The Hanover Pier 4 luxury-apartment building / photo by Coreslab
Boston – The Hanover Pier 4 luxury-apartment building along the South Boston waterfront will feature a variety of sophisticated amenities when it is ready for occupancy in the spring of 2015. Included are a fitness center, third-floor sundeck with outdoor pool, mini-theater, business center, and underground parking.
The development of 21 stories and 369 residential units features an L-shaped tower on a three-story rectangular base. The upper level of the base includes a swimming pool and other amenities. Precast concrete slabs and structural walls were specified to provide support for the pool.
The precast concrete components were fabricated by Coreslab Structures (Conn.) Inc.
The contractor for the project is John Moriarty & Associates of Winchester.
To project the appropriate image for the development while meeting the city’s strict design requirements, the architects also chose architectural precast concrete panels to clad the building.
James Gray, principal in charge of the project at ADD Inc., said: “It provided an attractive and economical approach and it also allowed us to close the skin of the building quickly in an efficient manner. It doesn’t require a multilayered backup system as would be needed with metal panels or brick. We are also taking greater advantage of the on-site tower crane that is erecting the steel during the day and the precast concrete panels at night.”
The panels feature a ribbed pattern with a combination of light and medium sandblast to provide texture and shadow. The lower floor of the base features precast panels with embedded granite and marble veneer.
Precast concrete slabs also were used for balconies on the units. “Metal balconies would need to be fireproofed and protected to be safe from corrosion,” Gray noted. “With precast concrete, we could install steel clips around the edges and put precast concrete balconies in place that would make the steel weather tight, with only the concrete exposed to weather. We took this approach on an earlier project, and it’s worked very well.”
