings And I guess I just kind of need to know a little bit more about that completely understand that um as you're pulling this back and you have a program a housing program in this case and in the White Hall site case
that you have a housing program you have to accommodate and that just fits better if you can can lever But help us understand what the pedestrian experience will be Will this be an experience where that can lever will feel really heavy will it be an
experience where there will be a lot of transparency on these corners and kind of what the scale will be so I think we've all had the experience of being in these types of situations and that that overhang just feels so heavy
Thanks Linda Um I think that for for the cantalvered corners that you're seeing throughout I think one is we're trying to figure out can we provide indooroutdoor spaces where these spaces
could be you know the entry to the bu you know this double height space This is probably about I think 30 feet tall that we can we can see to levels that would be built into this This is too tall Sorry my drawing's off Um but is
there a way that um that we find shelter underneath the cantal levers as we're protected from any of the elements or as an entry into the building Um we see that these upper levels would be areas
where anytime there's a public kind of corner or thinking about public space in the building as it relates to student housing that would equate to potentially where study lounge areas are and having these great views of the city from what
could be glazed kind of corners um that you're seeing here and this convergence of where student communities come together and study and and socialize So that being this really active kind of student billboard so to speak of activities where students can be seen or
or look at the city Um and then having this really active ground floor be located down here um with entry into you know gathering social spaces but potentially there could be some sort of retail also on this ground
floor Would it be would it be appropriate while you're on the slide to ask questions about this Linda i didn't want to cut you off at all No it's I'm trying to understand and this will get when I come back to some of the comments I have
on the other part just about the form making on Huntington Avenue essentially the shaping of Huntington Avenue about which I have more concerns than actually the form making within the campus Um uh so I'm trying to you know I see 500
Huntington you know obviously a project that had much discussion here at BCDC I see it in the distance and I'm I'm not sure I'm understanding um how the this building and those buildings mesh as a or relate as a kind
of um streetscape relative to let's say standing on the steps of the MFA and looking backwards And that could just be a function of not having that drawing But I'm just trying to understand are any of those datmss
I think David might have frozen on us Is that true for other people too it's um Oh David you we lost you there in the middle Oh sorry Can you hear me now we can Oh sorry that they're um you know I understand the
let's see if he let's see if he reemerges in a second All right we'll grab David again but I think he was talking about Avenue of the Arts form making Laura did you have a comment as well yeah I did If we could go back to the previous and if
David comes back on we'll I'll I'll yield to him 104 There you go So the thing that strikes me about this is that um there's such generosity on
the museum side you know by design and by use and by the era that it was built but it but the um the new building feels as if it's being a little stingy on that And I I start to look at um let me see
if I can pick up a pen Yeah So I start to feel like you know there's this sort of generosity of the sidewalk in the street and that this doesn't this sidewalk doesn't do much to
contribute to the overall space of this which I think is is really important in terms of the the the university kind of yielding to the public space um that has been set up
along Huntington So um and and and because of that um you know I find in this view in particular that this feels like kind of a mean entrance to me only in that it's
not um doesn't grab you I know that there's something on the ground floor Um I think you were talking about it as the welcome mat but I don't see that same idea translated to the building in the entry
of the building Um and particularly since it's housing you know there's um there's something lost about having enough room um along Huntington Avenue
to just sort of stop And it it feels like the university is just kind of pushing its way on to that Um David are you back did he join he did He seemed to be live but now I don't see him at all Maybe he's just
changing his computer Um and and because of those you know because of those odd spaces that you have right where you're trying to join spaces across the
way it it just feels like this is so tight to the street um and that it it doesn't sort of help give that signal that in fact if you turn this corner in either direction
that there's a a generosity that's um given to the city footprint Yeah I mean I think that this is a product all completely fair points I think it's a product of um those two sites there are two buildings there now which is why the site has double name
the just the historically the building comes very close to the sidewalk Y and um again those are you know those are the beds that we have So for us to tear down beds and build new beds there would need to be
