HomeMy Public PortalAbout385 Pleasant Street DESIGN REVIEW 6_22_17_GA1
DESIGN REVIEW June 22, 2017 385 Pleasant Street
678 Massachusetts Avenue Suite 502
Cambridge MA 02139
June 22, 2017
Steve Magoon, Director
Community Planning and Development
149 Main Street Watertown, MA 02472
Cc: Gideon Schreiber, Andrea Adams
Sent via Email
385 PLEASANT STREET
DESIGN REVIEW
Based on Developer’s Conference Submission
Dear Mr. Magoon,
This memo represents an outside design review for the 385 Pleasant Street in Watertown, MA. The
drawings (dated May 9, 2017) were submitted by Amstel Heritage Watertown, LLC and Embarc Studio.
The set was received from the Town of Watertown on Tuesday, June 6 th 2017. An initial meeting with
the developer, his design team and Town officials took place on Tuesday, June 13 th, 2017. This review
addresses the Developer’s Conference submission as it relates to the Pleasant Street corridor zoning.
The review recognizes the positive aspects of the new development and highlights areas where the
project can be improved or where greater study is warranted. Please feel free to contact me if you have
any questions.
Sincerely,
David Gamble, AIA AICP LEED AP
Principal, Gamble Associates
Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Design
Department of Urban Planning and Design
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DESIGN REVIEW June 22, 2017 385 Pleasant Street
385 PLEASANT STREET DESIGN REVIEW
Based on May 9, 2017 Developer Conference Submission
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Materiality: Although fiber cement panels are increasingly used on residential and commercial projects,
as a cladding material they can easily appear cheap. Consider using higher quality materials, especially
at the base of the building. For example, Building E is a reuse of an existing industrial building.
Incorporating red brick in portions of the other buildings will bring the different buildings into greater
coherence. Additionally, consider keeping the concrete base of the building as is, without needing to
overlay an additional cladding material. Doing so captures the industrial aesthetic of the past.
Surprisingly, there are actually many creative applications of concrete block with a wide variety of
finishes that are both durable and beautiful.
Façade treatment: Juliette balconies do little to add to the quality to a building’s façade. They are
neither usable as exterior spaces nor add sufficient depth to a building’s elevation. Consider adding
functional balconies for the residential units, or strategically modulating the depth of the elevation to
create variation, texture or shadow (note of caution: this can be overdone). In addition, some
simplification of the elevations for Building F will relate the five-story building better to the other
buildings. Consider a potential roof deck to Building E that will animate the top floor and provide south-
facing views to the Charles River.
Sustainability: The project does a very good job at using the building setback to accommodate storm-
water runoff and providing groundwater recharge. The bio-retention/raingarden, pervious pavements
and native plantings are applauded. Page 5 of the Site Plan description states that “(R)enewable sources
of energy generation will be explored wherever feasible”, but there is no evidence of geothermal, wind
or solar in the project. The project has the potential to be genuinely LEED (Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design) “certified” or higher, more than “certifiable”. The developer is encouraged to
aim higher and actually apply for LEED certification or silver, gold or platinum designation.
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DESIGN REVIEW June 22, 2017 385 Pleasant Street
GENERAL COMMENTS
So much of urban design deals with the relationship between the public and private realms. The
character of the space and scale of the building to the street it fronts matters a great deal. This project
does many things right. The development maximizes the use of a long sliver of an underutilized
property. The change in topography shields parking, and the majority of the parking area is under-cover
and not visible from the street. There is the inclusion of pervious pavement and native, drought
resistant plantings. A park is provided as a public amenity that provides a connection across the street
to an adjoining development with access to the Charles River. There is a combination of new
construction, renovation and addition; it’s not all starting from scratch. There is a mix of uses, building
types, scales and uses, including commercial space. The height of the buildings taper in scale. The
development balances various modes of travel that includes pedestrian and bicycle use in addition to
cars.
In sum, the development is broken down into a series of buildings with gaps in-between, serving as an
antidote to the large, monolithic structures that were built within the last decade along Pleasant Street
that elicited so much ire of the community. While there will likely be anxiety expressed from abutters
and general residents that Pleasant Street is already over built and congested, redevelopment of this
marginal property into a mix of uses will mend a gap that remains in the building fabric and enliven the
streetscape.
End of Memo.
6/22/17