Sasaki collaborated with Howeler + Yoon Architecture to design and deliver this 19-story residential tower at 212 Stuart Street in the heart of Boston.

The high-rise project sits within the “High Spine” along Stuart Street, an area of increased development linking Copley Square to the downtown Financial District. Additionally, the project’s improvements at the ground plane provide a welcoming gateway into the lower scale Bay Village neighborhood to the south.

The project includes the construction of a 150,000-square-foot, 19-story building, with 1,000 square feet of first floor retail and/or restaurant use and 126 residential units on the upper floors. Two of the residential units are duplexes with entrance stoops accessed from the street. The project also includes a ground floor lobby and leasing offices, a basement fitness area, and amenity space including common rooms and a large outdoor patio on the 19th floor.

With a 7,000-square-foot floor plate and 7 to 8 units on each floor, every inch of space is important to the efficiency of the building. The exterior skin of deeply sculpted precast concrete panels and window wall glazing give the building a signature look and a unique face to the neighborhood.

The new building sits at the intersection of the residential Bay Village Historic District and a more urban corridor. As such, the landscape design needs to thoughtfully weave together the new and old. A brick carpet, drawing influence from the Historic District, creates a unique sense of place that grounds the building within its context. With careful attention to detail, the Sasaki landscape design team uses a variety of color and textures to create a pixelated effect to the brick, transitioning from traditional red brick to a lighter, warmer tone found throughout the new building.

The building and landscape design will significantly improve the pedestrian environment by replacing an existing surface parking lot with a neighborhood amenity and new street-level activation. The site design also includes new sidewalks with street trees, refurbished gas lamps, and brick paving improvements within the adjacent Church Street pedestrian plaza.