Viola
Viola's undulating form creates space for a new urban plaza and a highly textured street wall for one of the historic Back Bay’s last undeveloped sites.
Viola is a new mixed-use development to be located on a platform above the Massachusetts Turnpike in southern Downtown Boston. The project will include residences, a boutique hotel, retail, and an entrance to a new MBTA station.
The design seeks to re-establish the traditional Back Bay street-wall with an economical structural framing strategy that is guided by the highway and tunnel geometry of the Turnpike below. The building's undulating form is a direct result of the structural requirements, but also offers urban design benefits. The curved segments connect the two geometries into a single cohesive form, while creating additional open space at the sidewalk level at the reopened Boylston Street T entrance opposite St. Cecilia Street.
The sculptural form and Terracotta coloring of Viola is meant to complement the neighborhood's historical facades along Newbury Street. The facade along Massachusetts Avenue has a generous linear plaza to promote ample transit “elbow room” and mark the gateway transition between the Fenway and Back Bay in this gateway location.