What would your skyscraper designs for Houston look like?

[TowerSpotter]

I found a drawing I drew a year ago and thought it was worth sharing. Since I-10 to me looks like a "miniature Dubai" I labeled it Dubai Concept. Anyways I tried to draw it next to the Energy Plaza (where the 4 towers are at including Embassy Suites) this was before I found out it was going to have 4 towers. 

 

Please share your designs (drawing, photoshop, revit, cinema, etc) I am curious to see what the other Houstonians designs look like.

 

Here's my drawing 

 

[Montrose1100]

I'll play.

 

 

This is Exxon's new building Downtown. Has a unique lighting, the yellow dots represent strobe lights like the Eiffel Tower or a common smoke alarm. The Orange represent panels that would crisscross as arrows and X's (similar to the loading screen on Halo Reach). The frame work is a white concrete, and the glass would be light blue. The red dots are for airplane & helicopter purposes. 

 

The first floor would have connections to the tunnel system, as well as to 800 Bell. Ground floor restaurants/cafe, represented with the red corner patio space. Obviously a grand lobby, and than the first couple floors are parking. A nice little green/fountain space above the garage.

 

Sorry it looks crooked.

 

Edit: I also realized this is 2 blocks directly southeast of the proposed Chevron Tower, so in the drawing I noted it would also work on the block north east of 800 Bell, as 800 Clay.

 

2nd Edit: The top black box that I drew could be a darker glass or even black glass, could be meeting rooms, or new petroleum club. or even elevator STUFF. haha sorry.

[brijonmang]

I'll play.

 

 

This is Exxon's new building Downtown. Has a unique lighting, the yellow dots represent strobe lights like the Eiffel Tower or a common smoke alarm. The Orange represent panels that would crisscross as arrows and X's (similar to the loading screen on Halo Reach). The frame work is a white concrete, and the glass would be light blue. The red dots are for airplane & helicopter purposes. 

 

The first floor would have connections to the tunnel system, as well as to 800 Bell. Ground floor restaurants/cafe, represented with the red corner patio space. Obviously a grand lobby, and than the first couple floors are parking. A nice little green/fountain space above the garage.

 

Sorry it looks crooked.

 

Edit: I also realized this is 2 blocks directly southeast of the proposed Chevron Tower, so in the drawing I noted it would also work on the block north east of 800 Bell, as 800 Clay.

 

2nd Edit: The top black box that I drew could be a darker glass or even black glass, could be meeting rooms, or new petroleum club. or even elevator STUFF. haha sorry.

 

He said a design for Houston, not Midland...

 

Cool ideas guys, I used to have a whole spiral full of designs I did one summer but that was years ago and I have no idea where it went.

[Montrose1100]

He said a design for Houston, not Midland...

 

Cool ideas guys, I used to have a whole spiral full of designs I did one summer but that was years ago and I have no idea where it went.

 

I know it's not a signature, but I liked the idea of the subtle X pattern for XOM. It's all about the night time lighting. 

[TowerSpotter]

I like it Montrose1100, Our skyline would definitely need a building like this, especially the lighting that we lack. 

[lockmat]

He said a design for Houston, not Midland...

 

Cool ideas guys, I used to have a whole spiral full of designs I did one summer but that was years ago and I have no idea where it went.

 

Find it!!!

 

Very creative, guys!

 

Here was my proposal from a few years ago. Some of yall might remember it but I don't think Towerspotter was around back then.

 

I won't repost the images because there are too many. 

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/24113-the-buildings-that-could-change-houston-forever/

[Montrose1100]

Find it!!!

Very creative, guys!

Here was my proposal from a few years ago. Some of yall might remember it but I don't think Towerspotter was around back then.

I won't repost the images because there are too many.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/24113-the-buildings-that-could-change-houston-forever/

Funny, I was going to draw something similar, although my had sharper corners. I also have a small collection of doodles I'll try and dig up later.

[Montrose1100]

I have proof that I designe my XOM tower before I had even heard of the one in midland

I had actually worked on updating the BotSW Tower, because I truly think a super tall spire design would fit there like a glove. Anyways, here are a few from 07'.

I have some recent ones, but these older ones were where I thought the newer ones were.

[brijonmang]

I have proof that I designe my XOM tower before I had even heard of the one in midland

I had actually worked on updating the BotSW Tower, because I truly think a super tall spire design would fit there like a glove. Anyways, here are a few from 07'.

I have some recent ones, but these older ones were where I thought the newer ones were.

 

That BotSW tower looks awesome, Mitchell!  Great skyline sketch. The way you drew it is in perfect proportion to the skyline to me.  Well done.

 

@Lockmat, I can maybe check at my parents somewhere but it was about ten years ago.  I don't think I've ever gotten THAT lucky when looking for something.

