Set majestically in the seaport, The St. Regis Residences, Boston, is one of the city’s most luxurious developments. Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, the towering glass structure, which opened in 2023 and houses 114 condos on 22 floors, looks like a boat afloat with sails fully unfurled in the wind.

With units starting at $1.85 million, the development offers everything residents desire: a health club, a lounge and library, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a business center, a spa. And a model unit by Boston-based Eric Roseff Designs that embraces and elevates the architecture’s aesthetics and showcases the spectacular views center stage.

“Most model units are neutral and vanilla white,” says Roseff. “I wanted people who see it to feel like it’s someone’s home done thoughtfully over time. I’ve added a lot of personalized pieces to make it cross the finish line.”

The resident he envisioned, well-traveled and sophisticated, enjoys entertaining, collecting art and dining out. “I thought of the owner as a couple or a single person who had left a larger home in the suburbs and really embraced city living,” Roseff says. “That’s why the dining area is small, and there’s only one TV.”

Although the developers gave him carte blanche, there were inherent restrictions. Because of the building’s shape, every unit has a different, unconventional configuration.

“With many angles, simply lining a piece of furniture up along a wall creates a challenge,” he says of the 2,589-square-foot unit that has three bedrooms and 3.5 baths. “It took a lot of custom engineering to design everything, including custom window shades and draperies. And because this is a model unit, I couldn’t add built-ins or change any major components in the kitchen or baths.”

To accentuate the unit’s sharp angles, Roseff selected furnishings that are soft and sculptural and upholstered them in neutral fabrics so they don’t distract from the views.

“The visual interest comes from texture and shape, not color,” he says, adding that the ceilings are mirror-like Venetian plaster, a reflective treatment that subtly merges indoor and outdoor spaces. “The color comes from the artwork and curated accessories, including pillows and glass vases. When you walk in, your eye goes where it should—straight to the outside scenery.”

Roseff boldly throws his first curve in the entry, where a large circular artwork by Shay Kun dominates. It’s a preview of the main living space, which is defined by an irregularly shaped custom rug, designed by Roseff, that resembles ocean waves. The room is appointed with a pair of 1970s Vladimir Kagan sofas that look as though they want to embrace each other and a pair of similar- vintage chairs whose wing-like arms conjure images of seagulls in flight. The center coffee/cocktail table is equally dynamic: Its two pieces pull apart, creating separate servers as needed.

Next to this grouping, Roseff created a conversational setting by pairing two 1970s swivel chairs, upholstered in velvet, and a swiveling mushroom ottoman from the same time period.

“A majority of the upholstery throughout the unit is solid-color fabric instead of patterned,” he says. “The fabrics are textural, and some of them, such as that on the swivel chairs, have a sheen that looks different in different light as you walk around them.”

The curvaceous theme continues in the adjoining dining area, where four round-back chairs and a custom dining banquette cozy up to an oval-shaped Italian marble table, another vintage piece. The wall, papered in the same ombre silver silk and metallic leaf mural that runs from the foyer to the windows, shimmers in the glow of the globes of a pair of floor lamps.

Roseff reserves deeper colors for the more private spaces. In the den, for instance, dark-teal drapes, offset by a virtually invisible Lucite desk in the window, create a cozy setting. The guest room pays homage to the water: Its deep blue painted walls match the drapes, creating a cocoon complete with a daybed that overlooks the seaport.

Artwork that looks like a changing, curated collection ties everything together. “I chose many pieces that people maybe haven’t seen before,” Roseff says, adding that the work over the bed in the primary suite is by Damien Hirst. “Or artists people may not be familiar with.”

(He counts himself in the latter category: He created the eight circular paintings that line the hallway.)

From the circular coin-painting in the kitchen and the round portraits in the hallway to the sphere-like globes of the ceiling fixture in the primary bedroom, every aspect of the unit becomes one great big design loop that amplifies the illusion of a place that’s well loved and well lived in.