enough beds for replacement and definitely this the scale has to be there to make it feasible for us to build housing So we have to use the whole site Yeah I'm sorry Victoria I I was really talking about ground the
ground floor uses those two uses The overhang is not a problem for me but the kind of feet on the ground space is what I'm concerned about That's pull back the ground floor and allow the whole building to cantalverie
over everything Well just allow more room on the sidewalk right and the building still can't levers to where you need it to so that you're not I mean you're not affecting the numbers but
it's just more generous at the ground floor for the the corridor of the avenue Okay Yeah And I just uh point out that we that's a great thought Laura Uh just we are set back the building at the
ground level is set back 24 feet Yep Um that sidewalk depending what's underground there would allow for tree planting 6 to 8 feet and then having you know 16 to 18 feet of sidewalk which I think today is
probably about eight feet or Yeah I'm not denying that I think that that just over time um while there may be a historic precedence for that you know it's your opportunity to to kind of correct that
Um so you know the the mass of the building is still going to hold that corridor but I think the you know we buildings kind of define the spaces in the city but we experience the city on foot And that's what I'm advocating
for Um so uh is David back i'm just He is back Finding another location Yeah I might just quickly piggyback on that Thank you Sorry about that I'm just
moving around Uh keep going Yeah just super quick just to sort of interject and kind of piggyback on that and tie it to something that Linda said earlier I mean I I I think you're a little bit in for a penny in for a pound I think I understand that the need to sort of divorce the tower above from the ground floor I I think that makes sense
And how do we prioritize a sort of a uh uh light air sort of healthy ground level experience i I think pulling that back more makes makes some makes some sense here And I think to to Laura's point pushing that even further I think is something to explore And I think as
that gets tested I think you know that datim and maybe this is a segue to what David was saying that sort of datim between housing and where you're defining that podium height is something to maybe consider and uh you know how much light air how much what's the shadow impact I mean are what are we what are ways what are things that can
be done to mitigate the kind of heaviness of of that overhang right I think we I think can levers are necessary here but I think that doesn't necessarily imply that it has to be a heavy
uh uh experience from the ground level Yeah Dimensionally we're just you know I'm just going to say again we're very tight And that 500 Huntington project which is not a northeastern project pushed right against our lot line uh
despite our strong objections and it's about 15 feet behind um from the lot line on that scale So we really can't be going uh further away from Huntington without making it
infeasible Um but I I totally get it I This is a tough site It's a triangular site It's not ideal for housing really Um so I think we could we could push it and have a deeper conversation when we
actually have a building design because this of course is a zoning envelope I think you know I'm sorry I missed some of the conversation but I I think that it sounds like you were touching on some of the concerns that I have about um a
Huntington uh the two sides of Huntington being obviously quite different from one another On one side of Huntington you have these major projects that are um uh at at 200 feet and above um up and down Um it's the the
sort it's almost actually I can see it from my house It's almost like a mini highspine There's like a mini highspine that's basically going down Huntington Avenue starting at the Huntington Theater and going you know to the Treehouse building and so forth And so
this notion of of uh height along that edge um that goes up and down like I I don't know Um there was the other building I'm going to get the terms wrong cabbat maybe that was at 200 feet um you know like I don't I think that
could be taller like I I think that that that that issue of height along the that edge is less of a concern of course there are the issues of shadow and so forth that you brought up but I do feel it's important that at the at the um
level of the pedestrian that on the uh the symphony side of Huntington Avenue that there is this very strong 60 something foot datim that I think would be positive to be expressed in the new
foresight building in some way and I understand there's a program change that happens at 30 ft but that doesn't seem like an insurmountable problem and it feels like a design guidelines issue to really sort of maintain that kind of consistent
um uh edge along that side And on this side where the heights go up and down so much to me it's much more about this the the the this one and let's say almost threetory podium that we see in the new building sort of expressing itself or uh
potentially expressing itself in the bursting Rubenstein building so that there so that it doesn't feel just so heterogeneous going up and down Huntington Avenue but you sense that there are these strong urban design um
