cloud713 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 i hope they go through with this proposal.. i know theyve at least been talking about sprucing up the complex.. this looks like a great way to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Awesome! This is on par with the Tenneco's lobby renovation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Notice those rusty-looking three-piece steel sculpture thingies they have scattered about? Those also show up in the 5 Allen Center rendering. Probably they are supposed to indicate that the buildings are all part of Allen Center. One would never know it from the architecture. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TowerSpotter Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Notice those rusty-looking three-piece steel sculpture thingies they have scattered about? Those also show up in the 5 Allen Center rendering. Probably they are supposed to indicate that the buildings are all part of Allen Center. One would never know it from the architecture. Yea, I noticed it too. lol. I think also that they are adding a new parking garage (in the first rendering on 5 Allen Center thread) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Plus there are plenty of near-identical ones in other cities. I've seen one in Dallas. It's like in the late 1960s there was some collective failure of architectural imagination. I may be in the minority, but I like them. Not just a fan of the 60s-70s brutalist-style architecture, but the fact that they are simple, practical, and built to last. A glassy skyscraper or two is really nice but you can't overdo it (for an example of how this goes horribly wrong, look at Vancouver's skyline). On the other side of the "simple concrete" spectrum is crazy modernist buildings that cost way more than an equivalent building, have all sorts of engineering problems, and look dated even quicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
infinite_jim Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 Notice those rusty-looking three-piece steel sculpture thingies they have scattered about? Those also show up in the 5 Allen Center rendering. Probably they are supposed to indicate that the buildings are all part of Allen Center. One would never know it from the architecture.Maybe we're getting some corten steel sculptures by Richard Serra. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted November 21, 2013 Share Posted November 21, 2013 I realize this is just a proposal, but one thing that is interesting is the sunken plaza with waterfall between One and Two. I'm assuming this is a large entrance to the food court and tunnel connections below. There seems to be more interest in connecting the tunnels to street level. I think this will be a major focus in the design of the Skanska Capitol Tower as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted January 1, 2014 Author Share Posted January 1, 2014 (edited) Can confirm this is still on track. Unless they leak earlier, expect public renderings late Q1 to Q2. Edit: Unless they leak very soon* Edited January 1, 2014 by Triton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanize713 Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 Any updates on this? Lots of rumblings from tenants in lobby areas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 this is such a waste of money... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted May 15, 2014 Share Posted May 15, 2014 What seems odd is redoing the facade for One Allen Center and not Two. What's that about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted May 15, 2014 Author Share Posted May 15, 2014 No updates on my part. I haven't talked to my source in a while now and he was more of a client of mine so I will have to wait. It's not someone I can text randomly about a project. Trouble is, I may have a different job in the next month with CBRE so we'll have to see what happens. Either way, there should have been something released. I'm guessing there's a delay. To answer Subdude, it sounds like there isn't just one architect designing this project. What I mean is, my source was from a local architecture company and was working on the new One Allen Center design. After talking to someone else on this forum a while back, it sounds like a strong possibility that Brookfield Properties is....diversifying their building designs. So there can certainly be something in the works for Two Allen Center as well but there's not any information I know of so I didn't feel like speculating about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted May 19, 2014 Share Posted May 19, 2014 (edited) Although I don't advocate changing the facade, it really isn't my favorite design. It is amazing how common that basic format was used back then. Cullen Center West Loop Greenway Plaza Plus there are plenty of near-identical ones in other cities. I've seen one in Dallas. It's like in the late 1960s there was some collective failure of architectural imagination. Of course future generations will probably say the same thing about our beige fake stucco of today... None of this was from a lack of imagination it was simply a product of the times. This is textbook modernism. Everything from the monumentality, to materiality as an outward expression of the program inside. These types of buildings even had Houston climate in mind with all the windows sunken in to shade the interior, and to give the outside an exoskeleton superstructure aesthetic. Architect's during this period wanted to stay as far away from "ornament" as possible and championed the crisp lines, geometry, and rigor modernism had to offer. These buildings represent the idea that the office is simply a machine to work in and so should look, feel, function like so. Now don't get me wrong, there are some good examples of this and bad examples of this. In my option it isn't a masterpiece of the time period, but I think it's a really great group of buildings of that period. Greenway plaza is almost a modernist ideal frozen in time. I think it's unique and should be preserved and not change "skin" to go with whats trendy at a point in time. This goes for a majority of them, at least ones that have been well cared for. The ones at the Allen are ok and not spectacular. It's a shame they have to be changed, but if it means the building survives and sees fresh start then thats just fine. As long as the renovation isn't simply skin deep then it sounds fine to me. Edited May 19, 2014 by Luminare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted May 19, 2014 Author Share Posted May 19, 2014 Isn't that architecture style called minimalism? