Founders Square Update
9 11 2009Back in July we reported that the new Founders Square development in Ballston had signed government agency DARPA as a major tenant and now we have a nice rendering of what that new headquarters is going to look like. The RTKL design is significantly set back from the street for security and has an asymmetrical window design that we are digging!
What do you think of the design? [Rendering: RTKL]
I can’t say skewing a grid does it for me, but I love your enthusiasm for architecture.
The building looks cool, but I’m more interested in the landscape design, it’s not often you get an opportunity in such an urban setting to have so much space to work with, hope they don’t just fill the space in with gravel!!!!!!!!
I understand that security concerns dictate the requirements for the setback from the street, but I hope this is not a widely-copied trend. It strikes me as deadening to street life, which is what city is all about, and which supposedly was the vision for places like Ballston.
[…] home to the Metro Bus yard and will eventually have four new buildings including the DARPA HQ we mentioned […]
I don’t know in detail what the whole development is supposed to look like, but it mixed-use. I know there is a park component to the project.
Hopefully the DARPA HQ section that faces Randolph is the only part that has a significant setback from the street. Let’s hope the parts that face Wilson and Quincy engage the street better. Maybe even though there is a setback, there can still be a small plaza area with places to sit with good landscaping.
Regrettably, the only colors here are bluish-gray and gray. No matter how finely the building is detailed, it’s going to be depressingly colorless.
My kingdom for some paint!
[…] for the new Founders Square development in Ballston. Once complete, the four building complex designed by RTKL Architects will occupy the entire city block, and as we reported last July, it even already has some tenants […]