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Chevron Skyscraper Proposal At 1600 Louisiana St.


ricco67

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Sorry if this is somewhat or fully redundant, but here is a list of amenities being considered for the new building:

  • Seating areas / benches        
  • Outdoor dining tables        
  • Covered patio / casual seating        
  • Green space & landscaping        
  • Recreation & exercise facilities        
  • Celebration event facilities (crawfish boil, BBQ )        
  • Bicycle racks / storage        
  • Wireless / power access        
  • Smoking facilities
  • Water features
  • Community herb garden
  • Sculptures
  • Observation deck
  • Ambient music / nature sounds
  • Outdoor digital display
  • Dry cleaning
  • Computer lounge
  • General store / pantry
  • Motherhood rooms
  • Hair salon / barber
  • Massage rooms
  • Shoe repair / shoe shine / tailor
  • Sitting / reading quiet room
  • On-site credit union
  • Bookstore
  • On-site bank
  • After-hours dining / service
  • Pharmacy
  • Take-home / frozen meals
  • Primary care / family practice physician
  • Garage carwash / tire repair
  • Optometrist
  • Employee concierge (general errands)
  • PC / phone repair
  • Pack and ship

 

I have no idea on which ones will be accessible to the public.

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You mean like this decorative crown? Would you really want city council members making design by committee decisions on aesthetics on high profile buildings in downtown Houston? Yes make it better, but better to who? The guy who approved this beauty...? Careful what you wish for. At least what Chevron is currently proposing won't hurt downtown. When you see the effects of high profile ugly it makes you realize that there are worse things than boring.

 

3812527198_dea4781d49_o.jpg

 

makes one a little sick to see it up close like that.  what the hell is it?  it's so stupid looking.

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It's a decorative crown put on by someone who wanted this building to 'stand out'. I guess they achieved their objective. This tower has received plenty of attention. Not the kind  anyone wanted. Given a choice between ugly and boring, I'll take boring. Boring does less damage.

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It all comes down to a matter of taste.

I don't think that our downtown/highrise cluster lends itself to this kind of "show". Could any of us imagine our skyline with a couple dozen Texaco style oddities.

I actually think the Texaco building works in the skyline. It evokes a "front door" type strcture with an embelishment over the entrance...in this case a Mayan pyramid "likeness" rather than a colonial eagle. Anyway...a touch of embellishment in the right location can work...but let's not overdue.

I happen to believe that the proposed Chevon building is the right approach for the campus and our skyline.

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It's a decorative crown put on by someone who wanted this building to 'stand out'. I guess they achieved their objective. This tower has received plenty of attention. Not the kind anyone wanted. Given a choice between ugly and boring, I'll take boring. Boring does less damage.

You keep talking about the damage that this building has caused, but other than offending your own personal taste, exactly what "damage" are you talking about? That area is thriving, so it hasn't exactly driven away new construction. I agree that politicians shouldn't make design decisions, but I'm not aware of any political input on the design of the MH building either.

So, other than making sure that everyone knows that you don't like the MH building, I'm not sure what your point is.

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@ livincinco:

 

My point is that the 'damage' that a really ugly attention grabbing decorative crown on a very tall downtown building could make the downtown Houston skyline less beautiful and also that not all crowns are beautiful. Some are beautiful. If downtown Houston gets lucky enough to get a another beautiful one I will be very happy. But don't assume that just any building with a decorative crown is automatically going to be better than a boring flat roofed box. A bad over the top design is way worse than a little too simple boring design -IMO. At least people don't notice boring buildings as much and its boringness is usually just confined to itself. But something that commands undesirable attention is way worse. It hurts everything around it because it draws the eye to it.

 

I never said or suggested that an ugly crown would hurt business or new construction. This is simply about aesthetics and of course it is personal taste. BTW, just about every post on this thread is about personal taste - and making sure that everyone is thoroughly aware of his or her opinion. Remember all those posts from the same people about how boring the new Chevron tower is going to be? There are a lot.

 

I don't care about the Memorial area, they can build as many hideous, pointy crowns as they want out there. I was only using it as an example to make my point. They don't have a world class skyline to protect, like downtown Houston does. 

Edited by Hugh Stone
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@ livincinco:

 

My point is that the 'damage' that a really ugly attention grabbing decorative crown on a very tall downtown building could make the downtown Houston skyline less beautiful and also that not all crowns are beautiful. Some are beautiful. If downtown Houston gets lucky enough to get a another beautiful one I will be very happy. But don't assume that just any building with a decorative crown is automatically going to be better than a boring flat roofed box. A bad over the top design is way worse than a little too simple boring design -IMO. At least people don't notice boring buildings as much and its boringness is usually just confined to itself. But something that commands undesirable attention is way worse. It hurts everything around it because it draws the eye to it.

 

I never said or suggested that an ugly crown would hurt business or new construction. This is simply about aesthetics and of course it is personal taste. BTW, just about every post on this thread is about personal taste - and making sure that everyone is thoroughly aware of his or her opinion. Remember all those posts from the same people about how boring the new Chevron tower is going to be? There are a lot.

 

I don't care about the Memorial area, they can build as many hideous, pointy crowns as they want out there. I was only using it as an example to make my point. They don't have a world class skyline to protect, like downtown Houston does. 

 

agreed......and it took awhile, but i just got your name.  i was thinking, i agree with this "stone" guy.  i had a neighbor named hugh once.....and then ohhhhhhhh.  i'm a little slow.

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  • 2 weeks later...

wasnt Chevron the ones that stated the 1st (edit, its 2nd) quarter 2014 starting date? it doesnt look like there is much more to the design than the renderings show? look how detailed the podium looks. seems like they have a few things designed already?

Edited by cloud713
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wasnt Chevron the ones that stated the 1st quarter 2014 starting date? it doesnt look like there is much more to the design than the renderings show? look how detailed the podium looks. seems like they have a few things designed already?

Construction is expected to begin after the second quarter of next year.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2013/07/chevron-to-build-downtown-tower/

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Excellent! I am so stoked that DT is getting some plus 30 storey towers. Still crossing fingers for a 1000 plus footer but won't complain. But also know realistically that if the five or so office towers that may be going up are the major energy companies, we may have a very long wait before an 80 or more storey tower goes up DT.

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