marc Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 I think Houston could use some flash and glitz, even if it is in a hospital building in west Houston. Oh, i DEFINATELY think H-town could use flash and glitz. I don't even mind it being in that location. I just think it sort of odd that a medical admin. building would convey such an image. I would think it more appropriate around Houston Pavilions, Hardy Rail Yard or City Centre. Make sense? By the by, i think it is interesting that we have a Hardy Rail Yard restructure project just as NY is having an Atlantic Rail Yard restructure project. Only, i don't think we have commissioned FG for ours. m. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I went to the TARGET across the street from this site last night. A big portion of the parking lot between Target and the hospital is fenced off and it looks like another high rise building is being put up. Anyone have any idea what this is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 This building is starting to worry me a little bit. Repeatng my self from a few days ago... The new facade that's being put on the first several floors of this building looks ugly as hell imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 This building is starting to worry me a little bit. Repeatng my self from a few days ago... The new facade that's being put on the first several floors of this building looks ugly as hell imo.Well, the renderings show a cool blue color, which if you did not pay attention, make it look like glass.This is now looking more like a generic suburban style building, just taller.I think the middle of the building will still be all glass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Well, the renderings show a cool blue color, which if you did not pay attention, make it look like glass.This is now looking more like a generic suburban style building, just taller.I think the middle of the building will still be all glass.At this point it looks nothing like the rendering. I guess we'll see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strickn Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 At this point it looks nothing like the rendering. I guess we'll see. It looks different from the impression-oriented one, but the panels are perfectly consistent with the other rendering: As for the second construction site (if that's what it is), I can only suggest that it is the building shown there in the impression-oriented rendering: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 It looks different from the impression-oriented one, but the panels are perfectly consistent with the other rendering:As for the second construction site (if that's what it is), I can only suggest that it is the building shown there in the impression-oriented rendering: I was looking at the second rendering when I made my comment. Regardless I think it stinks that such a high profile building is following suit with our cities current trend of BEIGE. A beige that is painfully reminisant of fake stucco. At least gimme a fake granite.As for the second construction site (if that's what it is), I can only suggest that it is the building shown there in the impression-oriented rendering:I passed by yesterday and they were taking soil samples. Also, where they were taking the samples is directly to the East of the tower, so it must be the the second tower in the rendering. Now that one I like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strickn Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 If the second building becomes an activity magnet, there are definitely parking lots to expand into, on both sides of Gessner, for a mixed-use district. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 If the second building becomes an activity magnet, there are definitely parking lots to expand into, on both sides of Gessner, for a mixed-use district.I think the second building will be the new Westin Hotel with residences built out on the top floors. According to the press release in Jan/Feb, the Westin was set to break ground in the summer of 2007 along with a new Sheraton Hotel in Memorial City as well. The Starwood brand (Westin and Sheraton) was also renovating the old Radisson into another brand but i can't remember off hand what it was set to become... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontx Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 I went to the TARGET across the street from this site last night. A big portion of the parking lot between Target and the hospital is fenced off and it looks like another high rise building is being put up. Anyone have any idea what this is?I believe it's the 7 level parking garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 who is the architectural firm who designed this (these) unfortunate building(s)? it looks like a cartoon. why? why? WHYYYYYYYYYYY? are they modern? are they deconstructionist? are they international? what the hell are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Here's a live web cam shot of the building...http://www.metronational.com/cam_hospital.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strickn Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 Great find, jgriff! Now we won't have to drive on out there to check up on it.who is the architectural firm who designed this (these) unfortunate building(s)? it looks like a cartoon. why? why? WHYYYYYYYYYYY? are they modern? are they deconstructionist? are they international? what the hell are they?Fitting into a 'style' meant that you as architect had to refine your design along those lines. Philip Johnson with Gerald Hines took the perspective that your building can sell better if it's its own advertising, so his form of postmodernism pegged the style's tenets to imageable features. It may be that the next step in that trajectory was to dispense with style-tenet-oriented refinement altogether and go for the gut with the self-advertising features. Considering them foremost while having to reconcile them with other things for the sake of something other than advertising was getting in the way, leading to stuff like Hines' new can-opener MainPlace design. MemorialHermann has let it be known that the raised beacon, in various architectural forms, is the new symbol of their mission. This cuts right to the chase, but the shortest route to freeway architecture does leave some things out, like the fine-grained detail that Houston architecture has been lacking since the seventies. Then again, detail is easy to come by when you're not booming. Growth introduces necessities that make any compromise drive up cost intolerably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 i guess the specific style is not as important to me as the excessive look of this project. there appears to be a lot of gaudy crap on this (these) buildings that make no sense to me. i get the beacon, but healthcare is expensive enough. why blow a ton of money on superfluous ornamentation? hospitals are not a party.when all is said and done, i may find that my "beef" has been with the