Pumapayam Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 That is one of the worst looking webpages I've ever seen.Straight outta 1996 yo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barracuda Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 That is one of the worst looking webpages I've ever seen.They used a Microsoft Office template. And a really old version of Microsoft Office at that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 LOL And the mad search for negative news continues apace. All is as usual at HAIF. The rooftop pool will most likely be on the roof of a shorter portion of the building. Much like 2727 Kirby, Mosaic, and others have rooftop pools...That sounds more plausible. Incidentally, I can't imagine that all of their parking would be underground. It would be extraordinarily expensive to do that. So I'll bet that they'll build a podium of structured parking with an amenity deck on top of that and the highrise structure beside it on the podium.In other words, it'll probably be configured similarly to OPP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I was thinking that the meeting space might be offset from the main building and that the pool might be atop that.Looking back to page one, there appears to be a shorter structure extending out the rear. Who knows what this will end up looking like, but I hope it's not just another flat top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Hey, what's wrong with flat roofs (provided that they're properly engineered)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Hey, what's wrong with flat roofs (provided that they're properly engineered)?I think they're boring and lack character. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I think they're boring and lack character. like this one huh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) I think they're boring and lack character.But imitative faux-historical styles are exciting and have character?Does the same hold true for women? The more makeup they have on, the more character they have? What of a female clown in full costume? Or a hooker in whory regalia? Exciting? Surely. Genuine? Nope.I like women and buildings the same way. Well-groomed, no makeup. Edited November 24, 2008 by TheNiche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 But imitative faux-historical styles are exciting and have character?Does the same hold true for women? The more makeup they have on, the more character they have? What of a female clown in full costume? Or a hooker in whory regalia? Exciting? Surely. Genuine? Nope. I like women and buildings the same way. Well-groomed, no makeup. I'm just saying that I prefer Transco, Pennzoil, BOA or even OPP towers to a flat top. I'm not sure about the women part. Musicman - Frank Lloyd Wright is always a huge exception. On an engineering note: Wouldn't it be wiser to put a pool atop a secondary structure as opposed to over ever how many hotel rooms? Leaks can and do happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musicman Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Musicman - Frank Lloyd Wright is always a huge exception.sounds like a design issue then, not a problem with flat roofs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) I'm just saying that I prefer Transco, Pennzoil, BOA or even OPP towers to a flat top. I'm not sure about the women part. Pennzoil's upper floors are very inefficient as a result of the shape of its roof. The building's functionality is compromised by its style. Therefore it is a failure. BOA is a fraud. Transco's brilliant concept precludes consideration of its understated crown as a design flaw. On an engineering note: Wouldn't it be wiser to put a pool atop a secondary structure as opposed to over ever how many hotel rooms? Leaks can and do happen. Leaks are very easily containable, especially considering that highrises typically have a floor of mechanical equipment above the top floor of habitable space. But if you look at how amenity decks are typically laid out (at OPP or Mosaic, for instance), the pool is usually on top of the parking structure as you describe, and not on top of the habitable structure. Edited November 24, 2008 by TheNiche Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Let us hope for the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jax Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I think a better way to put it would be: In a city where most of the buildings downtown have flat roofs (with a few exceptions), it would be nice to see a few more buildings with non-flat roofs. Musicman has stated the obvious - a flat roof doesn't make a building inherently bad. I think some people on here would like to see more variety though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Thank you Jax. The comment regarding non-flat roofs was strictly my opinion.Love the photo, but I'm seeing to many flat-top structures, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Houston...it's like the Anti-Atlanta: Posted over from SSC or SSP...one of those. Yeah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadrunner Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 I'm in the non-flat camp, too, but either way I don't think a 19 story building is going to have any effect on the skyline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totheskies Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) Since they're not breaking ground until March, I will hope for and expect more updates to the design. I'm just glad the financing was able to slip through the current economic lock. It is much needed for downtown to have more hotel space. About the roof...I agree totally. Houston's skyline is one of the tallest in the western hemisphere, but because five or six of the buildings are of similar height, and the all have flat roofs, it diminishes the height effect of the overall skyline (the Houston Center area is particularly horrible in this regard). So yeah, I'd love to see more variety, BUT I'd much rather have a 19 story building with a boring roof than the current flat surface parking lot... so I ain't gonna raise a stink. Get the thing financed, get it BUILT, and we can focus on strengthening the overall area with retail and stuff. That's way more important. Edited November 24, 2008 by totheskies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totheskies Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) We should get some more antennas for our current high-rise stock... just take care of this problem Chicago-stylehttp://www.city-data.com/forum/chicago/319...ion-thread.html Edited November 24, 2008 by totheskies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsb320 Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 Agreed, anything's better than a surface lot.Does anyone have a superimposed skyline picture of the Bank of the Southwest building that was proposed in the 80's. It was to be built on the surface lot across from One Shell. That building was one awesome design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted November 24, 2008 Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) I'm guessing the Embassy Suites people are far more interested in the marketability of a rooftop swimming pool than they are concerned with thier contribution to the skyline.I would love to see them open and provide some sort of pool membership for the general public. Access to a nice (outdoor) downtown hotel pool would be awesome. Not the pretentious