“Several people who have toured the unit have asked who lives here,” Roseff says. “That’s the greatest compliment.”

Boston Harbor Hotel has announced its collaboration with the South End’s home design store Modern Relik to create a new anchor storefront in the hotel called Home at Rowes Wharf. The new boutique retail experience will open adjacent to the main entrance on Atlantic Avenue in June 2021.  

The Home at Rowes Wharf collection is curated by Modern Relik and each product has been hand-selected with the pampered guest and modern traveler in mind. Neighbors and travelers are invited to experience beauty while shopping for an assortment of enchanting items, simplistic luxuries, timeless craftsmanship, wanderer essentials, and more. This lineup includes: décor such as candles, books, and giftable items; textiles like linens, throws, and bedding; art including paintings, sculptures, and vases, and a nod to travel with care kits, technology, gadgets, luggage, and more. 

“We are thrilled to announce the collaboration between Boston Harbor Hotel and Modern Relik with the curated boutique, Home at Rowes Wharf,” says Stephen Johnston, Boston Harbor Hotel’s managing director and general manager. “Our goal is to always offer our guests a carefully curated luxury stay and we saw this as an opportunity to make retail a key component to the unique hotel experience.”

Following his 15 years with Barneys New York and Copley Place in Boston, Thomas Lapan has been appointed as retail manager/designer of home at Rowes Wharf. “With my seasoned experience in the luxury retail industry and enthusiasm behind this collaboration between Modern Relik and the award-winning property, I am thrilled to join the Boston Harbor Hotel team,” says Lapan.

The original Modern Relik is located in the South End and is an award-winning furniture and design store. Some of the legacy brands that guests can expect to see include Baccarat glass, Assouline tabletop books, Brenda Holzke ceramics, and Modern Relik home furnishings and décor. Boston Harbor Hotel approached Meg Kimball, owner of Modern Relik to help create and curate something special and exclusive for the hotel. The space will be filled with objects d’art and fashionable merchandise for the traveler.  

The show-stopping space was expertly designed by Jerome CooperKing of CKI Design Studio and Meg Kimball, and is a combination of grays, metals, and black and white with pops of color throughout. There is a mix of raw steel, brass, and oak floors, and every space in the store has a function.

The store will offer affordable luxury and one-of-a-kind items for guests. The circular accents in the store mimic the iconic Boston Harbor Hotel dome and there will be two entrances off the street and through the lobby. The hours of operation will be 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., daily. The hotel plans to add a wedding registry later this year.

For more information, visit bostonharborhotel.com or modernrelik.com.

Luxury watch manufacture Ulysse Nardin dives deeper with non-profit research organization, OCEARCH, a data and scientific driven organization that works collaboratively with researchers and educational institutions to better understand the movement and habits of great white sharks. Ulysse Nardin joined the OCEARCH team in Boston before their 38^th research expedition, off the coast of Massachusetts, to create this video.

This research expedition will support 20 individual research projects, 33 scientists and 21 institutions. In addition to open-sourcing all data for public safety programs, the expedition will highlight efforts to include a comprehensive examination of white shark biology and physiology in order to develop a complete understanding of how they utilize the continent’s east coast.

It’ll also highlight health assessment of each animal that will be used to understand the overall population health of white sharks, and the OCEARCH-facilitated research by microbiologists will determine the best antibiotics to administer to a human victim after a white shark bite. All data will be open-sourced for public safety programs.

Ulysse Nardin US President, François-Xavier Hotier, OCEARCH Founder, Chris Fischer, and PhD student Lisa Crawford discuss shark research and conservation in the video below.

