Save this picture! © Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Cambridge Seven Associates

Construction has commenced on Pei Cobb Freed & Partners’ 61-story condominium tower in Boston’s historic Back Bay. The $700 million development will be the tallest residential building in the city, and the tallest tower to rise since the 1976 John Hancock Tower, also designed by Pei Cobb Freed.

“The project allows us to consider once again how a tall building, together with the open space it frames, can respond creatively to the need for growth while showing appropriate respect for its historic urban setting,” says Henry Cobb of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

Save this picture! © Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Cambridge Seven Associates

Taking shape from its triangular site, between Christian Science Plaza and the Prudential Center, the tower will rise from a granite-and-glass podium containing a condominium lobby and public restrooms for hotel guests. In total, it will be comprised of a 211-room luxury hotel, occupying the lower 18 floors, and 188 residential condominiums. Glass-screened incisions in the structure’s facade will allow for operable windows and the upper residences will feature balconies.

Save this picture! © Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, Cambridge Seven Associates

The tower, a collaboration between Pei Cobb Freed and Cambridge Seven Associates, is part of a masterplan that includes 30 Dalton - a 27-story residential building designed by the same team and developed by Pritzker Realty Group - and a 5,000-square-foot park designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. It was selected following a national competition.