uh guidelines that have been incorporated into the architecture And obviously some of it could be facade treatments It doesn't have to be ins and outs per se Um but um that was just some of something that I was reacting to a little bit in thinking about the
projects on both sides of Huntington Avenue If that makes sense Victoria it does And I don't know if we showed this section or if we're keeping that Marian have we jumped a section yet or not yet not section the elevation Oh um
Oh we have a treat for you then David Later Oh good I love tweets Curt are we gonna give Christina Rico full credit for that yeah let's see And by the way why did bursting change program um just
uh just because or or because we heard that um doing just one residential is not um because we were proposing to only have one housing project in the next 10 years on White Hall site Uh and the feedback we got is that we should build
enough student beds uh to accommodate the entire growth that we're projecting which was more than a thousand undergraduate students It was closer to 15600 So um we added we changed academic use
to resi Yeah And now we have 1,700 beds proposed So it I mean it looks to me in this drawing that you know you obviously have the the uh scale of the let's call it the historic campus the white brick campus and then there's this podium
level that's on cabbad and on uh at facing foresight plaza which is pretty close to that height and then that podium height reappears at 245 excuse me at 500 Huntington Avenue and I know that it does not exist at the
college of computer science which is a very sheer building but it feels to me like that is a strong line that is looping almost from the Huntington Theater Tower all the way across And if that were expressed in some way in
Burstein Exactly If that were expressed some way in bursting and that was mirrored by uh this let's call it you know uh similar datim on the other side of Huntington I think you would just give the heights of the buildings that you're proposing on both sides of that a
lot more freedom um because they're anchored in this uh uh podium level datim on both sides from an urban design point of view and David are you suggesting then that B that um
Bernstein would go higher potentially I mean I'm not opposed to that um or does the does the um uh I don't know exactly how to solve the problem architecturally nor should I make any real suggestions
but it feels like that you know let's say for example that the cantal lever that is being expressed uh on the corner of Parker and Huntington actually occurred at the podium level so that was higher uh maybe not the whole building
but that was higher that would express that um uh that element you know like on the facade um in a in a in a different way And I think it would tie it together to 500 on Huntington Avenue which is a
monster I understand but a and relate this all the way across And so that you know that's just what I'm asking Yeah And I would I would agree with you I think that would just strengthen that whole experience And I'm
certainly not opposed to things going higher either I think there's room either to step something or you know go higher as the whole floor plate But um I think it's it's I guess I feel more strongly about the on ground
experience than I do about while I know it's important the the kind of building outline cuz there's so much building on that side anyway you know more floors aren't going to make it or break it but the ground
experience to me feels more important Well it would be interesting to me if you extend that datim over to Bernsteeen Is it Burn or Bur marian it's Bur Sorry that's okay No
Okay I wanted to make sure I was the right thing Okay But is as you extend that datim which I I agree would be a really strong organizing device The question is whether you would even need the canoliever if you could get that if you could get the height And and you
know the canal levers on the other two buildings that we talked about a minute ago bother me less than this one does But you have essentially a flat iron building a flat iron form here But the flat iron gets somehow complicated right
by the canal lever And I wonder if a more pure form with more floors and um and kind of stepped back exactly would actually feel better Um and then come all the way down to the
ground you know by 500 Huntington But I'm also persuaded by Laurara's comment which is that when you're thinking about the avenue of the arts itself you know how do we want to experience the maybe a more gracious setback um and so is there a possibility
of really thinking about that podium there and do you actually scoop under that side too and your expression of podium or is there another way that we can um express that podium as you're coming along that street so I think those are all um fun ideas to explore
Well you know ironically I have a model of the uh Flat Iron Building right behind me that I could hold up but um the um that building has is a very pure form but it has very clear datams on
expressed on it Some of which are quite high um relative to the the the streetscape And it's all about the fenestration and obviously a different style of building But I think I I am I also agree that I think a purer form um
with with um um uh setback not setback whatever but a purer form with guidelines about the the facade making that would address this podium issue Uh could be a change of material could be whatever um I think would be stronger
and would relate uh Burstein Rubenstein to what you're doing at KBIT as a kind of bookend to that part of the you know as two book well you know as two bookends to this newly revitalized part of the campus seems like it could be