Ulysse Nardin is the pioneering manufacturer inspired by the sea and delivering innovative timepieces to free spirits. Founded by Mr. Ulysse Nardin in 1846 and a proud member of the global luxury group Kering since November 2014, Ulysse Nardin has written some of the finest chapters in the history of Haute Horlogerie. Its marine chronometers are among the most reliable ever made, still sought by collectors around the world. 

ulysse-nardin.com/usa_en/, ocearch.org

As we all prepare to travel again, short hops between lower-risk vacation destinations like Nantucket, Boston, New York City and The Hamptons have become a preferred solution to quick access to safe havens. Whether travelers are looking for a last-minute summer getaway, an early fall business trip or a ride over the breathtaking fall foliage of New England, Magellan Jets is a resource to escape from harm while also keeping business moving. 

In direct response to the high-demand for safe, purely private transportation on specific routings in recent summers, Magellan Jets has partnered with AAG helicopters, operators of the largest fleet of Sikorsky S-76 helicopters in New York, to bring back the popular 10-hour Sikorsky helicopter card, so that more people can have access to another great solution to reach their destinations safely.  

Fly safely aboard the same premier helicopters used by Fortune 100 and heads of state for executive travel. Featuring a spacious cabin with seating for up to five guests, the Sikorsky S-76 also has a nearly soundproof cabin, with headsets not required. Additionally, travel with peace of mind, as our expert Flight Support and enhanced health protocols ensure the safety of your family, loved ones, and guests.

Based on routings that either begin or end in New York, the 10-hour card includes availability to the following cities with fixed hourly, point-to-point pricing of $128,362.80; and all flights are exempt from the 7.5% federal excise tax for the rest of 2020:

• Nantucket 
• Boston Area 
• The Hamptons
• Cape Cod 
• Martha’s Vineyard 
• Maine 
• Washington D.C. 
• Airport transfers to and from any NYC area airport

As the world rethinks how to travel safely and responsibly, Magellan Jets is enhancing its product portfolio to get current and new customers where they need to go. For travelers looking to add a yacht charter to their Nantucket or Hamptons trip, Magellan Jets has partnered with IYC Yachts to complete their personal or business adventure.

To speak with a Private Aviation Consultant regarding the 10-hour S-76 program, call 844-993-3280 or click here for more details.  

If anyone understands the complexities and contradictions that accompany development along the waterfront, it’s Michael Liu and The Architectural Team in Chelsea, Mass.

They tackled their first waterfront project in the 1980s. Over the past decade, they’ve worked on four in Boston Harbor. And their knowledge base is still evolving.

“Ten years ago we were simply putting the electrical service on the upper floors,” says Liu, a TAT principal and vice president. “Then later, the response was to raise the building when it’s on a structured waterfront, with piers or other hard structural material.”

But in places like Boston, the tide swings as much as 11 feet – and the public wants access to the waterfront. “So the response was to terrace these hard structures off, out where the storm surge gets to the building, but people can still get to the water’s edge,” he says.

The drawback there is that in storm conditions, those structures reflect wave energy back into the harbor and damage other structures in the harbor. “So the response is to get away from hard structures to softer structures,” he says. “They evolve over time to absorb the wave energy.”

Another response is to raise the entire site and building, move the mechanics to higher floors, build on a platform and place parking at the lower level. “Then if it’s inundated, there’s minor damage,” he says. “The problem with that is on smaller sites it creates an odd urban condition where the pedestrians are and you can’t put commercial space there, so there are limitations.”

But if the site’s large enough, it can be raised, like TAT’s Clippership Wharf on Boston Harbor. “It has the luxury of being a very large site, but most are not that big,” he says. “For smaller sites, the lot lines might be the face of the building.”

A comprehensive, public works effort, sponsored by the government, is preferable to a case-by-case approach by individuals or developers, Liu says, citing the The Netherlands’ 50-year Deltaworks as a prime example.

“In 1954, after a major storm, they undertook an enormous project to connect dikes, build new ones and protect the coastlines and islands, and connect roadways,” he says. “It’s very impressive with gates that open to let vessels through.” 

So it’s possible to protect an entire region – but it’ll take big picture thinking, and more than likely, big government funding.

For more, visit architectsandartisans.com.