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Back Bay Station

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Description

Project description from KMW firm website:

"Situated in Boston’s commercial spine, the station serves the transportation needs of 58,000 patrons daily who use the Amtrak and regional trains as well as the local subway. It is a pathway to the City and the hub of a central commercial institutional and residential district.

The station acts as a covered day-lit concourse between two important streets. Its architectural image recalls the train terminals of the 19th century – one of which it replaces. A sequence of curved wooden arches dominate the interior and are highly visible through the glass facades. A hypo-style hall serves the ticket office and great staircases descend to the levels below.

An exhaust vent needed for the railway tunnel below, was transformed into the twin-form of a campanile clad in brick and stone base on Clarendon Street."

Awards:

- 1988 Special Mention, New England Regional AIA

- 1987 Design Award, New England Masonry Association

Publications:

- Architectural Review, December 1989

- Architecture, December 1988

- Boston Better Business Journal, October 1988

- The Boston Globe, September 1988

See David Dillon, "The Architecture of Kallmann McKinnell & Wood" (2004), pp. 32-35.

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