jermh Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Scaffolding on both Travis & Capitol now. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 9, 2020 Share Posted May 9, 2020 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 So is it gfr/extending the ground floor out or did we figure out what they’re doing? Seems a little narrow for restaurant space, but I’m just sure what just inside the current walls, so maybe they could bump into there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CREguy13 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 They haven't released the plans yet, but I imagine they are coming soon since construction has been underway for about a month now. Judging by the scaffolding around the entire building, they're likely removing the paneling on the first floor. I don't think it makes sense for restaurant/retail on the Travis street side as that's where the tunnel connection and escalator are. I'm wondering if they get creative and take the successes from Capitol Tower to open up Travis, so you have much more natural light/direct access to the tunnel from the street level. I do think that you have restaurant/retail space on both Texas and Milam street. Texas side engages Texas Tower's active ground-level and Milam engages Jones Hall which Chase Tower was originally designed to complement. My hope is the Plaza area will be re-imagined to support/serve as gateway to Theater District and be activated for building tenants/Jones Hall private events similar to what the new Lynn Wyatt Square aims to do for Alley Theater. I've heard rumors the price tag is between $20-30m so I'm optimistic this will exceed expectations with Hines involved. They are working to rebrand this area of downtown as the 'North District' so this renovation must fit the legacy they are building. 7 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 4 hours ago, CREguy13 said: They haven't released the plans yet, but I imagine they are coming soon since construction has been underway for about a month now. Judging by the scaffolding around the entire building, they're likely removing the paneling on the first floor. I don't think it makes sense for restaurant/retail on the Travis street side as that's where the tunnel connection and escalator are. I'm wondering if they get creative and take the successes from Capitol Tower to open up Travis, so you have much more natural light/direct access to the tunnel from the street level. I do think that you have restaurant/retail space on both Texas and Milam street. Texas side engages Texas Tower's active ground-level and Milam engages Jones Hall which Chase Tower was originally designed to complement. My hope is the Plaza area will be re-imagined to support/serve as gateway to Theater District and be activated for building tenants/Jones Hall private events similar to what the new Lynn Wyatt Square aims to do for Alley Theater. I've heard rumors the price tag is between $20-30m so I'm optimistic this will exceed expectations with Hines involved. They are working to rebrand this area of downtown as the 'North District' so this renovation must fit the legacy they are building. Great info. Another factor is that Hines has moved its HQ to the new tower across the street, so they are really picking the decor for their own house, not somebody else's. Critical to recruiting talent to a global development firm in the 21st century is a great urban environment, just like 40 years ago it was "have an awesome mall next door" when they moved into Transco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermh Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) Per HBJ here: https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2019/10/28/its-official-hines-pe-firm-buy-houstons-tallest.html Quote Renovations are planned for 600 Travis Street, which is the tallest building in Texas at 75 stories and contains more than 1.7 million square feet with 22,237 square feet of retail space. Improvements will include major updates to the lobby and exterior plaza area; the addition of connected, collaborative workspaces as well as a new conference center; and enhancements to other building common elements, per the release. The plaza's focal point — Joan Miró's "Personage and Birds" sculpture — will remain on-site. St. Louis-based architecture firm HOK is designing the renovations. "Our goal is to enhance 600 Travis’ position as one of the top office buildings in the southwest," John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines, said in the release. "With significantly more activated common space and opportunities, the repositioning will promote greater tenant attraction and retention and will be a testament to Hines’ unmatched ability to maintain an asset’s architectural heritage while fostering a contemporary image for the modern workplace." There was an RFP to a few architectural firms for concepts last year, but I hadn't paid attention to which firm was awarded. Looks to be HOK per this article. Edited May 14, 2020 by jermh 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted May 24, 2020 Share Posted May 24, 2020 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermh Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 (edited) I didn't get a picture but, the scaffolding on the Jones Hall side of the building was blown over by wind gust about 4:30-5pm yesterday. Most of it fell on to the ramp to the basement garage, and by 8ish the company that put it up was onsite removing the collapsed scaffolding debris. All but about confirmed my previously irrational fear and not being a fan of walking under it. Edited May 28, 2020 by jermh typing is hard. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 On 5/23/2020 at 7:22 PM, Highrise Tower said: So these are permanent canopies, not just scaffolding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 On 5/23/2020 at 7:22 PM, Highrise Tower said: Certainly look like scaffolding to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSirDingle Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 (edited) If they are expanding the ground floor, wonder how high and far they're going to do it. Hope it's something akin to the Texas tower retail, that would be a great addition to this part of Downtown. Hoping we get some sort of information soon, especially considering it might be a major renovation to the tallest tower in Texas. It honestly feels like Hines is changing this whole area by itself, it's insane how much they're adding. Edited May 28, 2020 by TheSirDingle 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 Honestly, I don’t think that this is “construction” related. They do this when they do work on the exterior of building to protect the sidewalk below. Maybe they are cleaning, repairing/replacing damaged granite, or doing something more than just washing the windows. