ULI/Hines Urban Design Competition 2012 - Houston

[largeTEXAS]

This is an intense competition that I participated in while in grad school. This year ULI and Hines chose the post office site downtown and its many proposed linkages. The winners should be announced soon

http://www.udcompetition.org/

P.S. forgive me if this has already been posted.

[lockmat]

This is an intense competition that I participated in while in grad school. This year ULI and Hines chose the post office site downtown and its many proposed linkages. The winners should be announced soon

http://www.udcompetition.org/

P.S. forgive me if this has already been posted.

Set your calendars:

The winning team will be announced on March 30, 2012.

http://www.udcompetition.org/the-results/winner/

I know the rules say there is no intention for the designs to be implemented, but do they ever aid or give ideas to the actual developers or city as to what to do with the sites?

We should discuss what we think would be good for the site. Maybe a poll?

[Subdude]

From the link:

The competition is focusing on the USPS property since it is considered by many stakeholders to be a key site to reconnect the Theater District, the Historic District, and the greater downtown to the Buffalo Bayou. The downtown post office, located at 401 Franklin Street, was one of several hundred USPS properties put up for sale nation-wide in 2009 in order to offset the federal agency’s financial losses. Land planners and real estate experts have suggested numerous possibilities for the property, which have included converting the land into public open space, mixed-use development that includes residential housing, as well entertainment venues. Therefore, the challenge posed to the students is to devise a scheme that not only gives a unique identity to this new downtown Houston district, but also sets the tone for how area redevelopment can incorporate elements of public open space, affordable housing, and transit in order to catalyze economic development.

I'm always a little wary of these non-stop efforts to conjure up 'districts' downtown.

It's hard to see the post office site as being commercially viable, or for that matter 'to reconnect the Theater District, the Historic District, and the greater downtown to the Buffalo Bayou.' I've always thought the best use would be to make it permanent city fairgrounds for all the assorted festivals.

[infinite_jim]

Supertall or go home with this site.

[lockmat]

A team made up of students from U of Colorado and Harvard won

THE PLAN: http://www.udcompeti...4/Team-1482.pdf

article: http://landscapearch...h-houston-plan/

[Houston19514]

I really like their plan. I think the right team won. It would be awesome if Hines was working to make this happen!

[LTAWACS]

I do believe that high end resi condo tower has been seen before. I think in some other visionary rendering.

how do we upload photos here?

[Simbha]

how do we upload photos here?

Easiest way is to use the toolbar's Image button, which will allow you to provide a web address pointing to the image. If the image doesn't already exist on the web, you can first upload the image to a fileshare site such as Flickr and then use the web address for the image on that site.

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal]

Can anyone comment on feasibility and your thoughts on timeline for post office actually selling and moving. A postal truck company told me they moved their offices from woodland heights to airline bender on hardy toll road bc that's were the dr post office is going. Any truth to this? They are a large company so I imagine they wouldn't do this without any reason.

[Houston19514]

The postal serviceut that building on the market several years ago. Whether it is still officially listed as "for sale" or not, I am sure they are open to offers.

[woolie]

Beyond the usual architecture student fetishisation of subsidized housing and alternative energy, looks like a really solid plan. Id love to see it exist. I like how they integrate back into the street grid and also the pedestrian bridges.

My main concerns would be noise from the freeways and trains.

[TheNiche]

Beyond the usual architecture student fetishisation of subsidized housing and alternative energy, looks like a really solid plan. Id love to see it exist. I like how they integrate back into the street grid and also the pedestrian bridges.

My main concerns would be noise from the freeways and trains.

This plan is a monument unto student fetishisation. They specifically single out Trader Joe's. They put highrise condos where highrise condos could never be. (And in particular, it's a pet peeve of mine when architects try advocate for how housing in a development should be financed to consumers.)

Personally, I'd rather that the park be more central to the development rather than in the armpit of the convergence of freeways and railroad tracks. I don't think that it would get much use or enjoyment being placed back there.

