12/11/2023 0 Comments John hancock tower real estateNovember 27, 1967: Hancock unveiled Cobb’s final design: a 790-ft parallelogram tower (tallest in New England), skewed so that the mass would be slimmest on the side facing Copley Square and Trinity Church. In the fall of 1967 overwhelmed with other commissions, Pei turned over the redesign of the Tower to partner, Henry Cobb. (Thus the floors needed to be 30,000 sf instead of 22,000.) There was also a change in materials: instead of a concrete building, Hancock called for structural steel. Instead of 1.5 million sf, the new specs required 2 million and instead of distributing the office space over the entire 2 block site, Hancock decided to keep their original Berkeley building and only build on ½ the original acreage. Armed with his analysis, Hancock decided to revise the building specifications, calling for greater square footage over a smaller footprint. In 1967, Hancock hired Max Philippson to consult on real estate planning and building costs. Also planned was a below-grade parking lot for 800 vehicles. The design included two low-rise buildings flanking the tower, leaving a triangular plaza facing Trinity Church. His design called for a cylindrical masonry shaft with a portion sliced away, leaving a flat surface faced in glass, which would be separated from the cylinder by narrow vertical slots. (The Prudential had been built in 1964 as the tallest building in Boston.)ĭesign brief: Pei’s original designs (1966) included demolishing Hancock’s earlier Berkeley building (across the street) and creating 1.5 million sf of office space on 4 acres. Nothing was documented, but there was an implicit understanding that the tower would surpass that of their rival insurance company, the Prudential, in height. Pei to design a new building for their company in Copley Square. (under the leadership of chairman, Robert Slater) commissioned the firm of I.M. Commission brief: In 1965, the John Hancock Mutual Insurance Co.
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