WANDERING: MetroLofts

[gregw]

I like the Transformer comparison. IMHO, the upper projections stand out clumsily and dominate the whole. It also looks kind of bulky and top-heavy plus really blah and beige-y color-wise. On the whole it looks like it is meant to be a much taller building design but got compressed. Better than Sierra Suites but definitely not one of the better recent designs in Providence.

[JimmyGreaves]

Built to the sidewalk - Check!

Street interaction - Check!

Design - I'm not much of a modernist lover, but the first two characteristics passing the smell test give it a pass.

Overall, B with the potential of a B+.

[mental757]

it certainly has character.

I like it and it certainly could be a LOT worse, but I'm not much of a true critic or expert in design...

[Pseudo_Work]

I think the materials are my biggest issue with it. If you're going to go modern, go modern, don't wrap it in vomit pink panels or whatever the hell that is. Look to the Netherlands and Scandinavia, they are doing really interesting things with metal and color. This feels half way and lazy.

[runawayjim]

Something tells me the color we see here is partly a result of this being a cursory rendering. I like the design, but I'd love to see a better representation of the materials being used so I can decide for myself if I like them. It doesn't make much sense that a building covered in "aluminum panels" would look pink, and on closer inspection it seems like the surface is actually grey, with a bit of a matte sheen to it, and that the pink coloring is the result of some weird color cast produced in editing.

[brick]

I'm not a fan. I think it would be an interesting building if it were surrounded by other buildings of its scale, say for instance if someone threw it up in one of the surface lots off of Washington or Westminster. Hell even if they built another one like it next door. I don't like it as a stand-alone and I really don't like it next to the football. Making the protrusions at the top less bulky would help, though, and as others have said, materials are huge. That said, given the housing market I assume this will be as cheap as possible so dryvit which means thumbs all the way down to hell.

[Garris]

Wow, well this is different than I expected...

The urban essentials do appear to be there on the street level. As far as the overall design, my first thought was, "This is Waterplace's little brother!" I do wish there was more of a narrative to the overall design (which is kind of funky-jaunty) and its inconsistency is actually what softens its impact on the neighborhood, as opposed to the symmetric power of the Waterplace towers, which have similar coloring and design elements.

Materials here will certainly be key.

Overall, I'm somewhat neutral at the moment. I do like the height and especially how this building, unlike others that have been proposed, screams "RESIDENTIAL!" and "PEOPLE LIVE HERE!" That will help the overall neighborhood into the future.

- Garris

[gregw]

The grid lines on the facing makes me think it's going to have large tiles like you see on the Waterplace towers.

[dexter]

Looks like some kind of Transformer action figure.

[Gusterfell]

My first impression is that I like this, but as others have said a lot rides on how it is executed. I find it interesting that, while the first design seemed to reference early Modernism, this design seems to want to be much more "today." Like Cotuit said, it looks like a timid version of recent architecture in northern Europe.

I think part of the reason this looks so busy is the great variety of window treatments in the middle section (check out the funky six-sided windows at left on floors 3-7). There is a lot going on here, but I think I like the contrast between this section and the more regular windows on the upper and lower portions. I'd like to see what this would look like with that contrast emphasized through different materials, maybe aluminum panels on the base and upper portions and brick on the shaft of the tower.

[Garris]

Gusterfell, thanks for the great analysis...

I'd like to see what this would look like with that contrast emphasized through different materials, maybe aluminum panels on the base and upper portions and brick on the shaft of the tower.

[xine]

Right now it looks like it has had three separate designers, none of whom like each other very much. One person who wants to do something "funky" and sculptural with the top, one who's only concerned about getting regular unit plans inside that fit the proforma for proportion of "regular" and "penthouse" units, and one who hasn't quite figured out how to make a ground floor with the required 70% glazing that doesn't look like a mid-80's office park.

I think they could exercise a bit of restraint and focus on getting the proportions in balance. The bottom floors are so different from the middle and from the "boxes" on the top that it looks very disjointed. If they could transfer the language of the boxes to the bottom floors and adapt it to meet the ground floor transparency requirements I think it would improve the cohesiveness. I also like gusterfell's advice about contrasting colors in the middle which might help the boxes stand out and create a less muddy overall impression.

[Cotuit]

Right now it looks like it has had three separate designers, none of whom like each other very much.

[oak]

Dexter, as far as I know, this is supposed to have design review by the Planning Department, under duress by TPG.

[Cotuit]

Projects from Norway:

This one creates interesting geometry with the windows, but it brings the geometry throughout the structure to create a compelling pattern. It doesn't just throw some random shapes up for the sake of being 'modern.'