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 It's sad that our state's tallest building is also one of the ugliest. There is nothing special about this building at all. Just a tall, gray, bland, box. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 3 hours ago, wxman said: It's sad that our state's tallest building is also one of the ugliest. There is nothing special about this building at all. Just a tall, gray, bland, box. What? 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 6 hours ago, wxman said: It's sad that our state's tallest building is also one of the ugliest. There is nothing special about this building at all. Just a tall, gray, bland, box. But a corner is sliced off! /s 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted June 7, 2020 Share Posted June 7, 2020 10 hours ago, wxman said: It's sad that our state's tallest building is also one of the ugliest. There is nothing special about this building at all. Just a tall, gray, bland, box. I can't believe you criticized something designed by I M Pei. How dare you! Everyone knows that the designers of the late 70's were the best ever, and we've been on a long downhill slide ever since, with nothing of note appearing for 40 years.😆😁🤣😂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Montrose1100 Posted June 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted June 8, 2020 I like it a lot in it's simplicity and it's history. So I'll repeat my thoughts anytime someone calls it ugly. Apart from it's height, you could teleport/swap it to the Shinjuku District in Tokyo and no one would bat an eye. Same for 3 Allen Center, and 1 Houston Center. Now that's International Style baby. Or Modernist. Or Late International. Whatever they're kind of synonymous. I'm sure Luminarie could swoop in and correct me . The Late 1970's and Early 1980's were Houston's time to shine in fresh corporate architecture. Our Skyline grew from competing with the likes of New Orleans to surpassing every US city (minus you know who), in the USA in a matter of a few years. We were the Dubai at the time, in the awe of growth and coming of age, and putting ourselves on the map. This Tower really represents that. It was the 8th tallest building in the world when completed. The first 1,000ft or +300m Skyscraper outside of the two US Giants, the birthplace of soaring height and tall buildings - New York City & Chicago. That's a pretty cool accomplishment for a swampy cowboy town on the Gulf Coast. Since 1990 we have slipped out of the top 10 tallest in the world and may never return again. I think it's still in the top 300. In 1982 the Joan Miro sculpture was opened accompanied by the Houston Symphony Orchestra for the architect's 89th Birthday. Quote Personnage, oiseaux (Personage, Birds, 1974) shows the classic theme of the human figure before birds in flight as a hybrid representation in which the gestural energy he developed after his last trip to the United States I know the above is quoted on the painting from which the sculpture takes it's entirety from. But to symbolize the flight of mankind, via space shuttle, or through the 20th & 21st century via oil, Houston helped launch "us". Guess the oil/energy portion could tie into the propulsion of the rockets as well. The sculpture and structure it fronts pay homage to that. Anyways, I'm finished on my soapbox. Learning about this building made me appreciate it more than a height contest on architecture forums a long time ago. Maybe I'm romanticizing it. Do we have any renderings of how they're changing the plaza floor? 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 AFAIK, it;s still the tallest 5 sided building in the world. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 I think Pei once stated that they were going for a certain effect with this building and it didn't come out the way they wanted it. It does look good when you're sitting on the Pierce Elevated and the evening sun is hitting it, makes the granite kind of sparkle and the windows shimmer. Otherwise yeah, it's just a mass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 If they were going for 'big grey slab', they nailed it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 35 minutes ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said: If they were going for 'big grey slab', they nailed it To think what we could have been. Or worse. Considering our Skyline was/is practically nothing but boxes, she fares well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermh Posted June 9, 2020 Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) It looked like they are working down the building, drilling the same holes they did on the ground level from the top via the window washing platforms. I snapped some photos with the telephoto lens from the Rice garage roof last week, but I never really looked to see if they came out. If they suck, I'll get out there today or tomorrow and take some more. Edited June 9, 2020 by jermh 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jermh Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 (edited) It's a little hard to make out on Flickr, but you can see the same "drilling" going on up top as what's being done on the bottom. Edited June 11, 2020 by jermh 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highrise Tower Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) On 6/8/2020 at 10:55 AM, Tumbleweed_Tx said: AFAIK, it;s still the tallest 5 sided building in the world. how far do they go with these? I now have an irrational desire to make the tallest 243 sided building in the world. them: "but sir, it is only 1 story tall." me: "I know, but it is the tallest 243 sided building in the world, and I demand recognition!" Edited June 23, 2020 by samagon 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted June 28, 2020 Share Posted June 28, 2020 Before and After for the new siding anchors. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 12 hours ago, hindesky said: Before and After for the new siding anchors. Is this just to better secure the siding to the building? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 On 6/28/2020 at 10:57 AM, hindesky said: Before and After for the new siding anchors. I think they’re gonna cover this tower in glass. Similar to what was done to the federal building on the other side of downtown 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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