200 Newbury Street

200 Newbury Street

200 Newbury Street Peter Vanderwarker or Antonina Smith

200 Newbury Street

1997, CBT/Childs Bertman Tseckares.

Currently known as the Niketown Building after its principal tenant, this four-story structure combines retail and office space joined through a drum-shaped entrance tower corner, a light-filled space rising the entire height of the building. An effort to relate to the complexity of the Back Bay fabric has created an extremely eclectic facade with far ranging surface quotations. Counterpoint rhythms mark the vertical piers framing the complex fenestration, whereas the whole configuration remotely recalls earlier department store archetypes. Real excitement is reserved for the hard-edged interior of blacks and grays. Opposite a wall of videos and sports broadcasts metal panels trace the course of the 26.2-mile Boston Marathon. Suspended above, the bright red Nike logo marks the building as a celebration of this race and its runners.

Writing Credits