good I I I guess I'd like to see them and feel like they have a they're having a conversation and I know we have one more district to do Um um I'm I'm sorry Could I could we go back to the plan um that
shows um that entrance that service entrance that you were talking about Lind Linda because as I recall um last time we spoke about this area there's one that shows it a little bit better
Um maybe the one that um Well no I guess this is okay I recall last time we met that this was a point of discussion be just for the reason that you talked about Linda and I
I don't know if there's parking here My my biggest um memory is that there's actually service here and maybe parking for some of the more prosaic but it's but I agree with you that that's just a
lost opportunity um and to explore other ways to bring service to that building or to share it with um another So I just wanted to to reinforce that And then I had one other question
about Foresight which is do we have a view that looks down Foresight with the new uh buildings in place so either that way Oops that's not a very good arrow
That way or the other way We we have one view um that's located here looking over um that we can go to Let's see We don't have one looking
north Yeah I don't I don't think that's necessary for me to make my point which is um you know once you're inside the campus and then you have these buildings that sort of these two buildings that are kind of offset which I actually
think is really nice Um but to think about again what happens at the street level there and um whether or not you how the existing and the proposed buildings are seen together and
experienced together Um I didn't just didn't get a good sense of that but I think a perspective to kind of show um the relationship of those buildings would be really terrific I think they would tell you something I
guess is what I'm saying I think they'll tell you something about the the scale of the buildings and the scale of the um street level as well I don't know why I'm so obsessed with this but the the um I'd love to sort of
understand like for example that um element that we're looking at right now the center stage the sort of podium element Um getting a better feel for um how that let's say relates to Churchill which is one of the older buildings on campus you know are they roughly
calibrated to one another so that there feels at least you know if Churchill is there which you know I I guess it's there Um that it feels like there's this kind of zone um of of of of mass that is
uh relating to um that historic uh campus um um and and that it doesn't feel orphaned right by taller buildings around it And I mean I think that is what you've done I'm I'm pretty sure by the way I think this is an excellent
presentation Um I but I I think it is what you've done but I don't think that I'm I'm fully getting it by the views that I'm looking at Um um and and maybe that's just a function of of um trying to develop a few more views Um the view
though I would like to talk about the foresight housing building that view of that plaza um on Huntington Avenue if you could go to that for one moment Um yeah the word hall site Yeah if we before we go to the other part of the campus
Um I think uh and you have like a view looking down the street Um so this is another one of those play moments where I feel like there are roughly two conditions If you look on the left hand side of Huntington Avenue
there's that you know podium level condition Um and then there's the building um that that's very sheer uh that goes you know in the distance um that goes straight to the ground you know and that feels like a a dialogue There's this dialogue between this
podium level and these sort of sheer modern buildings that are are hitting the ground which feels like something you're doing elsewhere on the campus as well Um is there an opportunity on this side to make this feel a little less um
again heterogeneous and introduce uh that datim of that call it that 60oot datim on the right hand side but maybe parts of the building just hit the ground Um so it's not like it's not like I'm suggesting that that the the
building the new building is sitting entirely on a podium It could be that there's just some sort of an interlocking situation of volumes where parts of it hit the ground and do exactly what you want it to do which is offer transparency and and you know
cutouts and all of that stuff but there's a piece of it that is anchoring itself back into that larger system of buildings that's going all up and down the street And I'm sure you could come up with some creative programming reason about why that would be a good idea um
uh it's a cafeteria it's a whatever Um but uh I think that would help make this view for me at least a little bit more um uh legible And that and and that also speaks to this issue of like how the
Marino Center curves back and reveals something of this skin is is is that part of the facade charged architecturally a little bit differently than the rest of the building because it's in fact helping to frame this
mediumsized I think that's what you called it medium-sized um uh plaza space Um so I'm I think I'm just looking for maybe I know these are guidelines but I'm looking for maybe some some layers on the guidelines that help strengthen