Vegas-style pool thing like at the San Luis in Galveston, but just a nice outdoor pool with a bar. Edited November 24, 2008 by crunchtastic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtsig Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 you're fooling yourself if you think the developers are going to put a pool on the roof of a 19-story building. atop the parking garage/meeting facilities about 3-5 floors up is much more plausible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crunchtastic Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 you're fooling yourself if you think the developers are going to put a pool on the roof of a 19-story building. atop the parking garage/meeting facilities about 3-5 floors up is much more plausible. I'm not fooling myself, I merely read the article. See post 98. They did not specify which floor it would top. Nor did I, for that matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vertigo58 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 (edited) There should be a city wide poll to ask the public how many are tired of our numerous flat roof tops downtown. I dont care what anyone says, even Austin has more modern appearing buildings/spires than us. We need the folks that designed the buildings for the scenes in the more recent Star Wars film to come here. Cant wait for this project to be completed by the way! This morning the news stated it would be 19 floors maybe some floors have been chopped off. Ja! Edited November 25, 2008 by Vertigo58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 There should be a city wide poll to ask the public how many are tired of our numerous flat roof tops downtown.I dont care what anyone says, even Austin has more modern appearing buildings/spires than us. How about a forum-wide poll asking how many are tired of the incessant whining about flat roofs, especially in threads regarding buildings we have no reason to believe will have flat roofs? ;-) (And I don't care what anyone says, Houston's skyline is so much better than Austin's that to even write about them in the same sentence is silliness.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 There should be a city wide poll to ask the public how many are tired of our numerous flat roof tops downtown.I dont care what anyone says, even Austin has more modern appearing buildings/spires than us. We need the folks that designed the buildings for the scenes in the more recent Star Wars film to come here. I'll grant you that Austin's Frost Bank Building has a unique and interesting spire (although the clock tower effect annoys the hell out of me). It took me some time to come to terms with that, but a trip to Atlanta earlier this year illustrated how much better Frost's spire is than just about any of the boring crap in Atlanta. Austin got lucky. But I don't want to start asking for spires in Houston. If OPP is any indicator, we'd just get a lot of crappy imitative knockoff architecture. We should be exceptionally happy with the designs we've gotten from Hines and Trammell Crow IMO. ...be careful what you wish for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totheskies Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 (edited) I'll grant you that Austin's Frost Bank Building has a unique and interesting spire (although the clock tower effect annoys the hell out of me). It took me some time to come to terms with that, but a trip to Atlanta earlier this year illustrated how much better Frost's spire is than just about any of the boring crap in Atlanta.Austin got lucky. But I don't want to start asking for spires in Houston. If OPP is any indicator, we'd just get a lot of crappy imitative knockoff architecture. We should be exceptionally happy with the designs we've gotten from Hines and Trammell Crow IMO. ...be careful what you wish for. A) I happen to like OPP's roof, and I don't view it as crappy and imitative... rather eclectic and inspirational. All planing aside, Houston lucked out with a phenomenal skyline. Everyone is envious of Austin, but that's b/c they're finally growing up. I was in Dallas just this weekend, and even with the massive impact of Victory growing right beside it, there's just no comparison. Houston has the biggest, boldest skylines in the state of Texas... hands down. C) I love this city. It's certainly far from perfect, but the variety and diversity of Houston... whether we're discussing its architecture, its people, or its food... is just world-class. No other Texas city can claim this. I like Dallas alright, but do you know how long you have to drive around that place to find a continuous collection of black people? Hispanics? It's just shameful the way they hide their ghettos from the world like that. Edited November 25, 2008 by totheskies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barracuda Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 you're fooling yourself if you think the developers are going to put a pool on the roof of a 19-story building. atop the parking garage/meeting facilities about 3-5 floors up is much more plausible. Plenty of hotels have rooftop pools above the building itself. A good example is the rooftop pool at the Omni hotel in DT Austin, which is on the 20th floor. The only downside (aside from requiring a flat roof) is that rooftop pools tend to be smaller and not as deep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 Plenty of hotels have rooftop pools above the building itself. A good example is the rooftop pool at the Omni hotel in DT Austin, which is on the 20th floor. The only downside (aside from requiring a flat roof) is that rooftop pools tend to be smaller and not as deep. You don't have to go to Austin to find a rooftop pool above the building itself... There's one two block away from this site at the Hilton Americas. Another a few more blocks away at the Magnolia. Nevertheless, in the case of the Embassy Suites project, for which we have seen renderings showing a non-flat roof (at least in part) along with a lower "pedestal" it seems likely the rooftop pool will be on the roof of the lower pedestal structure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChannelTwoNews Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 So this was completely coincidental, but I managed to get these quick snapshots while walking around DT at around 11:30 this morning. I don't know who the reporter is but the man is Nick Massad who is the president of American Liberty Hospitality, the developer of the project. The rendering doesn't look to have been updated, so take that for whatever it's worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted November 25, 2008 Share Posted November 25, 2008 (edited) So this was completely coincidental, but I managed to get these quick snapshots while walking around DT at around 11:30 this morning.I don't know who the reporter is but the man is Nick Massad who is the president of American Liberty Hospitality, the developer of the project. The rendering doesn't look to have been updated, so take that for whatever it's worth.Cool. I would honestly be surprised to see huge changes. But note, everyone, that there is actually some flat space on that non-flat roof... it is possible they could surprise with a pool on the top of the tall portion. (But my money is still on the lower structure's rooftop.) Edited November 25, 2008 by Houston19514 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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