Look inside South Station Tower, the new skyscraper in downtown Boston
Eleven stories above ground level, Sarah Hawkins describes the herculean effort to create the brand new South Station Tower.
"We had to work only in the nighttime for two years," said Hawkins, the head of real estate development company Hines' U.S. East market. "We not only went through construction shutdowns, through the global pandemic, but we could only work at nighttime because the trains were running."
Challenging as it was, the end result is a skyscraper connecting the Greenway, Fort Point, Seaport and the Financial District.
"Coming up with a design that was able to speak to the heritage of Boston, but also to the ambitions," architect Graham Banks said.
He's a partner with firm Pelli Clarke and Partners, which designed the structure and upgrades to the bus and train terminals.
"The arches are really what reflects the structural solution, which was a combination of the latest technology in steel and concrete but also some surprisingly traditional methods of arches," Banks said.
From bottom to top, it's an architectural achievement. The bus terminal expansion increases capacity by 50% and the tracks and platforms are now covered by the concourse gateway; there will be a restaurant on the ninth floor that will be open to the public.
For residents, a Sky Park on the 11th floor offers a place to relax and unwind, and an amenities-filled club on the 36th floor boasts a library, pool and chef's kitchen. Plus, the upper 16 floors for residential living offers spectacular views of the city.
The residences will soon be finished for high-rise homeowners, who see the South Station Tower as the new heartbeat of the city.
"Everywhere you look, this building feels like Boston to us," said new residents Larry and Tracy. "Every window look out we see a different part of the city that we love."
Creators hope that pulse will ripple through every person who passes through it.
"Cesar Pelli, our founder, always spoke about how no building is more important than the city," Banks said. "It's your new gateway. When they built South Station there weren't any towers. Now it's dwarfed, but really we extended the presence of South Station up into the skyline and now you'll always know where it is."