some of these larger urban design datims um uh to fully uh articulate or or or shape those spaces that will be handled by different architects in different ways Kathy or Katherine did you want to um
make any comments on these areas before we shift over no I think I share many of those that have been stated and uh I'm good Thank you Yeah as I agree with my colleagues I'd
say just the importance of the avenue of the arts and how does every building relate to um this avenue in particular is will always be a greater concern Um and how
on both sides of the avenue how is everyone contributing to that story and so just thinking about from a design perspective um how does that student um student housing building tell that story that's additive to the Avenue of the Arts is a
more design center question that I would have and leave up to you all to consider Great All right Maryanne I think we're ready Thank you See we're gonna jump Okay so the last kind of stop on our tour is the
East End campus community and ultimately um we've worked through a lot of different iterations of this side of campus and what you'll see on the left then is the existing conditions where you can see that this is a a a lot of um
kind of science-based functions um for academics and research on the campus with MO aren her Robinson We also have Gainsboro Um and then of course we have the multi-purpose arena um on um St Bul
Street So on the right side is our latest kind of proposal um that's looking to um couple redevelopment of Colona and Herig um as a site for
research We're also seeing Gainsboro for academics and um an auditorium or some kind of recreational functions um that we need to accommodate as we're moving um uses around on campus And of course you know all about the multi-purpose
arena And so what you'll see here then is um how we've began to reconfigure this area so that um I think David to your points we're creating these alignments or at least a different way of thinking
about datams here um where we're we're trying to have a conversation with some of the kind of functions as far as what's happening on the south side as aligning with the multi-purpose arena um having Gainesboro which has changed uh again in
this iteration to be aligned with um the multi-purpose arena and continuing um that facade so that it begins to form this smaller little plaza where there's a nice setback um and that we would
create a bookend relative to this new development for Herolon instead of Mugar being that bookend which is a building that needs some love um and can be renovated but beginning to see really this new
building be that bookend for this small plaza Um and to to rethink how people are actually moving around this area um to get into a Robinson space where we have a little um pond that's located
over here but knowing that this is a major kind of um student center anchor part of campus um within this space Um what you'll also see is that you know we have some of the kind of outdoor kind of
um wider sidewalks or plazas and knowing that there's circulation um that can bring people on the southern side of this area um along um to the Curry Student Center as well as Snell Library
So as we're looking at this um you can see and this is not the greatest angle but they're all at the same angle for the axon threedimen the three-dimensional model But you can start to see then that um we shifted the
tower um the upper levels of hertic and colon So that geometry is responding um to the geometry alignment of Gainesboro um and the multi-purpose athletic facility And so understanding that but
we see a base that's more responsive to that datam um that David has mentioned relative to the existing Robinson and Mugar um fabric that we have um in on this western portion of the east end
Um here we can see let's see here that we have um tried to maintain um a street wall where again we're looking at these uses of an auditorium for example at the Gainesboro site So
that has a 30ft um street wall but that increases as we move to herik and colon so that it's at 60 ft uh which begins to match well with Mugar and how we're kind of in dialogue with Robinson as we think about this area You can see in this case
that we have heric andane at about 200 feet um in height and then Gainesboro is about 150 ft Um and so understanding that we've been looking at the heights for these um as we look at the ground
floor uh you can see the kind of plaza that's being formed um as we understand that u public realm here and having this as a bookend and what you're seeing at the end of St
as you're facing in this direction Um but activating this as we're understanding the kind of social lounge um spaces um collaboration spaces gallery spaces that make up the ground floor um of both of these buildings Um
and so here you can see um the kind of density as far as development of 270,000 gross square feet and 320,000 gross square feet um for these buildings And as we look at the east end
you can see a snowy day of St Vulf and the Gainesboro building that's right in front of us We see that Mugar is this building um located here And as we think about this on the ground view we can see
the multi-purpose athletic facility to our left In the middle ground we see then uh Gainesboro redevelopment And then in the background you can see that bookend of the new Colonane um her TIG site for for academic and research uses
Maryanne I had a clarifying question while we're on this diagram So in the previous subcommittees we have talked about the fact that her tigolon would have a cut through and that would be aligned essentially with the pedestrian
