Urbannizer Posted April 26, 2013 Share Posted April 26, 2013 Architects on Tuesday unveiled a dramatic redesign of the proposed tower addition to the historic Joske's building downtown . Made public last month, the first renderings showed a 23-story glass and steel structure — to house a hotel and timeshare units — that critics said would overwhelm the neighboring Alamo Plaza and contrast jarringly with the nearly 125-year-old Joske's building at Alamo and Commerce streets. In the redesign, locally based Overland Architects shrank the Alamo Street side of the L-shaped addition to just 10 stories and added a cupola to the roof. With the exception of the hotel podium, the updated tower would feature less window space than the original design. Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Part-of-Joske-s-tower-plan-is-scaled-back-4458355.php#ixzz2RXn7sNWL Previous Design: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specwriter Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 If I understand the images posted correctly the redesign is a big improvement over the original. It seems to acknowlrdge two other landmarks built downtown in the late 1920's or early 1930's, The Tower Life Building and the Nix Hospital. The set-backs are also a nice touch. Further, it appears the street fronts of the Joske's building will be retained. San Antonio has a fairly successful previous incidence of "facade-omy" (if you'll pardon the expression) in the old Texas Theater. I hope this works as well. My major concern is how the tall building, even with the set-backs, will block light to Alamo Plaza. I liken it to building a 40-story high rise next to St. Peter's in The Vatican. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted April 27, 2013 Share Posted April 27, 2013 Does San Antonio have some kind of restrictions on tall buildings? Why hasn't their skyline grew like other cities of its size? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specwriter Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Does San Antonio have some kind of restrictions on tall buildings? Why hasn't their skyline grew like other cities of its size? I don't know the answer to about height restrictions. I would have guessed there would at least be one for the area around the Alamo. I've been a frequent visitor to San Antonio for at least 40 years and lived there for most of the 1980's. My observation is that the types of industries prevalent in San Antonio, primarily tourism and the military, do not require many tall buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted May 4, 2013 Share Posted May 4, 2013 Does San Antonio have some kind of restrictions on tall buildings? Why hasn't their skyline grew like other cities of its size? Ahh, Tower of the Americas is pretty high! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Specwriter Posted May 7, 2013 Share Posted May 7, 2013 Ahh, Tower of the Americas is pretty high! When I was a kid and went to the Hemisphere exhibit in 1968 with my parents we went up in the tower of course. It seemed very tall. My mother bought a cast metal souvenir for me to take home. It was about 6 inches tall. on the base it listed the height of the tower at 622 feet. I do not know if that included the antenna (spire) or not. By the way the Gateway Arch in St. Louis is 630 feet. Though it appears very tall in the otherwise low skyline of San Antonio the Tower of the Americas is only about two-thirds as tall as the Williams Tower in the Galleria area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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