Harbor Towers

The Harbor Towers are two 40-story residential towers located on the waterfront of Boston, Massachusetts, in between the New England Aquarium and the Rowes Wharf mixed-use development. Harbor Towers I, the taller of the two towers, stands at 400 feet (120 m), while Harbor Towers II rises 396 feet (121 m). Harbor Towers I is in a tie as 37th-tallest building in Boston. They were designed by Henry N. Cobb of I. M. Pei & Partners.

Harbor Towers
A view of the Harbor Towers from Boston Harbor
General information
TypeResidential
Architectural styleBrutalist
LocationEast India Row, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°21′28.64″N 71°02′59.89″W
Completed1971
Height
Roof400.0 ft (121.9 m) / 396 ft (121 m)
Technical details
Structural systemReinforced concrete
Floor count40
Design and construction
Architect(s)I.M. Pei & Partners

Initially built as affordable rental housing, the Harbor Towers opened in 1971. At the time, the area surrounding the project was a warehouse district with many surface parking lots.

History

Development and construction
The Harbor Towers (far right) are very prominent in the Boston skyline when viewed from Boston Harbor

The Harbor Towers apartment complex was completed in 1971 by the Berenson Corporation as an affordable housing option near Boston's financial district. The towers were designed by Henry N. Cobb, who also designed Boston's John Hancock Tower and collaborated with I.M Pei on Boston's City Hall Plaza. In 2006, they were the city's tallest residential towers.[1] The towers were sponsored by the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA)[2] to revitalize Boston's waterfront.

Originally planned as three 40-story towers, only two were built alongside a parking garage. The design garnered many critics in Boston for its brutalist architecture, a style inconsistent with historic Boston.[3]

Condominium conversion

As the growth of the city moved toward the waterfront, the development's location drew attention during the "condominium conversion" craze of the early 1980s. In 1981, both apartment towers started a two-year process of conversion to over 600 condominiums, with incentives for existing renters to purchase at discounted prices. Many early apartment renters now own several units, often combined to create wrap-around units with as much as 5,000 square feet (460 m2) of living space. Newcomers to the building buy units for $650,000 to as much as $2.9 million.[4]

Over the decades, the towers have undergone major renovations, including the replacement of all the windows with high-end double-pane windows and replacement of the electrical and HVAC systems. Severe corrosion of the heating and cooling water pipes led to them being replaced by copper pipes in 2009.

Architectural details

The apartments are organized in a pinwheel fashion around a central core and are made of cast in place reinforced concrete. The concrete exterior balconies have a giant zipper-like appearance against the flat façade.[5]

The stainless steel sculpture at the base of the buildings is Untitled Landscape by David von Schlegell, and was created in 1964.[1] The artwork is often mistaken for solar panels.

Zoning

School district

Any school-age children living in the towers are eligible for the Boston Public Schools. For elementary and middle school, students may apply to:

  • Any school within the location's "assignment zone"
    • In this case, the North Zone
  • Any school within the location's "walk zone," regardless of the school's "assignment zone."
    • Eligible "walk zone" schools not citywide and not within the North Zone: Gavin Middle School
  • Any citywide elementary school, middle school, and K-8

All high schools are "citywide."

See also

References
  1. "The Boston Harborwalk: Places To Go...: Downtown/North End: India Wharf / Harbor Towers". Archived from the original on 2006-11-15. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
  2. Keohane, Joe (28 January 2008). "The Harbor Towers' Towering Contradictions". Boston Magazine.
  3. Contreras, Kalan Michael (May 2013). "Revisiting brutalism : the past and future of an architectural movement". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Luxury Boston – Boston Towers". Luxury Real Estate.
  5. AIA Guide to Boston, Susan and Michael Southworth, page 66-67
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