desire line and that would kind of wiggle you through over to Moogart I haven't I didn't see that on the plan the slide before or here So can you just explain that yeah I think that we've been looking at the position of the pool
um and how it's oriented and just how that would work And um I think that ultimately there's ways that you can enter into this area and cut through the building Uh but thinking about the pool really being on the south side of the
Gainesboro site but seeing this and then having this be an entry way that you could enter here you could enter here uh but that this would be a way that you could still cut through Um again you know we want to design buildings but thinking about this as the Zoning
envelope and how we create those guidelines but there certainly could be ways that cut through the ground floor um of the Heritage Cullen building and just skirting around the front of the the Gainesboro building But just knowing
the uses start to prohibit us relative to what's open and closed right but you could skirt by the Gainesboro building and then I think that's what we had been looking at before and then use kind of a wide atrium to cut through her and
cullin the nose as an option Yeah Yeah I had the I had the same question I I I must say in general I like the massing a lot I think it's um a really nice uh improvement and I like the shaping of
the space It does for me beg a little bit of the question of of when because that view down St Pat Street is sort of terminated by this building um which I like I mean it's it's shaping the space but it does suggest to me that the
ground floor of that building which you describe as social space in my mind I was imagining that as like a you know double height lobby that you can cut through or something you know like like it's it's it's actually permeable at that end It's almost like a kind of gateway rather than necessarily walk
going through the other building to cut through the building sort of deeper in But I mean you know that's obviously uh uh could you go to the the Yeah exactly Could you go to the view um that you had up for a moment um Marian I don't know
Do you have other slides after this um I was sorry to interrupt your I just wanted I just wanted to grab that question while we were there Oh it is the end Okay it is the end So I I guess I was going to say and then I'll I'll I feel like the uh extruded
glass volume on the lower level of is that Gainesboro the building on the left Yeah Um uh the the the part that's you know Yeah that exactly Um that part I think that the extent to which it pushes out
um uh muddies the space that you are framing um with the Gainesboro facade the white Gainesboro facade and the the and the the building in the back I I
wish it actually pulled in a little bit to the left so that it it it obviously was still a distinct element but it didn't um feel like another building you know Um and that that there was a a kind
of clearer definition of of that space that that is so clear in the in the diagram um you know or maybe the white volume pulls out further and the glass volume pushes in a little bit more It just feels that the degree of the step there
is so unless that's some sort of big fabulous outdoor terrace or something Um feels a a bit uh confusing relative to making that space to me I I would agree with you David And in
fact I'd go so far as to say to get rid of this and think about the space that that would make um because there's a space between these two buildings that is kind of long And
this would this would help by by being more generous on the ground there It does a couple of things One is for those of us who were in the the new um athletic center you know we have always
talked about the potential for St Bough to be this kind of grim place in the sense that there's nothing that kind of drags you towards back towards the campus right it looks like everything kind of
ends here but if that could start to feel I mean this is a generous space It's a really nice space but I wonder if you couldn't kind of include that so that it feels like there's you know something that's connected And I say
that because in the other parts of the campus you you have done that you have made sure that these spaces even though each of them is eccentric by virtue of the buildings that that each of those feel connected to them either visually
or physically and I think there's a a lost opportunity here to to kind of carry on that and to set that as the the norm for future development for you know after we're all long gone and someone
else is um looking at your next 10 years Um so that's Go ahead David Yeah No I also love the idea that you know say I used to live on St Tall Street So um I love the idea that um I wish we could blow up you know the Marriott at the other end and there was something
beautiful down there but there isn't Um and so this idea that this long beautiful street crosses Massav again knitting in my mind the South End and Lower Roxbury together Um and that it it comes across that and terminates at a
gateway entrance to Northeastern University that is really clear and welcoming is super exciting to me as a as a kind of a surprising new way to come into the campus Um um and um I I
just think that you're so close I just think it could be a a little bit clearer I think for me um I'm going to just draw on your inset Maryanne Yeah But you have already a Let me grab my pen again You have
