Avossos Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 So I was at Imagine this past saturday at GRB which is the TSA (Texas Society of Architects) Design Expo. Went to a lecture of sorts which talked about the building in some detail particularly about it's design intent as well as it's incredible LEED Platinum pre-certification. I want y'all to know that this building is going to be awesome! They really made this the Cadillac of spec buildings lol, but at the same time it should be very much affordable for tenets. It's also leading the charge nationally in terms of how people persue the newest version of LEED which is LEED v4. It will be one of only 3 buildings in America that will be classified as LEED Platinum under this new version which is only in Beta trails. That's a pretty big deal. Those distinctions alone will set it miles apart from other buildings downtown which will make it very attractive to tenets. It's presence at street level is going to be fabulous. I'm sure all of you have seen the renders of the two level open space that is at street level down to the tunnels. That's something that no building in downtown has approached the tunnel system in that way. It also has retail on street level. This one will be awesome to see when it's finished! I like hearing that. Great news. The building's body seems a little flat / simple to me, but we will see. This sounds like this is still very much happening. Good for Houston. Side bar: Will this building kill 6 Houston Center? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 (edited) I like hearing that. Great news. The building's body seems a little flat / simple to me, but we will see. This sounds like this is still very much happening. Good for Houston. Side bar: Will this building kill 6 Houston Center? Its generally flat to maximize space. I think people often forget that we have pretty small sized city blocks in downtown so it certainly limits what can be done sometimes. In this case it's a spec building so you have to maximize the space where you can. Apparently they looked several different configurations including some stair step looks, but settle on something like what is now the final design. Often times as designers you have to chose where you are going to have your most impact. Sometimes in architectural discussions you will hear the term thrown around called a "big move" which is essentially a key moment in a design that they chose to concentrate on to have the greatest impact. This building's big move is it's bottom floor, grand space that leads into the tunnel system, and maximizing the street presence of the bottom floor. They did try to work some stuff for the actual tower portion. What will breakup the facade a little bit are thin vertical fins that will go along the building from top to bottom which will act as solar shading. This should give the building an interesting look in the morning and afternoon, but we will have to see. Most renders have shown it only in Daytime or Night and not Dusk or Dawn. As far as killing 6 Houston center...no. Office buildings each have their uniqueness to it or reason why they draw tenets. Sometimes its simply the brand of a starchitect who designed it, or a radically unique design concept, maximized floor space, amenities, etc... In this case the selling point of this building will be its LEED accreditation and other green components. So for instance if you run a company that is very environmentally conscious and you want to project that value in terms of where you work. This will be the place for you. Both buildings will serve different clientele. Edited November 11, 2014 by Luminare 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris Posted November 16, 2014 Share Posted November 16, 2014 They went really fast 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris2 Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 They are starting to go downward!!!! From 11/23 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDW Posted November 24, 2014 Share Posted November 24, 2014 Wow. That's a tremendous amount of material to move in a month. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 It would be wonderful if this could be done by the Super Bowl along with 609 Main and the host of other projects Downtown. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatesdisastr Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 It would be wonderful if this could be done by the Super Bowl along with 609 Main and the host of other projects Downtown. I hope we will have at least a few buildings still under construction downtown come Super Bowl, that way all those that come to this city will see how fast we are growing and not assume the completed buildings have been there all along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted November 25, 2014 Share Posted November 25, 2014 So going down means they're going up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris2 Posted November 30, 2014 Share Posted November 30, 2014 Capitol Tower by H-TownChris, on Flickr 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fernz Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 So going down means they're going up.That's what she said... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris2 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 From 12/7....sorry Capitol Tower by H-TownChris, on Flickr 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 (edited) - Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 will they build the garage in this location, then when finished, demolish the still standing garage, then build the tower where the current garage still sits? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted December 9, 2014 Share Posted December 9, 2014 will they build the garage in this location, then when finished, demolish the still standing garage, then build the tower where the current garage still sits? That is what was explained at one point. The still standing garage has a massive gash in the top of the roof/wall among other holes after the implosion. Maybe they are waiting until the cleanup is done to repair that, but I don't think the garage is yet operational again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 The still standing garage is operational, just not to the general public. Some but not all of the debris was taken off the roof; what's left looks like it's stable. The wall with the holes is just some temporary CMU; I suspect that they won't be fixed due to a combination of the building not being long for this world and the holes being located away from where they're actually parking cars. I'm just hoping that they open the Pennzoil / Esperson tunnel connection back up when the new garage is up, and before completion of the entire project. It's doable - shoot, back when the Woolworth's building at Main and McKinney was torn down, the tunnel remained open with the same sort of plywood cover that usually goes on sidewalks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris2 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 12.14.14 by H-TownChris, on Flickr 12.14.14 by H-TownChris, on Flickr 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-TownChris2 Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 12.27 by H-TownChris, on Flickr 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 so, are they actually starting construction upon this site? i was under the impression that they were going wait to some extent. if they are hereby proceeding... then wonderful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 That's a lot of organization for "just waiting". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 (edited) There is still a bunch of digging out of very massive concrete foundation pieces and crunching them to rubble. We are now past the Satisfying Large Easy Things. Trust me, if you're nearby you have no illusions whatsoever. Work is going on. Edited January 1, 2015 by mollusk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adr Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 For posterity, here is the state of this project as of January 1st, 2015. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoninATX Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Looks like construction to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Unless that crane segment's just for show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Unless that crane segment's just for show. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Looks busy, but we'll have to wait for them to place the mat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Could they just bf building the garage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Could they just bf building the garage?Isn't that what is going up on the empty side of the lot? Tower should replace the temp. garage. Although I know the forecast is cloudy, does anyone know if Skanska has landed a tenant behind the scenes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 That's what I'm saying, is that not what they're doing now on the recently demolished part? Build the garage first to get the temporary one out instead of repairing it, then wait for a tenant to start the tower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Surveyors at corner of Rusk & Milan say Capitol Tower is a go. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 From the 4Q 2014 Development Update: Skanska plans at a future date to construct Capitol Tower on the former Houston Club Building site. In the meantime, construction continues on a 7-story parking garage with est completion of 4Q15. After a decision to proceed with the new tower is made, Skanska will expand the garage to ten floors and build the tower. See website and video. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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