[lockmat]

Niche, completely agree on the park location.

Why wouldn't a high rise fit their location? Could it fit properly anywhere in the provided space?

[woolie]

Screen Shot 2012-05-06 at 11.16.45 AM by wools, on Flickr

The current view of the site. Also, why not a highrise somewhere on this parcel? It's in the final phase of the plan; it wouldn't be plopped down first in the wasteland and pray for tenants. Ashby proves you can build them anywhere

Oh, I just noticed their fantastical element. Every architecture student proposal has to have something totally imaginary. Look closely and you'll notice they've buried Smith and Louisiana streets, into a tunnel under the bayou. I wonder if the review panel noticed this? They create two half mile long tunnels of major downtown streets with barely a mark on the map to mention it, then spell out and claim credit for "utilizing existing traffic signal." Wouldn't a simpler solution just be to move the HOV onramp and I10 exit ramp over to Travis and Milam?

Also, the weird triangular bridge at Travis St. is blowed up. And Franklin (which is currently more or less a bridge along this property) is also reconfigured north into a regular, narrower surface street (remove median).

[woolie]

Personally, I'd rather that the park be more central to the development rather than in the armpit of the convergence of freeways and railroad tracks. I don't think that it would get much use or enjoyment being placed back there.

They can't move or alter the train tracks that bisect the property. So they sacrifice the north side of the tracks into a green space / retention pond / fairgrounds, with a footbridge over the tracks. I do like moving the Amtrak ticket office down to this location, though. Ideally it'd be even a little closer to UHD for an "intermodal" effect.

[bachanon]

Screen Shot 2012-05-06 at 11.16.45 AM by wools, on Flickr

The current view of the site. Also, why not a highrise somewhere on this parcel? It's in the final phase of the plan; it wouldn't be plopped down first in the wasteland and pray for tenants. Ashby proves you can build them anywhere

Oh, I just noticed their fantastical element. Every architecture student proposal has to have something totally imaginary. Look closely and you'll notice they've buried Smith and Louisiana streets, into a tunnel under the bayou. I wonder if the review panel noticed this? They create two half mile long tunnels of major downtown streets with barely a mark on the map to mention it, then spell out and claim credit for "utilizing existing traffic signal." Wouldn't a simpler solution just be to move the HOV onramp and I10 exit ramp over to Travis and Milam?

Also, the weird triangular bridge at Travis St. is blowed up. And Franklin (which is currently more or less a bridge along this property) is also reconfigured north into a regular, narrower surface street (remove median).

looking at this view, the site is the northern most point of downtown. why not place something monumental respecting the view from the freeway that lets travelers know "you have arrived". not signage, mind you. the plan needs to not only be pedestrian oriented, connect with the rest of downtown, the bayou and rail, it needs to have a visual impact when coming in from the north. imagine ads for houston with a sweeping helicopter shot coming down the north freeway, coming up on a development that is the symbol for houston's diversity, economic strength, international status and forward thinking design would be choice..............but, i'm avoiding statistics homework. so, it's easy to fantasize. regardless, i think these are good points.

[Houston19514]

Screen Shot 2012-05-06 at 11.16.45 AM by wools, on Flickr

The current view of the site. Also, why not a highrise somewhere on this parcel? It's in the final phase of the plan; it wouldn't be plopped down first in the wasteland and pray for tenants. Ashby proves you can build them anywhere

Oh, I just noticed their fantastical element. Every architecture student proposal has to have something totally imaginary. Look closely and you'll notice they've buried Smith and Louisiana streets, into a tunnel under the bayou. I wonder if the review panel noticed this? They create two half mile long tunnels of major downtown streets with barely a mark on the map to mention it, then spell out and claim credit for "utilizing existing traffic signal." Wouldn't a simpler solution just be to move the HOV onramp and I10 exit ramp over to Travis and Milam?

Also, the weird triangular bridge at Travis St. is blowed up. And Franklin (which is currently more or less a bridge along this property) is also reconfigured north into a regular, narrower surface street (remove median).

