Sunday, July 23, 2023

William Morgan, Architecture Critic

Wayland Square is one of the hottest spots on the East Side, which is to say, in the entire city. It is the place to shop, dine, and live. There are few places to erect residential buildings, so when a buildable property comes on the market it will be developed. The latest example is the strategic location at the corner of Wayland Avenue and East Manning Street, a trapezoidal lot where the Wayland Bakery stood since 1960. Councilman John Goncalves called the bakery’s closing “a dagger to the heart” of the neighborhood. While next door, a newer commercial venture, Opt Eyewear Boutique (“Locally Owned, Free Range, Grass Fed & Organic Eyewear”) was in a snazzy Art Deco building (Opt has moved across the street to the Speidel Building).

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Given the demographics of the neighborhood, and the constant litany of not enough housing, it is hard to make a case for not building something substantial here. This spot at the bend in Wayland Avenue, nevertheless, merits something a little beyond the ordinary. This presents an opportunity to give the neighborhood a landmark, and for the developer and his architect to demonstrate their sensitivity to the urban scene.

Kyle Seyboth, the developer, and his architect Ed Wojcik, have so far offered another ubiquibox, an undistinguished fiberglass cement-wrapped piece of rentable space. Seyboth told some concerned neighbors that he is “really cognizant of modern architecture” in the neighborhood. He added that he tried to “match what has already been built in the area.” Seyboth’s model seems to be the recent speculative 3 and 4-story apartments, such as Station Row or the box at the corner of Waterman and Hope Streets.

There is, however, one handsome new apartment block on Waterman Street that backs onto Wayland Avenue. Developer George Potsidis filled the allowable zoning envelope, but his architect, Andrew Hausmann of the Chicago firm of Perkins & Will, designed a handsome composition with a commanding sense of presence. This plot is irregular, like that at 128 Wayland, but Hausmann took a design cue from the site and used the odd angles to his advantage, while the monochromatic gray façade provides an air of elegance. Potsidis notes that “being a patron of good design as a residential developer has been rewarding.” In his experience, clients are willing to pay more for a premium property and tend to reside in their homes longer.

Apparently, it is un-American to question a developer’s right to make a profit, but Seyboth has shown a willingness to listen to neighborhood concerns. 128 Wayland was initially to have no retail space, and it was simply to be four stories of four apartments per floor. By downplaying the planned lobbies for each floor, the small apartments (starting at a meager 430 square feet) will be slightly expanded and there will be a retail space. Seyboth declared that there will be no students in his flats (presumably, he wants little turnover, just steady income from residents who don’t have room for more than a few tchotchkes from an earlier life. But he can do better.

So, we need to ask Seyboth and Wojcik if they would consider a different approach to design, pushing their comfort zone a little. One might start with incorporating the existing Deco storefront into the retail space, or saving the neon sign from Wayland Bakery and making it a signature element of the front. Instead of trying for fancier coverings, perhaps Wayland Bakery Apartments could be wrapped in a metal façade or some sort of scrim echoing the red and blue colors of the vintage sign. With a little effort 128 Wayland Avenue could be a visual addition to the neighborhood, a contributing element, rather than just another scheme to make money and give nothing back to the community.

GoLocal architecture critic Morgan has an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth and two graduate degrees from Columbia. He has taught at Princeton and at Brown. He likes to remind people that the Ivy League is merely a collegiate athletic conference.

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