rendering only and not the actual structure. i hope this to be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 i get the beacon, but healthcare is expensive enough. why blow a ton of money on superfluous ornamentation? hospitals are not a party.Art does not necessarily need to reflect the mundane or dullness of the object. It's ok to spice it up. In fact, why not?If anything, maybe a hospital building should reflect the great complexity of the practice taking place inside? It should celebrate the great triumphs capable of happening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bachanon Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 good take, lockmat. i still think it is butt-ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted August 25, 2007 Share Posted August 25, 2007 I'm assuming that fountain out front is actually part of the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strickn Posted September 1, 2007 Share Posted September 1, 2007 It is essentially impossible for a flat-roofed building to look disproportionately short. When you have a taper is when it can start to look squashed. Since Houston has almost no pointy towers, almost nothing on its skyline has had a cramped look. The first thing after the cone that struck me as funny about this design, however, is how I would have expected there to be one more setback before jumping to the diagonal finish. I guess the economics of floorplates mean that so much of a smaller size built in between would be wasting money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strickn Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Here's a live web cam shot of the building...http://www.metronational.com/cam_hospital.htmlIf you click the link now, this's getting close to topping out the sub-spire portion of what will be built. It will be interesting to see if, as opposed to just looking stumpy, the profile ends up so that it manages to relate to the ground better than other skyscrapers: While it will never be very close to pleasing proportions, the cone continuing upwards may serve as a foil that distracts the mind enough to let the strong horizonal shoulder line of the building's unusual bulk to associate visually with the ground from a distance (by virtue of its visually unexpectedly low height below proportion to its unexpectedly broad extent). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Not only is this building horrible, it's rediculously disproportionate. What a damn shame, and to think I was excited about it. Blaaaaaa! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 While it will never be very close to pleasing proportions, the cone continuing upwards may serve as a foil that distracts the mind enough to let the strong horizonal shoulder line of the building's unusual bulk to associate visually with the ground from a distance (by virtue of its visually unexpectedly low height below proportion to its unexpectedly broad extent).What? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trae Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Same question for me Boris. What the hell was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 I had a flashback to that last seen in Matrix II. Didn't know what the hell that old man was saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandLakes Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 For those of you wondering what is going in the Target parking lot across the street - if you look closer you will see that they are building a crosswalk across Gessner. They have vertical conrete supports on both sides of Gessner - some in front of the building labeled "Medical Plaza 4" and then some in the Target parking lot. Now, my theory has been that they want the hospital foot traffic to be able to get to the mall safely and easily. I didn't think that they might be buildng a parking garage by Target and that the cross walk would be for that.Also, has anyone noticed that they have fenced off the parking lot of the old, original hospital? It is the building that actually faces I-10. That parking lot is totally fenced off - and if you look at some of the renderings, I believe they are putting a parking garage there.As far as the hotel (or whatever), I work in one of the glass office buildngs right across from the mall on Barryknoll. My window looks out on this construction (it is very distracting). They have been doing soil samples / drilling for a while now. Hopefully that cool looking hotel will be going in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 For those of you wondering what is going in the Target parking lot across the street - if you look closer you will see that they are building a crosswalk across Gessner. They have vertical conrete supports on both sides of Gessner - some in front of the building labeled "Medical Plaza 4" and then some in the Target parking lot. Now, my theory has been that they want the hospital foot traffic to be able to get to the mall safely and easily. I didn't think that they might be buildng a parking garage by Target and that the cross walk would be for that.Also, has anyone noticed that they have fenced off the parking lot of the old, original hospital? It is the building that actually faces I-10. That parking lot is totally fenced off - and if you look at some of the renderings, I believe they are putting a parking garage there. As far as the hotel (or whatever), I work in one of the glass office buildngs right across from the mall on Barryknoll. My window looks out on this construction (it is very distracting). They have been doing soil samples / drilling for a while now. Hopefully that cool looking hotel will be going in! Well, if you can, PLEASE post a pic or a dozen for some of the visitors that can't view the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 oopsie. Delete please. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgriff Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 It looks like a new, smaller tower crane has gone up at this site. I'm wondering what this crane is for. Could it be another building or maybe a parking garage?Memorial City Webcam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 It looks like a new, smaller tower crane has gone up at this site. I'm wondering what this crane is for. Could it be another building or maybe a parking garage?Much better. It's going to be a large and ostentatious hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandLakes Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 The view of that webcam is from the top of my building. I am on the 8th floor - the building has 18 floors total. Not a bad view of this site!Yep - that crane popped up over the weekend. They have been drilling that site for a while. Based on the renderings, it is for a rather large hotel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted November 5, 2007 Share Posted November 5, 2007 It's for the Westin Hotel which will also have for sale condos on the top floors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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