Specwriter

Filio, Doug Russell Chevorlet was on old US 290 (the Hempstead Highway) not the current 290.

Almost definitely the garage levels have less floor-to-floor height than a normal high-rise building. Also, the ground floor of the building without the garage may be "taller" than the floors above. Imagine "grand" lobbies with 20 foot ceilings. It is practically a standard in this area for office buildings with 9-foot ceiling heights on the upper floors to have about a 13-1/2 foot floor-to-floor height to allow for structural beams and electrical and mechanical equipment above the ceiling. There is a lot stuff above the ceiling in a modern office building: air ducts, electrical conduit, plumbing both for domestic water and sprinkler systems as well as duct dampers, reheating coils, and wiring for data etc.

I went to Emporis' web site. They seem to be a self-proclaimed expert on commercial buildings. If their definition of a high rise is accepted by the industry for the purposes of marketing, etc. I have to take it as valid for those purposes as well. Just know that there is more than one definition of a high-rise building, some of which have important legal implications. Back to the topic of this thread: Parc Binz One would seem to be a mid-rise then. I'm pleased to see it and other structures of similar size going up along this street. The seem appropriate in scale for the neighborhood.

That sounds reasonable but defined by whom? I would think different entities would have slight variations on the definition of a high-rise building. The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) document 5000 defines a high-rise building as one where the highest floor capable of being occupied "is greater than 75 feet (23 meters) above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access." As an aside, 75 feet usually equates to about 6 stories in modern American commercial buildings. What this particular definition means is that if a piece of fire apparatus (a ladder truck for example) can access the first floor, and the building height is greater than 75 feet (23 meters) above that floor, then the building is considered a high rise for the purpose of determining which fire protection methods are required. The NFPA does not necessarily dictate these measures but individual municipalities usually adopt them as part of their life safety code requirements. Of course there can be different definitions of high-rise buildings depending on other factors such as sight lines, shading of neighboring properties, etc. In any case the code definition of a high-rise building takes precedence over any other definition for the purposes of life safety and fire protection.

In marketing terms I agree.

The price issue is probably the cause more times than not. Another is the inability to "locate" owners. Sometimes land is owned by trusts whose trustees and beneficiaries are hard to locate. Developers will take the path of least resistance when it comes to acquiring land. For them too time can be just as important as money. In their world the two are one in the same.

I believe most building codes define "high rise" as any structure which has an occupied floor higher than what can be reached by a ladder truck. This has implications in protected egress (exiting) a building such as the number of stair wells, whether sprinkler systems are required, etc. So a 6 story building could be a high rise depending on the height of the 6th floor from ground level. By the way, most codes in use today heavily favor sprinkler systems in buildings.

I'm pleased to learn that. As I've said before the building seems to be ideally suited for that. Also, the breeze coming off Clear Lake makes the county park nearby, and I would assume the West Mansion, a more pleasant venue than most other places on a humid summer evening.

Someone let me know if this is not more universally the case but in the cities with which I am familiar (Chicago, Washington D. C, and the San Francisco Bay Area primarily) the train lines are referred to by color, e.g. The Blue Line, The Yellow Line, etc. This is useful to the visitor or tourist because the "maps" at the stations or on the trains are usually schematic (not to scale and not accurately representing the geographical route of the trains). This is especially true it seems of subway trains. I think if Houston winds up with no more than 8 major light rail lines (wouldn't that be something), giving each line a color name would work just fine. After all my first box of Crayola crayons had 8 different colors.

So it was the old Continental Oil Co. (Conoco) building. My memory is not as bad as I feared. Thanks, intencity.

The rendering lockmat posted last evening may look "cookie cutter" (compare to the complex in Rice Village) but as swtsig noted, that is not a bad thing in this case. Remember what it replaced and the scores of other apartments built around that same period. Almost invariably they were two or three story "neo-colonial" or "French chateau" garden apartments. They served many parts of the city well for about 40 years. Obviously, the economics of multi-family construction dictate a more dense configuration these days and there is good in that as well. From this apartment one could reasonably walk to the Kroger or HEB at the corner of Bissonnet and Buffalo Speedway or the businesses around Kirby and Bissonnet. Just be careful crossing that intersection!

I don't know what the legal aspects involved are regarding keeping the sign, and to some extent the name, but I agree I'd like to see the present sign incorporated into the refurbished building. Whether it is a Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Express, or Hampton Inn I would be pleased. Perhaps it could be called something like the "Hampton Savoy Houston." I guess the Savoy in London is the one being alluded to but downtown needs more medium priced lodging like the Hampton and Holiday Inn Express as well as high-end hotels. I've stayed in each of those mentioned above within the last couple of years and found them all to be decent. Maybe those I stayed in were better than others (everyone has his horror stories). I'm not too picky but I wouldn't tolerate something that was not clean or uncomfortable and I certainly wouldn't recommend anything that was only marginal.

Help me out other "chronologically enhanced" HAIF'ers; which building had the "weather ball" on top? Was it the old Continental Oil Company building? I vaguely remember a spherical element that was lit up in different colors to indicate changes in the weather. It was probably tied to barometric pressure readings and whether those were rising or falling. True that a smart phone can give that information including RADAR but a quick glance on top of a tall building is faster and safer when driving on the Pierce Elevated even if not as detailed.