[lockmat]

Yeah, the sketch is sweet. I thought the BotSW tower was broader, no?

[TowerSpotter]

Very impressive design Lockmat, I have seen it before, but at the time didn't have an account. Now that you bring it up I would say that would work to being the tallest building in Houston with a its one of kind design.

 

 

 

[cloud713]

ive had a few ideas on this topic..

this one is definitely the least economic design, but a bolder one IMO. the over hangs at the top could be a restaurant on the lower one and an observation deck with a glass floor on the higher point. most of the building is accessible with one elevator, but the upper floors of the highest tip may need an escalator to go up the last few stories. 


this one is probably the most basic design, though the most economical (go figure).. the entire building is accessible with just one elevator ride, and the glass wall at the top of right section would provide an epic view for the sky lobbies/observation deck. 



and the last design, which i absolutely love. reminds me a bit of a cross between Lockmats design and the Chevron complex. (the skybridge/rings could have glass floors to make for a more thrilling experience). 4 buildings on 4 different blocks, all shaped like a sails of different heights..

[TowerSpotter]

Here's another one I found from my book that looks, IMO, spectacular. 

 

The pedestal is the shape of a computer mouse, the left building is the shape of my playstation bluetooth, and the right building is the shape my usb. It would take two blocks north of Bell st.and Austin st. to the west in the great CBD. The pedestal is, from the bottom, covered with a wooden facade and the top is just glass that goes up covering both buildings.

 

 

 

Edit: The lines on the mouse-shaped pedestal are LED lights.

[cloud713]

I doodled up another version of my 4 head and shoulders bottles at alternating heights skyscraper design with an 80 story spire in the middle of the circular skywalks. im not sure if it would stand in the middle of an intersection with traffic directed around it, like a centrally mounted left turn signal post, or if the tower would be wider and span 3 blocks wide, across a middle block/park space and have a foot print in the shape of a +, consisting of 5 blocks, instead of 4.

the circular sky bridges would be every 15 floors starting at level 5 (a floor with conference/convention rooms in the office buildings, rooms available for events/gatherings in the residential, and a kitchen in the hotel). level 20 could have meeting rooms in the office buildings (i figured the meeting rooms and the conference rooms could go in these locations due to the skywalks from the hotel, for convenience when out of town business people are staying in the complex), and house some of the amenities in the residential tower for the tenants, with an outdoor pool for the hotel. level 35 could have an outdoor pool deck on the roof of the residential tower, with basic transfer floors in the office buildings. level 50 would be another transfer/skylobby floor for the office towers. 
the tallest office tower would have an observation deck on the 65th floor overlooking the rest of the tower complex and the city, and maybe a restaurant. or the restaurant could be located in the top floor of the second tallest office tower. the sky bridges could be laid out so that after hours access could be closed off to the rest of the office buildings, only allowing access to the elevators, observation deck, and restaurant, while still allowing residents in the residential and hotel portions to walk around the skybridge rings.

[TowerSpotter]

Wow very creative, great job cloud on the Mix-use tower.

[bachanon]

too fun!  thanks for sharing.  

 

 

[cloud713]

Wow very creative, great job cloud on the Mix-use tower.

thanks, i was trying to figure out how to make the most sense of the sky bridge links between the buildings since it is a mixed use development. i finally figured out a few decent (IMO) ideas for creating common rooms/spaces on those floors that could serve all of the towers. 

i totally forgot to elaborate on what i had planned for the bottom 4 floors, below the first sky bridge on the 5th floor. (the main use of each tower would pretty much start at the 5th floor)

i would imagine most all of the towers would have a multi level lobby, though the hotel and office towers would probably only be 2 stories tall. the 3rd and 4th floors of the office towers would be filled with amenities for the workers (like what fills the podiums on many of the new office towers). the hotel may have a few boutique shops and maybe a small diner/cafe on the first floor, or the second floor over looking the lobby (3rd and 4th for the hotel would be dedicated to laundry/house keeping type facilities), but for the most part the retail and restaurants would go in lower 4 floors of the residential tower, which would be like an indoor mall at the base, with the middle of the lobby opened up to the 4th story like an atrium, with shops and restaurants lining the edges of the 2nd-4th floors. 

the more i typed that out the more i realized residents arent going to want to be welcome home by walking into a mini mall every day, so there would be a separate more private entrance to an elevator lobby for the tenants of the residential tower, coming from the garage.

i also realized when looking at satellite views of downtown to find a location for this tower that my scale is a bit off. no way would this complex stretch 3 blocks wide. even an X composing of 4 square blocks would be an enormous structure. many of these massive new skyscrapers like Chevron tower and Hines arent even taking up half of the block with their floor plates. some of the buildings in downtown dont even take up a quarter of the block, so maybe this whole structure of 4 towers could be squeezed into one city block. if that were the case the grounds around the towers (what little is left, lol) would be green space for the tenants of the buildings, since it would be more accessible to all the buildings than having roads intersecting a 4 block plot.