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 Interesting comments. Subdude, your comment reminded me of something I hadn't thought about for years. That of seeing myriad concrete rectangles being made ready to plug into place in complexes like Greenway Plaza. I also like Luminare's comment about the crisp lines and geometry ... I appreciate that in the core Greenway Plaza buildings. However, for some reason, I've never liked the earlier Hines building (nee "Control Data") on 610 as much, even though it seems quite similar. I think that was an SOM design ... don't know about the GP buildings. I had a summer job in the GP underground in maybe 1970. At that time, it seemed to be the ultimate in modernity, even though it felt rather sterile even at that time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted May 20, 2014 Share Posted May 20, 2014 (edited) I enjoy the simplicity and era they represent. It's a shame when developers want to erase the facades and turn them into something that's popular now. I don't get why they wouldn't just use that money to make the interiors state of the art, and really set it above the competition. Give the market something it's never seen before.The styles we're seeing built (interior, don't get me started on the exteriors), around Houston are nothing new. Europe and the East Coast have had these for years now.Maybe I'm ignorant so hopefully someone can shed some light on this for me. Are potential renters more concerned with how the building looks from the outside or from the inside? Edited May 20, 2014 by Montrose1100 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 i guess Brookfield is trying to get out of Allen Center instead of pour more money in..http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/10/brookfield-reportedly-selling-a-stake-in-office.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 i guess Brookfield is trying to get out of Allen Center instead of pour more money in..http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2014/10/brookfield-reportedly-selling-a-stake-in-office.html Did you even read the article? They are only proposing to sell a minority interest. They are just trying to take a little money off the table, so to speak, perhaps even to "pour" it into Allen Center and other of their developments. Hardly trying to get out of Allen Center. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Did you even read the article? They are only proposing to sell a minority interest. They are just trying to take a little money off the table, so to speak, perhaps even to "pour" it into Allen Center and other of their developments. Hardly trying to get out of Allen Center.lmao.. no, i just skimmed the article and saw parts about "them selling two downtown properties from their portfolio" and Allen Center being one of them.. didnt catch the minor percentage stake part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArchFan Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 I don't follow the Allen Center / Brookfield threads very closely. But ... from what I've read, I get the impression that they have been very indecisive ... and also, therefore, have missed many opportunities. Frankly, I wish a less risk-adverse outfit had bought Allen Center. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Allen-Center-adds-energy-tenants-nears-full-5862849.php#/0 "We're up to 95 percent leased," said Paul Frazier, senior vice president of the Houston region for Brookfield. "We've brought in some new companies. We're planning on making some improvements to the complex." Brookfield is coming up with a concept to redesign an expansive plaza between the three buildings into an inviting parklike area, Frazier said. The existing berms would likely be flattened out to open up the space and make it more visible from the street. "When you think about all the residential construction that's going on downtown, it's going to be more of a 24/7 CBD (central business district) and we want to be ready for that," Frazier said. "We want to change that up and make the area more usable. We see people being able to enjoy it even on the weekends."Brookfield also plans to enhance the retail amenities with more food and beverage options at its properties, which span 6.7 million square feet in Houston. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Have they (hopefully), dropped the plans to renovate the facade of 1 Allen Center? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanize713 Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 I've always thought that The Allen Center plaza could easily be turned into our version of The Rockefeller Center. It would take some work but it already has two restaurant essentially facing the plaza and The Doubletree hotel. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanize713 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Anyone have an update on this? I've been made to understand that it is full steam ahead. No re skinning of Allen One but a full re configuration of the first two floors 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted February 23, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted February 23, 2015 Anyone have an update on this? I've been made to understand that it is full steam ahead. No re skinning of Allen One but a full re configuration of the first two floors 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 beautiful and hyper ambitious! this is just what this area needs.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Not quite the super-sized bold "Allen Center" letter rendering, but that'll do pig... that'll do. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 This works. It ties the buildings together better, both visually and functionally, without being the jarring "what happened here???" reaction that Two Shell's suddenly dark lower floors cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) Not quite the super-sized bold "Allen Center" letter rendering, but that'll do pig... that'll do. I always found the letters to be distracting! Not to mention I felt that the design wasn't fully committed to either fully inside the buildings or bringing the buildings relationship closer to the street. This design looks like a full commitment to pay respect to the street and creating some nice public spaces yet they are at a human scale. This would be very nice if this gets built! Edited February 24, 2015 by Luminare 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 (edited) I always found the letters to be distracting!Not to mention I felt that the design wasn't fully committed to either fully inside the buildings or bringing the buildings relationship closer to the street.This design looks like a full commitment to pay respect to the street and creating some nice public spaces yet they are at a human scale.This would be very nice if this gets built!With all the new construction ongoing Downtown, their kind of at a point where they have to freshen up the complex. All the Art Guys exhibits in the world won't help this complex keep pace.BTW - The Tunnel of Love exhibit was great only to scare folks as they leave lolLike the reno plans. Better street presence. Edited February 24, 2015 by tigereye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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