No reason not to use it EXCEPT when it is above something lighter colored, like a concrete column or pier, and the rain washes over the steel and runs onto the concrete it leaves a significant stain.

West or East?

Agreed. My late uncle was a Newsweek subscriber (and an avid fan). He was a great guy but about as cool as Richard Nixon wearing Bermuda shorts.

As Charlie Brown of the Peanuts comic strip used to say, "ARRRRRRRGH!"

Forget about the hacking, fake press conferences, etc., what about people who report without simply checking their facts? I think sometimes they are well-meaning but just too anxious to "get the scoop" or just plain lazy. I really don't trust any ONE version of "the news" anymore.

Sandblasting is pretty much death to brick though it may take some time before the damage is evident. When standard brick (not even glazed) is fired the outer surface becomes more dense than the rest of the brick. Though freeze/thaw is not as much a consideration here as in colder climates removing the outer "skin" of the brick makes it more porous and can lead to its accelerated deterioration. As Purdue and cuevas correctly stated this is why preservationist discourage the practice.

I agree. The Astrodome is a significant structural and mechanical engineering accomplishment as well.

Audi's current products and marketing seem to be all about modern, sleek, and sophisticated. I would take their choice of a back-drop as a compliment.

Last April 16th I wrote the following on this thread: Here's my idea. To my mind it seems to be the least expensive (except for just letting the 'Dome crumble into the ground), practical, and mindful of the siginicance of the structure. Demolish the structure and let the larger part of the ground be used for whatever the powers that be think best but . . . 1) Mark where home plate and the 50-yard-line were (sort of like the home plate of the old 'Buff's stadium in th basement of Finger's furniture store. Oops! I wonder what the fate of that piece of history is now. (Specwriter 3/28/13) 2) Reserve the ground around those two landmarks for a monument to the memories (notice plural) of the dome. I would move the statue of R. E. "Bob" Smith into this area, add a statue of Judge Hofheinz and build a granite wall somewhat like the one at the Vietnam Memorial in D. C. but not as somber of course. The wall might define the location of the baseball diamond. On one side (probably the 'outside') could be images in relief of notable events held at the 'Dome and on the other side a list of names - a hall of fame, if you will, of notable people who played/performed there. This would include greats from the Astros and Oilers, and other athletes (think Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs) as well as other local entertainers for example, Kenny Rogers and Selena. Well, it's just a thought. Perhaps I should go looking for my old sketch book and Prismacolors. There's just been too many wonderful things that happened in the 'Dome (even apart from great Astros and Oilers games) not to make some gesture acknowledging those events. Saving the superstructure would be very cool also but might involve quite a bit of expense for restoration and making it more resistant to weathering, e.g. expensive "paint" to protect the steel. Remember, it was originally intended to be protected by the building's "skin." I do especially like Mr. Slattery's idea since it would allow the space to server a variety of functions. What ever is done with the land the 'Dome sits on now I hope the new configuration makes some gesture to all the history that has taken place there. It was much more than baseball and football. For sure don't forget Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud. I heard a reference to that classic cult movie on a recent TV show. BTW, I am also a former graduate student of the UofH College of Architecture (M. Arch 1991). That was before Gerald Hines bought the naming rights. My graduate thesis involved turning the old rail platforms on the east side of Union Station into a multi-modal transportation terminal with the station lobby serving much as it did in the past with other services for commuters like a coffee kiosk, dry cleaners drop-off, pharmacy, etc. That was well before most of us had an idea that the land would become the new ball park and that Houston would have any other mode of public transportation besides busses. I see now, from another thread on HAIF, the idea of a multi-modal transportation center is gaining interest once more.

Thanks for the photos, lockmat. There is a thread about the Hillendahl family cemetery if anyone is not alread familiar: http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/24514-hillendahl-cemetery/?hl=hillendahl and a little more information about it here: http://www.cemeteries-of-tx.com/etx/harris/cemetery/hillendahlgew.htm . As I wrote in the cemetery thread, I spent a bit of time on Long Point Road as a child since my grandmother did a good bit of her shopping along that street. It was never a "high end" commercial area - she shopped at K-mart and Weingarten's primarily - but the neighborhood certainly has a different look than it did in the 1960's. One thing that hasn't changed is the cemetery.

As for HH prices it's hard for me to say. Is it still possible to get a $2 bottle of beer anymore? Even a 6-pack of Shiner at Spec's rings up at more than a buck per and that's with me toting them home and opening the bottle myself. Obvioulsly, a downtown or mid-town bar owner is going to have more overhead than a dive out on the Hempstead Highway. I paid $6 per glass for Stella the other day at a well-known establishment in the southwest part of town.

I drove past the mansion last night about 7:30. There were lights on all inside the building and the parking lot was full. There was nothing going on outside on the terrace. It never occured to me before, but last night made evident that there is very little exterior lighting and NONE was apparent in the parking area. It appears the parking area was repaved during the renovations prior to the opening of DR34M so there should be no pot holes to negotiate when guests returned to their cars. Does anyone know what event was being held there? It seems odd it would be after the all star game unless it was something unrelated. We have a lot of fund-raisers and "kick-off" events in the Clear Lake area and this structure seems ideal for that although there could be more parking (with lighting for evening events).