[Urbannizer]

Here's my take on this. As you can see, drawing is not a strong point for me. From the base, there would be about 2-floors of retail/parking garage + underground parking. A garden would be placed on the roof of the parking garage, like 609 Main. Tunnel access for the building would be something similar to Capitol Tower. The lower portion of the tower would be used for 40-floors of office space and 20-floors of hotel space. For the center portion, it would be two 20-foot floors, one for a restaurant and the other for events/parties. The upper portion of the tower would be 30-floors of residential units. At the top, a pool for residents, tenants, and guest. 94-floors at ~1,300 ft, so the city can re-claim the title of the tallest building west of the Mississippi. 

 

[strickn]

I had a dream one night that took place on a pedestrian promenade 100 feet above 59 at Greenway, slanting towards downtown.

Taking that as inspiration,

I would like to build a groundscraper with a street grid on top of it/ it would begin to slope up as a gentle hill from Houston Avenue at Memorial Drive;  cross 45 at the post office site, then I-10;  crest over Buffalo Bayou;  and descend to earth by the back of Hardy Yards' expanse.  Its whole surface or air rights would be available for lease.  The neighborhood would be laid out around desire lines and sight-lines joining Washington Avenue, downtown and the Fifth Ward.   Inside I get more creative...

[TowerSpotter]

I love the shape and concept Urbannizer! Specifically how the residential and the office are nearly seperated.  

[Urbannizer]

I love the shape and concept Urbannizer! Specifically how the residential and the office are nearly seperated.

Thanks! As for location, somewhere near Minute Maid Park would be great. I have several other designs in my head, including a redesign for Five Allen Center and the Mariott Convention Center Hotel. Just can't seem to get them down on paper well enough..

[brijonmang]

Here is a concept I started working on this week.  Ultimately I will be putting real textures and things on it but I'm trying to play with an actual design.  I am a huge fan of the new 3 WTC building and want to incorporate some cross bracing/steel truss elements but I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

 

 

Concept1 by brijonmang, on Flickr

 

Concept1 2 by brijonmang, on Flickr

 

Concept1 3 by brijonmang, on Flickr

 

Concept1 4 by brijonmang, on Flickr

 

Concept1 5 by brijonmang, on Flickr

 

[lockmat]

I dig it. Has a little Williams tower at the base and 609 up top I like the staggering and opposite angles on the sides. Very strong upwards feeling tower.

How many stories?

[Montrose1100]

Reminds me of the Q1 in Gold Coast. Well that and if it had a baby with that one in Seattle. Better then my drawing. I haven't touched autocad or rhino in years. I had a tower designed over the Galleria. But I was too inspired by the US Bank Building in LA (same foot print).

[arche_757]

I've got downtown Houston modeled (+\- most of the historic district) on Sketchup, and I've "filled" in a lot of empty blocks around with any sort of odd variety of highrises (and the occasional midrise).  If I can screen shot it - I'll upload it for fun.  Obviously these buildings were blocked out (logically), but I only spent 5-10 minutes on each one.

 

I'll see if I can post it later tomorrow, or this holiday week (I seem only to work on it at night and when its cold)... my next step is to add Midtown's existing buildings and go from there.

[pablog]

Resedential Building I drew the other day

[pablog]

I'm a 17 year old wanting to major in architecture and my goal is to be one of the most known architects in Houston and obviously in the world

[Marcus Allen]

I really like the concept combining a mega building within three or four city blocks at various levels. It is a way of creating an iconic tower but utilizing a lot of space for a specific purpose. Rounded towers I think would contrast with the mostly boxy architecture of DT. Connected with circular skyways also works for me. Maybe a five level parking garage underneath with a five level above ground garage connected with the various towers. Perhaps something similar to the Hudson Yard project in NY would work as a unified complex. I would have two levels above the 5 leveled (above ground) contain retail. Then, if we are talking three towers, a 30, a 60 , and a 90. If we are talking four towers, have a 15 storey which connects to the urban street level, a 30 storey hotel, and a 60 and 90 storey mixed residential and commercial. I admit a rendering would make my point better, but then again, I just ran with the above ideas which I liked very much.

[towerjunkie]

These are all great We sure have some talented people here.

[towerjunkie]

So I sketched this building up out of nowhere and I'm not sure where it would go.

(if its hard to see) the building has 3 setbacks and each of those setbacks contains a little treetop garden thingy like BG Group Place there is also a smaller base which also has a garden on the roof.

Any objections?