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For the notable tower in Chicago, Illinois, see John Hancock Center. Three different buildings in Boston, Massachusetts, have been known as the "John Hancock Building", and perhaps a fourth will be. All were built by the John Hancock Insurance companies. References to the John Hancock building usually refer to the 60-story, sleek glass building on Clarendon Street. Hancock Place (the "John Hancock Tower") The building known by Bostonians as the John Hancock Tower, or colloquially, the "New" Hancock Tower, is officially named Hancock Place. It is a 60-story, 790-foot-tall (241 meter) skyscraper designed by I.M. Pei and Henry N. Cobb of the firm now known as Pei, Cobb and Freed. It was completed in 1976. In 1977 the AIA presented Cobb with a National Honor Award for the John Hancock Tower. As of 2005, it is the tallest building in New England, the 43rd tallest building in the United States, and the 112th tallest building in the world. Its street address is 200 Clarendon Street. The company uses both "Hancock Place" and "200 Clarendon Street" as mailing addresses for offices in the building. The John Hancock companies were the main tenants of the tower, but the insurance company announced in 2004 that some offices will relocate to a new building at 601 Congress Street. Like all large, heavily glazed buildings, the tower requires substantial air conditioning year round—even with its reflective walls. Its cooling system is similar to that used in the IDS Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Introduction
Problems with the building It was a much-anticipated landmark from the country's most respected design firm. Unfortunately, the tower is more notorious for its engineering flaws than for its architectural achievement. Its opening was delayed from 1971 to 1976, and the total cost rocketed from $75M to $175M. It was an embarrassment for the firm, modernist architects, and the architecture industry. Foundation Hancock Tower was plagued with problems even before construction started. During the excavation of the tower's foundation, temporary steel retaining walls were erected to create a void on which to build. The walls warped, giving way to the clay and mud fill they were supposed to hold back. The inward bend of the retaining walls damaged utility lines, the sidewalk pavement, and nearby buildings—even damaging the historic Trinity Church next door. Hancock ultimately paid for all the repairs. Falling glass panes Inventing a way to use the blue mirror glass in a steel tower came at a high price. The building's most dangerous and conspicuous flaw was its faulty glass windows. Entire 4' x 11', 500 lb (1.2x3.4 m, 227 kg) windowpanes detached from the building and crashed to the sidewalk hundreds of feet below. Police closed off surrounding streets whenever winds reached 45 mph (72 km/h). According to the Boston Globe, MIT built a scale model of the entire Back Bay in its Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel to identify the problem. The exact cause of the malfunction was never revealed due to a legal settlement and gag order. Most now diagnose the problem as a combination of the double-paned glass construction method, and the pressure differentials between the inside and outside air. In October 1973, I.M. Pei & Partners announced that all panes would be replaced by a different heat-treated variety—costing between $5 million and $7 million. During the repairs, plywood replaced the building's windows, earning it the nickname "Plywood Palace" and the joke that it was "the world's tallest plywood building." Nauseating sway The building's upper-floor occupants suffered from motion sickness when the building swayed in the wind. To stabilize the movement, a device called a tuned mass damper was installed on the 58th floor. As described by Robert Campbell, architecture critic for the Boston Globe: Two 300-ton weights sit at opposite ends of the 58th floor of the Hancock. Each weight is a box of steel, filled with lead, 17 feet (5.2 m) square by 3 feet (0.9 m) high. Each weight rests on a steel plate. The plate is covered with lubricant so the weight is free to slide. But the weight is attached to the steel frame of the building by means of springs and shock absorbers. When the Hancock sways, the weight tends to remain still... allowing the floor to slide underneath it. Then, as the springs and shocks take hold, they begin to tug the building back. The effect is like that of a gyroscope, stabilizing the tower. The reason there are two weights, instead of one, is so they can tug in opposite directions when the building twists. The cost of the damper was $3 million. The dampers are free to move a few feet relative to the floor. LeMessurier Consultants says the dampers are located in relatively small utility rooms at each end of the building, leaving most of the 58th floor usable. According to Robert