Station Row Development, Providence’s Eastern Bloc Design: Architecture Critic Will Morgan
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
"Station Row is the perfect hub for the conductors of this city's creative and cultural resurgence," states Corcoran Management's prospectus to the new 169-unit apartment house in downtown Providence, situated between the Moshassuck River and the railroad station.
What could be better than urban living in the shadow of one of America's most dignified state capitols, and just across a narrow river to the nation's smallest national park? The very name, Station Row, suggests the sort of elegant developments one would find in 19th-century London and Boston.
Cities need to have people dwelling in their commercial district, not only to survive, but also to make them livable and vibrant. So, we should be welcoming the $55-million project as an asset that will attract empty nesters, wealthier students, and those men and women moving here to work for Providence businesses.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTOne could easily commute from Station Row to Boston, and it would be much quicker and less hassle than driving in from the Hub's suburbs. Reasonable rents, ranging from $1900 for a studio to $3900 for a three-bedroom unit, would seem pretty attractive compared to Back Bay or Cambridge.
Station Row's sales pitch defines its apartments as "designed for the city's most uncompromising residents, with finishes and appliances fit for modern royalty."
The apartments, as well as the gym, gathering spaces, and common areas, are moderately upscale, while the location of this 6-story ungainly pile does offer "breathtaking views of the Providence skyline."
Crowning itself "The Height of Providence," Station Row boasts that one "can fill an entire weekend day without ever stepping out the front door … everything you need is right within our doors." That statement reveals a basic shortcoming of this complex: residents are discouraged from taking part in the life of the city.
Rooftop terraces offer great city views, but people need to be down on the street. (Corcoran Management
The promise of elegance stops at the lobby, as the outside of Station Row is as uninteresting as a large suburban motel. Everything about the exterior screams shortcuts and lack of imagination.
The venerable Providence architecture firm of RBG is now the default designer for mediocre commercial work. In their long history, they have produced some halfway decent buildings, but Station Row is not among them.
The problem, however, is not so much the choice of an architect, but operating under a philosophy that brings the architect on board only at the last moment to drape a cloak around the maximum amount of developable space.
Apparently, most Providence buildings have to have some brick, but that fatuous nod to the past shares wall space with the large-scale equivalent of vinyl siding.
The shape of the building is lumpen. Surely there could have been a cleverer way to fill that somewhat oddly shaped lot?
It takes imagination, and some respect for the city, to erect a large structure on such a prominent location. Alas, visual challenge and civic responsibility are rarely priorities who those develop new buildings in our putative Creative Capital.
A few private developers and institutions such as Brown and RISD can sometimes rise to the occasion with excellent architectural design. But it seems whenever government is involved we get substandard, ho-hum buildings.
Just review the buildings in Capitol Center or look at what is proposed for the empty lots under the aegis of the I-195 commission: developer schlock rather than architecture.
Station Row demonstrates the failure to think through design from the beginning. Intelligent city planning can avoid the "us versus them" conflict that inevitably happens a greed-driven turkey like the Fane tower is thrust on us.
Thanks to its amenities and location, Station Row is 60% leased. But why does its practical appeal have to be devoid of an aesthetic one? Did it really have to look like leaden Eastern Bloc housing?
The construction of Station Row–partially underwritten by a $5.6 million grant from the state–brought jobs and added downtown rental property. But could the people of Rhode Island have gotten something more for their tax dollars than a totally undistinguished and soulless apartment block?
GoLocal architecture critic William Morgan's forthcoming book, Snowbound: Dwelling in Winter, will be published next year by Princeton Architectural Press.
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