[Original post]

22-story hotel attached to a stadium, use and scale are different than MetroLofts, but here is a shape we haven't tried before in Providence. This rendering isn't doing a good job of showing materials, but it shows an architect who understands that there are angles other than right ones.

[Original post]

Smaller scale at 7 stories. This has a bit more of a mid-century modernist design, some may not like it, but I personally love mid-century scandinavian.

[Original post]

At 20-stories this is considerably taller than MetroLofts. It does show that random protrusions can work if someone gives them some thought (I know, it looks like the Tetris Building).

[Original post]

Obviously much smaller than MetroLofts, but I just love this building and the use of wood. Would be an interest concept to be MetroLofts neighbor on the original Westminster parcel where MetroLofts was first proposed.

[Original post]

[Cotuit]

Looking at this, it seems the garage entrance is between MetroLofts and the Advent Apartments next door. I'd rather see the garage entrance be on Lyman Street (which is the alley running behind MetroLofts between Washington and Westminster). I don't like seeing a garage entrance cutting across the sidewalk on Washington, especially when we already have the option of Lyman Street. Lyman could be re-extended to the Service Road so residents could access the garage direct from the Service Road.

Speaking of the Service Road, it should be reduced to 2 lanes with the lane on the MetroLofts side turned into street parking. This would make the Service Road more of a city street and less of an extension of Route 95 on the surface. Also, street parking would serve MetroLofts retail customers. With the fire department garage right there, I'm not sure if we'll be able to have street parking on Washington Street.

I'm happy about MetroLofts location change as well. While the building they proposed to remove for the original Westminster location was a completely unremarkable cinder block box, I'm glad to see them tackling a completely empty lot. Now if we could get someone to take on the empty lots at Regency Plaza and Cathedral Square on the Downcity side of the highway, Washington will have a fighting chance at becoming a real city street and bridging the gap between Downcity and the West Side.

[Cotuit]

More Norway, this is Trondheim:

Again, smaller in scale than MetroLofts. I'm not sure what that green cladding is, some sort of metal, maybe wood. But look, it is a colour other than brick red or beige, who knew!? Also, I like the way the street level is treated completely differently, I don't think that red down there is brick, it looks like moscaic tile of some sort, but we could do brick here if it made people happy. You'll also notice that this is sitting happily actoss the street from a more historic structure done in brick.

Oh, if only Capitol Cove were doing something interesting like this. The white and grey would have been an interesting homage to the State House which towers over it. Oh well.

[Complete Trondheim thread]

[Liamlunchtray]

What would bring it home for me would be metal cladding on a lot of it with some natural accents (light brick, wood?) and then some really bold colors on the upper protruding blocks. I like the business of the whole thing and I even like it being top heavy. I just want to see more material variation and some bold color choices. As a west sider, i would be psyched to drive by this every day, and I think its a lot better looking than the public safety complex and its' strange brick & modern split personality.

[Cotuit]

There was a discussion about conditioned approval with design review by the DRC, but there weren't enough votes.

[Garris]

Cotuit, thanks for the photos although, with the exception of the wood clad shorter building in the last photo of the first set (which looks a lot like the other project for near the Public Safety Complex that was killed), I can't say I'm in love with any of those designs and I think a few make Metrolofts look great by comparison.

I love everyone's suggestions for how to augment this design. And it could very well be possible that in a distant future where Cathedral Square is reborn and hopefully someone shows interest in the RP land, Washington St could be the West-Downtown connector of our dreams.

- Garris

[oak]

Well wouldn't this be beyond DRC's jurisdiction being on the wrong side of the highway?

Or better yet, I wish we would expand the mandate of the CPC. Get rid of the 40k sq. foot trigger and make a much looser definition of critical impact that something like MetroLofts would fit under. It is far too easy for developers to do 39,999.9999999 sq. foot projects and not have to have any oversight whatsoever.

[Cotuit]

Better than that, our regulations should mandate high quality design city-wide. Our piecemeal approach is confusing and sends the message that some areas deserve overlays and design review and other areas deserve whatever they get.

[basachs]

As far as Lyman street goes, which is really just an alleyway, the plans were to have retail go here. It is one issue that people are concerned about. What kind of quality retail are you going to be able to attract for an alleyway?. There is no plans to have Lyman connect to the service road.

The garage entrance is between the back of the building and Advent as Cotuit suggested.

[Cotuit]

What kind of quality retail are you going to be able to attract for an alleyway?.

[mental757]

there's going to be another "service road" in a later phase of the I-Way (from Point Street to Broadway). Are there any "numbered" streets in Providence that could be used? Like, is this service road #7 (I think)? - they could rename it 7th Ave. and 8th Ave., etc.

"Broadway and 7th"