Campbell, it was also discovered that—despite the mass damper—the building could have fallen over under a certain kind of wind loading. Ironically, it could tip over on one of its narrow edges, not its big flat sides. Some 1,500 tons of diagonal steel bracing were added to prevent this, costing $5 million. September 11 An observation deck with spectacular views of Boston was a popular attraction. It was closed after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks and remains closed as of late 2006 (like the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco). Because of the closure of the John Hancock Tower's observation deck, the highest observation deck in Boston that is open to the public is in the Prudential Tower. The building's owners cite security as the reason for the continued closure, but have used the deck for private functions and have expressed intent to replace it with more office space. Boston officials contend that security concerns are moot, since most similar attractions have long since reopened, and that a public observation deck was a requirement for the original building permits, though the city can't seem to produce documentary evidence. The Berkeley Building (the "old John Hancock Building") The second of the "John Hancock buildings" is a 26-story, 495-foot (151 m) structure located at 200 Berkeley Street. It was designed by Cram and Ferguson and completed in 1947. From 1947 until 1964 it was the second-tallest building in Boston, one foot shorter than the 496-foot Custom House Tower, but a much larger building and a very conspicuous landmark. The Prudential Tower, completed in 1964, dwarfed both. As of 2004 a dozen buildings are taller, yet it remains a handsome and easily recognized Boston landmark, familiar to commuters crossing the Charles River. A drawing of this building served as a logo for the insurance company for many years. As of 2004 the John Hancock company refers to it as "The Berkeley Building," but in common parlance it is "the old John Hancock Building." It is topped by a weather beacon with red and blue lights, which use a code to present the local weather forecast, using a popular rhyme as a mnemonic: Steady blue, clear view. Flashing blue, clouds due. Steady red, rain ahead. Flashing red, snow instead. During baseball season, flashing red means the Boston Red Sox game has been called off on account of weather. In October of 2004, the beacon flashed red and blue to commemorate the Boston Red Sox World Series victory. This was the first time the color scheme changed since the beacon was lit in 1950. A new line was added to the poem accordingly: Flashing Blue and Red, when The Curse of the Bambino is dead! The Stephen L. Brown Building (197 Clarendon St.) The oldest of the John Hancock buildings was designed by Parker, Thomas & Rice, best known as architects of the United Shoe Machinery building. It was completed in 1922. It is located at 197 Clarendon St. across from the Hancock tower. It was known as the "John Hancock Life Insurance Company Building." The building was never considered particularly notable; for example, it is not mentioned in the 1937 WPA state guide to Massachusetts. In recent years it was known as "The Clarendon Building." Circa 2001 it was renamed "The Stephen L. Brown Building" in honor of Stephen L. Brown, chairman of John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. According to Lyndon Donlyn, "if you stand on the corner of Clarendon Street and St. James Avenue and look directly into the mirrored surface of the third Hancock, you will see reflected there the first two, aligned hierarchically in an ethereal family portrait." Originally, the Planned Development Area (PDA) agreement for the building of the 60-story John Hancock Tower called for 197 Clarendon to be demolished to make way for open space or a public square. In 1982, the Boston Redevelopment Authority, responding to a request from the John Hancock company, decided that it would be better to keep the building on the tax rolls. It was also thought that open space near the base of the tower might not be desirable, due to the tower's "wind tunnel" effect. 601 Congress Street
Note on company name The company that built the three buildings is known loosely as "John Hancock Insurance," or simply "John Hancock." It was known as "The John Hancock Life Insurance Company" in the 1930s and "The John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company" in the 1940s. As of 2000, the company owning the buildings was "John Hancock Financial Services, Inc." with various subsidiaries such as "The John Hancock Variable Life Insurance Company" and "Signator Investors, Inc." In 2003, the company was acquired by the Canadian Manulife Financial Corporation, but still uses the name "John Hancock Financial Services, Inc." and those of various subsidiaries. See also | |||||||||||
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