Designers on the 30-story AVA Theater District Apartments, high-rise residential building being developed at 45 Stuart Street in Boston’s theater district want to give the L-shaped complex a classic appearance that complements existing, smaller buildings on the street while emphasizing its dramatic height in line with other tall buildings nearby. To that end, they specified precast concrete architectural panels, many erected in a vertical fashion on upper floors, with tall, three-story windows punched out.
Precast concrete panels also clad the parking structure at the base, which will provide space for 198 cars. The 384,000-square-foot project wraps around existing buildings on the site, fitting in with smaller buildings on one street and taller structures on the others. The project, owned by AvalonBay Communities, is being designed by Childs Bertman Tseckares Inc., with John Moriarty & Associates serving as construction manager.
The $125-million building, which is being built on an existing surface parking lot, will feature 404 residential units on the upper 22 floors and parking on the first five floors. The building will provide a five- to six-story “street wall” aligned with the current collection of smaller buildings along the street, according to the developers. Above the sixth floor, the building will be set back 10 feet at the height of adjacent buildings to reduce the building’s visibility from the street level and create a contextual presence.
“The massing of the structure has been sculpted to appear as a collection of buildings that work together to best display the building’s proportions,” according to the developer. “A range of window fenestrations, balconies, and wall details create differing patterns that act as scaling elements for the overall mass.”
The precast concrete components, manufactured by Strescon Ltd., comprise cladding spandrels, vertical cladding panels, garage cladding-spandrel panels, column covers, infill panels and solid slabs. Many of the panels are being erected at night to reduce traffic congestion in the busy neighborhood. The project is expected to be completed in 2015. |