Okay, we were wrong on this one. We hammered the Scarano-designed building at 326 State Street a couple of times as it was going up for being out of scale and disrespectful of its context. Based on the photos on the links below, it certainly looked that way at the time. But, as a couple of readers (including a neighbor who had also feared for the worst throughout most of the project) emailed us to point out last week, the end-product is significantly better than expected. The saving grace? A wood paneling that’s still modern but manages to soften the facade’s impact on the streetscape. We’d still prefer it if this lined up with the neighboring house and had a little less bulk but overall it worked out much better than we originally gave it credit for. Nos culpamus Nostra culpa.
Still Out of Scale on State Street [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
326 State Street: When Too Much FAR Is a Bad Thing [Brownstoner]