The site is designed with the idea of integrating a new high profile, state-of-the-art modern business complex into a deeply historic setting, in the heart of an urban environment. The architecture was formed around the goal of combining two distinct programs, hotel and office, in a way that reflected ideas of balance, order, and stability so that their interdependence sends the message of unity and respect for each other.
Two 49-story office towers, containing 2,152,782 SF were built on a prominent riverfront site, the former home of the city’s historic shipyards for more than two centuries. Two stone and glass towers rise symmetrically along the axis of the main slip that led to the former dry-dock. The buildings form a void in the shape of the missing hull. The figural roles are reversed, with the space between them becoming the figure, and the towers the ground. That monumental implied space between the towers becomes the iconic form, and the void rules over the solid as the defining form. The purity and simplicity of the design is its virtue, serene in a context of expressionist buildings.
Innovative features include high-performance, energy-efficient, locally sourced, recyclable materials which contributed to the overall sustainability of the design. Triple-pane insulated glass improved winter insulation performance, reduced summer heat gain, enhanced acoustic performance, and mitigated the safety concern of using tempered glass on a high rise building, allowing the project to be built higher, with improved safety and energy savings.
The building uses a centralized tube design, and was designed with a raised basement level to accommodate the river’s flood protection systems. The towers are connected by an elevated platform which serves as an outdoor public space, and provides weather protection for the indoor pedestrian corridor, below.
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