Home to Four Seasons Hotel and Four Seasons Private Residences, One Dalton is also the tallest residential building in Boston and all of New England. Located in the city’s most prestigious and historic neighborhood Back Bay, it was designed by Henry N. Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Gary Johnson of CambridgeSeven. The legendary architect, who was the 2013 recipient of CTBUH’s Lynn S. Beedle Lifetime Achievement Award, envisioned the tower as “a building that allows you to understand its place in the city, allows you to understand the distinctions of use that happen within it, and above all allows you to feel that it’s a good neighbor to the residential area in which it’s embedded.”
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) has just named One Dalton as the best tall building worldwide in its height category. The tower is the first and only building in Boston to receive this award from CTBUH, an organization that developed international standards for measuring and defining tall buildings. CTBUH examines how increased urban density and vertical growth can support more sustainable and healthy cities.
Considered to be one of the most architecturally significant skyscrapers ever built in Boston, the 742 feet One Dalton is the first building in the city to exceed a height of 700 feet in nearly 50 years since the John Hancock Tower (200 Clarendon Street). It’s also the last Henry Cobb–designed building completed during his lifetime.
When we won the competition to build One Dalton, I knew it would be an incredible opportunity to add something spectacular to Boston’s skyline. I set out to assemble the dream team, led by Harry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners and Gary Johnson of CambridgeSeven. It was a challenging site, and their combined creativity led to a unique triangular facade that seamlessly blends into the context of its historic surroundings. This magnificent award is a much-appreciated confirmation by their peers of the singular beauty of One Dalton’s design. – Richard Friedman, CEO and President of Carpenter & Company, the developer of One Dalton
The 61-story building houses an award-winning, AAA Diamond-designated Four Seasons hotel on its lower floors and luxury residential condominiums on the floors above. It is shaped as a soft triangle, with three curved sides and smaller-radius curves at the corners. The tower’s residences offer views in two directions from every room and feature operable windows which is a real rarity in tall buildings.
This award is, indeed, a celebration of the original design premise to create a landmark building that would not only complement the Boston skyline, but also provide a welcoming pedestrian experience at street level. On behalf of the entire design team, we’re honored that One Dalton has been recognized for its contribution to the urban environment. – Gary Johnson, President & CEO of CambridgeSeven
