Boston Aspires Skyward
Construction is underway for a new 61-storey residential tower in Boston’s historic Back Bay neighbourhood. Known as the Four Seasons Hotel & Private Residences at One Dalton Street, the $700m tower, designed by New York architect Pei Cobb Freed & Partners (PCF&P) with Cambridge Seven Associates, will house a 211-room hotel on the lower 20 floors with residences above.
“For the architects, the redevelopment presents a fascinating design challenge”, said Harry Cobb of PCF&P, who also designed the John Hancock Building, which, at 60 storeys is currently Boston’s tallest structure. “The project allows us to consider once again how a tall building, together with the open space it frames, can respond creatively to the need for growth while showing appropriate respect for its historic urban setting”.
Shaped as a soft triangle in plan and sheathed in low-reflectance high performance insulating glass, the building rises from a granite-and-glass base containing the condominium lobby and the public rooms of the hotel. Glass screened incisions in the tower’s facade animate the building volume while accommodating operable windows on the condominium floors, the upper levels of which feature balconies.
The project is part of a master plan that includes 30 Dalton, a 27-storey residential tower designed by the same team. The two buildings will be linked by a 5,000 square foot park designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Completion of the project is slated for 2017.
Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP