by David Dahlbacka in All Ages, Assembly Square, Beat Reporter, City Finances, Development and Zoning, Environment and Open Space, Events, Housing, Orange Line
Posted on September 25, 2011 at 6:34 pm
Last Modified on September 25, 2011 at 6:52 pm
| September 29, 2011 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
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Design Review Committee Meeting
Thurs. Sep. 29 6:30 – 9:00 PM
Somerville Public Library
3rd Fl. Conf. Room
93 Highland Ave.
Somerville MA (map)
Agenda (PDF)
This is a rescheduling of the regular meeting of the Somerville Design Review Committee (Thurs. Sep. 22 6:30 – 9:00 PM).
Agenda likely includes Assembly Square mixed use buildings on Block 3, including a cinema. These developments help fulfill the financial conditions needed for the success of the Assembly Square DIF and iCubed programs.
The Design Review Committee provides design criteria, guidance and recommendations to permit applicants. Its mandate is to maintain and enhance the natural, aesthetic, and cultural heritage of the City and to preserve the value of land and buildings.
For more information, see:
- Assembly Square Mixed-Use Development Project
- Assembly Row District Improvement Financing Program
- Infrastructure Investment Incentive (I-Cubed) Program
- Somerville Design Review Committee (Agendas and Minutes)
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Beat Report: 9/29/11 Design Review Committee Meeting
50 Middlesex and Block 3 on agenda. Also 40 Cameron and 16 Linden.
50 Middlesex (Assembly Square Self-Storage)
Condition was to show materials and lighting plans. Mainly metal panel, 3 textures, 2 colors: mini groove, micro groove, smooth; dark gold, brighter silver. Easy brick panels: basic brick color plus light brown accents (horizontal bands). Foley Street side store front anodized aluminum, green Spandrel accents. LED fixture on tower lights on arms. Green is about 12 ft up, not like painted green (printed output looks different from sample).
Q: What’s the color differentiation? Darker lines read as figure on background. We want to back off from mall brick.
A: Use darker gray for bands. Could read better in daylight. Want earth tones to contrast with metal panels. Swap red for gray? Could be too monochrome. Mixed reactions. Metal panel will offset monotone. Want focus on tower. Want larger scale blocks to match building scale.
Suggestion: Want smaller gray bricks, for walls, red bricks for bands.
[Note: Wig Z. remarked that after the Design Review Committee swapped the brick, the building was less interesting than SSG's original.]
Block 3 Assembly Square (Assembly Row DIF property)
This is Federal Realty’s design team. Showing changes from last design. Huge building with 3rd floor cinema with 6 stairs. Primary cinema focus is on north.
South: entrance to 2nd floor retail. Corrugated metal panel, spandrel windows. Screen in design. Brick facade to street level up to third level. Want storefront variety.
North: more detail. No long flat back-of-house areas to be visible. Detail in parking garage walls.
East: back of cinema.
West: seen from rest of square. Parking garage is the major element, along with multiscreen cinema with12 cinemas. Parking garage holds 570 cars, 5 levels 11 ft. floor to floor. Mechanical equipment on roof. At Main Street and C Street one can see the corner of cinema from the open space by Block 4.
Remark: Some things successful. Cinema is contemporary. Retail framed with brick. Trellis on top is foreign. Volume stuff works, framing stuff doesn’t. Yellow brick should be buff. Need more solid elements. Carve out instead of flat panels. Don’t want all the red brick. Becomes 2D. Turret on corner looks like Rapunzel’s castle.
Q: Why let color hang above ground? A: want retail to wrap. Retailer will chamfer corner. Not much depth change where materials change.
Remark: Looks like Rt. 128 office building at east corner. Don’t need fake windows. Like banding above retail.
Building works better with step backs. 3D one side, go around corner, WHAP, flat. Cinema and storage building (50 Middlesex) featured similar blankness. Add windows.
A: Can’t push plane back on C street.
Suggestion: Don’t pretend to have offset. Use a pattern of reflective metal and divide long horizontals with verticals. The elevator cascade is compelling, could echo in metal panel. C Street facade works. Use buff brick instead of red brick. The C elevation is mostly cinema and parking. Need to separate the small amount of retail there from the cinema. If the D Street 2nd floor resembled the C Street side, that would help.
You don’t need the retro pergola. Make it contemporary. The corner 270 degree sign (Rapunzel’s castle feature) is to be at least 15 feet more wide, which would help. Would also help to make the garage wall a little more solid, within the constraints of natural ventilation.
Summary: avoid appearance of stick built. This is modular modern, make it look like that. Really like location of cinema. There will be huge activity there.
40 Cameron
Three buildings housing nine residential units. One is an existing frame building with historic interest. Remove most of concrete building, retain wall. Three structures are named Building 2 (2 unit) building 3 (3 units, existing frame), Building 4 (4 unit). Will have16% green space. Plan to make the retained wall a green wall (planting boxes on top, benches behind). Earlier review suggested we make a clean break from pitched roof on all but the existing historic building. Now have shallow porch roofs. Cut holes in walls to define private areas, holes to have small vignette windows.
Q: walls with rail on Building 4 but not all three buildings. Roof deck with partial walls. Like that you can see green and sky through. Took out parapets.
Q: Elmwood street elevation. Lights on. Likes slanted roofs. Facade looks too much like garage. Just a blank. A: Rusticated windows helps us hearken back 100 years.
Q: Add signage? Have a big void right on sidewalk. Could recess it and put something there. What about retaining the cool door? Existing four panel (garage) door could be framed:12 x 11 ft opening around 10 ft door.
Air conditioning will probably be on ground. Maybe in courtyard of Building 4. Building 2′s AC unit on roof. Going for LEED certification. Suggest using smaller or curved brackets.
We want to see the lap siding. Bring materials in. Multiple materials could get too busy. Buildings need to fit together. Bring photos of the door.
To go to ZBA 10/19.
16 Linden Street
Did not stay for review.
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