Federal Reserve Bank

Almost a rarity among skyscrapers of the last decades of the twentieth century, the Federal Reserve Bank has become a unique landmark. Prominent night and day by virtue of its reflective aluminum surface, it changes according to light and atmospheric states from pure white to shades of gold and rose. Functional aspects match aesthetic elements as the surface reduces solar heat, the angled spandrels acting as windbreakers. Fortress-like as befits its function, the tower, composed of two grand pylons framing a facade of louvers, occupies only 16 percent of its site. Horizontal elements contain service spaces, a glass-enclosed open lobby, and a gallery as a prelude to the second-floor banking room and the high-security upper stories. Amenities for employees include fine views of the Fort Point Channel from the restaurant and outdoor terraces. The wide-open plaza, with access to public transit, may in the future incorporate a type of landscape that will contribute to a livelier civic space—almost demanded by the density of the district and its location opposite the South Station Transportation Center (FD26).