already this complexity within St because of the curve and so your eye doesn't comprehend the full kind of um constellation of buildings and open spaces which I think is quite
nice And then for me we have these kind of barnacles right that hang off of this that um that make it make it too complicated I mean I would rather that these buildings just touch the
ground Maybe you need more height to do that and maybe you don't And then we kind of know the secret here that that you can't tell here But in addition to having this open space on this southeasternish corner we also have a
covered open space on this corner which we're seeing in this Mhm And so to Laura's point then you are creating this really interesting open space ribbon that's following the curve
of St Bal But even more than that it's giving you a glimpse into the campus which you don't which you don't get when you have the two barnacles um kind of hanging off the two proposed buildings So I think there could be something really beautiful about
reintroducing that sighteline and and having those buildings touch the ground um and be able to see in just like you you're describing here but not necessarily have the the protrusion there the barnacles
there Um and I would be really curious to have you guys test that and see what it looks like I think what it means is that this Gainesboro building kind of ends up having a a form like that as its footprint Um because I think
that's what we're seeing here Yeah And then the view that you get that kind of pulls you to the next building is is really nice It it lets that building have um a better presence in that sequence
And Laura couldn't that be reinforced with landscaping like if there was a really strong line of trees that helped make that arc that Linda was just describing along that edge would be really amazing I think Yeah
Well I think it would also be more in keeping with what you've what you've begun to develop elsewhere on campus with these green swaths you know the swasts don't don't go through the campus as complete forms but they
do start to um layer in a new spirit of the place which is that you have these open space pieces that get you to key places on campus and then those almost function as pin wheels right to give you
a view to where you go to where you go next Yeah I I always feel like landscape is more forgiving to eccentric spaces than buildings are right there There's a lot that can be done to help people move
through spaces with landscape Can we look at the view that comes in the other direction so with Curry maybe at our back we have Yeah this is fine Okay I just wanted to kind
of test some of these collective ideas about you know how you create these spaces now and then they broaden And and I love the idea that you're also playing with this service drive because it does function
as a pedestrian passageway as you've described yourselves and and kind of you skirt on the other side there of Robinson and it gets you into Curry and into the library itself and it gets you into the wreck entrance for the multi-purpose athletic facility
because we remove the loading because Massav MBTA station has a planned capital project which I believe hasn't been funded but they're getting there that would let have a second entrance
and exit a secondary entrance right at Gainesboro So that was the reason that the city had asked us to move if you remember to move all of the loading for the athletic facility to the alley to be
able to create a nice arrival and pedestrian plaza So we thought that coming from student center and academic core uh the the wreck students could just sneak by in a more direct way right
into the the recreational entrance which is where that arrow is and create a better service back better lighting better landscape um and you know really focus on um multi-user spaces instead of a singular
service One question I had and I know Katherine has her hand up as well um and why I wanted this view was to better understand what happens in some of these rooftop forms over the podia
Is that an opportunity for an outdoor gathering space or Yeah I think um I mean we've seen with the Isac building or I should say EXP this beautiful rooftop that exists there
and so that certainly is an opportunity to think about outdoor space and having that great view to the campus and that would be facing southish Right Marian could be Really Katherine I see your hand up Thank you
So I have a just a general question just because it's Boston Um what is the assumption here in terms of um where students are coming from because now parking is removed
altogether Um and given um this particular street there's a lot of activity Um and so when you're talking about uh um where folks are coming from what is the overall assumption about um the
students utilizing these spaces are they majority is the assumption majority is coming from the T is there consideration of folks that if they can't afford housing on campus that they have to live like I'm just curious what those assumptions are cuz that to
me to to me there's there's to me there's an issue of capacity on the street to accommodate kind of all these moving parts I just like to understand that So we recently completed a survey and
more than 90% of um respondents undergraduate students um responded that they use um an active mode of transportation So either public transit walk or bike to campus So um
very few would drive uh just because parking is so limited Um but also it's not um you know it's not as time effective to drive with so much public a public