Actually, those tunnels are pretty clearly marked. The routes of the tunnels are marked by dashed lines and they are also marked with Nos. 18 and 19. (inbound and Outbound tunnels, respectively.) As to whether the tunnels will ever actually happen: Designs such as these are and should be aspirational. IF the plan is put into action, reality will of course have to be taken into account. Maybe the tunnels can happen... maybe not. Maybe throwing the I-10 traffic onto Travis/Milam along with I-45 traffic is a practical solution, maybe not.

This is great conceptual plan. I hope someone will take it and try to make as much of it as possible come to reality.

[TheNiche]

Niche, completely agree on the park location.

Why wouldn't a high rise fit their location? Could it fit properly anywhere in the provided space?

Let's be clear about this, my objection is not to the physical dimensions. I'm referring to not just a highrise, but a new condo highrise. A floodplain along the periphery of downtown with railroad adjacency overlooking two elevated interstate highways is not the geographic intersection of market demand and feasible highrise condo pricing.

A few dozen condo midrise units might be viable if this plan were realized, and then only toward the end.

They can't move or alter the train tracks that bisect the property. So they sacrifice the north side of the tracks into a green space / retention pond / fairgrounds, with a footbridge over the tracks. I do like moving the Amtrak ticket office down to this location, though. Ideally it'd be even a little closer to UHD for an "intermodal" effect.

According to the conceptual plan, they arrange for a street that crosses over to Dart Street on the other side of the tracks and opens it up for development. The back of the property, where it backs up to the freeway, would seem like a good place for structured parking, which apartments could wrap the front of, overlooking a central green space and tracks that I would agree should be adapted for use as a new Amtrak station.

This is great conceptual plan. I hope someone will take it and try to make as much of it as possible come to reality.

If reality is taken into account, then this conceptual plan dissolves away. It is nonsense. The whole endeavor was a waste of the students' time because too few market or budgetary constraints were provided. If they're expected to master plan even the land uses, then they need to be educated and judged on their ability to cost out the projects and provide supporting realistic and supportive market analysis and financial modeling. That's not architecture...but neither was their assignment, really. The assignment was fantasy.

[Subdude]

Is it just me, but don’t these things tend to be a bit depressingly alike? This one certainly ticks all of the urban planning boxes. By golly, it even comes with a happy little starter population of clip-art models with jobs like ‘Engineer in Alternative Energy’ and ‘Founder – Startup Internet Company’. What is unique with this vision though compared to the usual plans that get floated about is that strong whiff of social engineering. Take the adjacent blocks of high-rises (presumably luxe), ‘affordable’ rentals, and SRO, so everyone can meet and mingle at Trader Joe’s, or the ‘Cultural Center’. One pictures the SRO residents toiling gratefully at the ‘Urban Harvest Community Garden’, you know, really turning their lives around and starting internet companies or whatnot.

Doing away with the Smith/Louisiana Street approaches to I-10 is a bit of a stretch, but I don’t think this is actually meant to be grounded in hard reality, and there’s no harm in dreaming. I always fantasize about getting rid of the Pierce Elevated altogether.

To me the highest and best use of the property would be for permanent fairgrounds. It goes very much against the spirit of the design competition, but I also think the site would be a reasonable location for a relocated bus station.

[lockmat]

What is the real pourpose of a design competition anyway if none of these actually come to fruition?

[Subdude]

What is the real pourpose of a design competition anyway if none of these actually come to fruition?

Like any school project, it's a good learning experience, in this case to think through site development plans given the specifics of the competition brief.

[TheNiche]

It's to see who can paint the prettiest picture of a unicorn.

[woolie]

But yeah. Step 1 is get rid of the PIerce Elevated

[Subdude]

Looking at the proposals from the other finalists, one idea I liked was recreating Washington Street (which turns into Washington Ave. The street originally bisected the property, but it was eliminated when the second railroad station was built in the late 1930s.