transportation access um we have all of that breakdown um in the IMP um but generally we're talk you know we're focused on undergraduate student population and most of them live within um a mile or so radius or or they live
on campus We have about 12,000 beds Thank you I appreciate that I should say in a university managed housing because not not all of it would be considered entirely on campus housing Is is the parking going someplace else
it's not putter discussion I'm just curious for the Gainesboro garage Yeah No it'll just be accommodated Yeah One of the Could you go to the plan for
one second may maybe actually of the um whole campus because I really I'm intrigued by this this um arc that Linda was talking about and and um uh and how
it relates to the to the other uh sort of curved arc spaces that you're introducing through the campus and it it does make me I mean you know I I know I I missed the last session but um in terms of the legibility of the campus in
your head right like how how you um think about the the paths and navigating through this campus in your head Um you know I think of like Paris for example a very confusing city Um but the sane you know is sort of a a frown and that you
know it's a it's a shape that sort of weaves through the city and so you sort of orient yourself all these arandis m you orient yourself to the where where it relates to the the sen and um I'm I'm thinking
like oh excuse me exactly like is there oh like almost a a graphic designer would make an abstraction of the path that you're creating that would live in someone's head right like the campus is a W or the campus is a
series of radiating curves or something like that which I think is implicit in in um I don't know whose green pen that is Oh I'm just drawing it on there for you David because that's what struck me Yeah I mean it's sort of like almost like you you're feeding from St off and
then it kind of fans into these three sort of or at least that's what you're drawing right i think it would be um just so uh helpful to be able to take this very sophisticated approach to moving through
the campus which is not about a grid and it's not about lines and but have like this kind of abstracted sense of how it uh uh what it is as a a shape you know um that that
would be that might actually help you clarify some of those key moments um as you're uh developing it um uh architecturally and in the landscape And that's where what Linda was saying about the that curve that went through the
loading dock area um like that curve I guess I could draw it like this um curve that almost connects all the way back um but it's interrupted by
um this uh you know key moment Um it's it's an abstraction but I fi I find it helpful for me to sort of understand like the the the network that you're trying to to create And it feels like it's there It's just not
um it's not yet a D like a a a graphic if that makes sense I didn't mean for that to be the David I'm I'm always happy to take public testimony if that feels like a natural a natural pause It was really
intended to be an aside and now it feels like I'm making more of it than anything when I dropped I was eating dinner off camera and was like feverishly trying to finish chewing in case we were going to take public testimony Does that feel like the right timing Linda and others i think I think we're ready Yeah And and
then we can have some closing comments after And I think just I'll just put a pin in it before we head to to public comment that I I think commissioners that the idea was our next subcommittee would allow the proponent
to kind of bring it all together all the comments that we've had over the subcommittees questions that we'd had asks about you know little little studies and then um and be able to take a look at it one more time collectively
which which I actually would really appreciate now that we've seen all of the different pieces and all of the layers You'll have to do that one more time at the end Linda 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 2 minutes Commissioners at this time I see no hands raised So we will consider the public comment period Oh one hand raised Sorry Give me one moment here Allison are you able to unmute yourself
yes Hi Thank you Uh I'll be very quick Um and um it's sort of tangental but just um thinking about St Patal Street and that it's on the edge of the campus Um I'm always struck uh when I'm over
there about um the uh New England Conservatory and the preparatory school there for uh student musicians and um how many families are walking on the street Families use the garage I think a
lot more than the college students So it it's just a it's a much more historic edge uh to the campus than um you know the other end although bursting and and Rubenstein of course are historic
apartment buildings but um I just wanted to kind of put that in perspective that it's the edge of the campus and it does feel like a gateway but it's kind of a subtle gateway Yeah Thank you
Thank you Allison Okay And with that we will consider the comment period closed And so um Linda summarized I think next steps If anyone disagrees perhaps shake your head
vigorously and we can consider that our game plan So uh with that commissioners and um members of the public and to the proponent team we thank you for your time and um we will see you next month Thank you Thank you Thank you everybody
Have a good night Have a nice nice presentation Thank you very much Thank you David