MD Anderson T. Boone Pickens Academic Tower At 1400 Pressler St.

[Lectro]

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3306678

[houstonsemipro]

Yep, I just read it. This is great. At lease I see Med. offices and Hospitals going up, and not put on hold like these other projects around Houston.

[kjb434]

Cool,

The TMC just continues to build and build up.

[UrbaNerd]

Is this the building that will replace the Prudential Tower?...

[Houston19514]

Is this the building that will replace the Prudential Tower?...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

No. the Prudential Tower is at 1100 Holcombe. This new building is behind a building at 1800 Holcombe.

[UrbaNerd]

Ah, good. It lives on!...for now...

[houstonsemipro]

I think that hospitals will forever be built. Nurses, doctors, etc are in demand now. This is just the beginning for the Medical Center.

It wouldn't surprise me that the Medical Center be bigger then Downtown in couple of years to come.

[texasboy]

Renderings from Shasta

[kjb434]

I don't think the TMC will compete with downtown for height, but it may compete for density.

[texasboy]

I don't think the TMC will compete with downtown for height, but it may compete for density.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[sevfiv]

[H-Town Man]

Wow. Nice addition. Great pic, texasboy. It looks like that building shown in front of it will also receive a new wing, judging by the different pics. Awesome. There is no end to what these folks are building. This hospital is now the ultimate power in the universe.

[kjb434]

I just really wish midtown and the museum district will see little more height. Not tremendously tall, but more height to almost link the too.

The museum district has a start with several tall residential towers.

[gardenoaksguy]

I work at MDACC. Once this building is completed they will move many functions currently in the Prudential Building into it and other locations. Then, unfortunately, it is bye bye Prudential. It will be replaced by some other kind of expansion in the future.

[kjb434]

Is this that bad?

[sevfiv]

my mother works at MDACC as well...bye bye prudential

[UrbaNerd]

Renderings from Shasta

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks like another standard issue TMC building- simple, sleek, etc.

[editor]

It fits in, but it's still bland 90's architecture. The Medical Center is quickly becoming Sugar Land. Will no one take a chance to make this a landmark and not just another clump of stucco-covered boxes?

[kjb434]

I think the TMC has a lot of architecture. I drive through on Fannin and see those really old looking buildings that gives some character.

Personally, I think the sleak 90's design give the image of clean like a Hospital is supposed to be.

[sevfiv]

it just makes me think of pepto

[Subdude]

It's a mixed bag. A lot of the older ones, like Hermann and the Medical Towers, are pretty nice, as is Pelli's St Lukes. As for MDACC, however, I would agree with editor. It's mediocre at best. Their insistance on cheap, generic architecture is why they are destroying the Prudential. The building could easily be renovated, but it would be cheaper just to demolish it and build some something forgettable. The same explanation applies to why they destroyed the Shamrock and replaced it with what must be one of the ugliest buildings at the Medical Center. In the back of my mind I keep thinking they get some sort of malicious pleasure from destroying meaningful buildings.

[UrbaNerd]

The shamrock was also sort of plain, too.

Still, the TMC does have a few buildings with nice architecture, like the St Lukes tower by Pelli, the new UT SONSCC, the upcoming Prarie View Nursing school, etc. Stuff that's more modern, unlike the "sugarland esque" stuff that most of the MDA buildings look like.

The new Ambulatory building is kind of cool, though, with the plaza, and such.

[sevfiv]

the new buildings along holcombe are definitely...different in some ways (especially the mix of materials used on the exterior).

the shamrock was kind of plain, unless you got an aerial view of the roof...heh

and is the plaza on montrose appearing to be progressing slowly, or am i just anxious?

[Subdude]

Sugar Land-esque is exactly the right term.

The Shamrock was plain, but that was the fashion when it was built. More important than the style was that it was perhaps the only true landmark building that Houston had until the Astrodome was built. The AIA referred to the Medical Center's demolition of the Shamrock as "civic vandalism", which is also exactly the right term.

[citykid09]

I would like to see the Medical Center be more than just a medical center. They should add retail and residence (highrises). Isin't METRO building some kind of retail place along the rail line.

[Subdude]

Metro put out a proposal for mixed-use development but nothing has been finalized. The Med Center isn't going to develop residential, since the land is tight for medical purposes as it is. They already demolished two existing residential highrises to make way for hospitals.

[H-Town Man]

The M.D. Anderson buildings aren't that bad. They make a nice ensemble, and their facades present good texturing and soothing colors. They have shown their sensitivity to architecture with the Lake/Flato designed Nurses' building. They have also promised to replace the Prudential with a building of architectural distinction.

Of course we are losing a piece of history, and combined with the Shamrock, that is really sickening. But they are saving tens of millions of dollars by starting over instead of renovating. I know, I know... what's money compared to beauty, history, identity? On the other hand, what's money compared to human life? Have you heard some of the stories of cancer patients who have gone to this hospital after being at some other hospital? I have a friend who is a cancer patient there, and he said going to M.D. Anderson completely turned things around - there was just no comparison in the level of care, and at that point he really started to have hope. Other things I have heard suggest that his is not a unique story.

I will also just throw in that this is, in fact, the greatest cancer hospital in the world. It's possibly the one good thing that Houston can claim to be number one in. If that kind of institution can save fifty plus million by tearing down a decaying landmark, I say let them have it. It would be a serious compromise of their mission statement, I think, if they were to give up fifty million on the balance sheet for the sake of architecture. Everything they do is rationalized with the sole end of eliminating this disease. If they were to mix architecture patronage into their objectives, they would not be the institution they are.

[texasboy]

It fits in, but it's still bland 90's architecture.  The Medical Center is quickly becoming Sugar Land.  Will no one take a chance to make this a landmark and not just another clump of stucco-covered boxes?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Here is a rendering of the 22 story Outpatient Care Center to start in early 2006. I think it will be a different design that we usually do not see in the med center. although this is not a detailed rendering.

[UrbaNerd]

Hmm...once that thing is done, we could have a sort of "triangulation" of signature towers in the TMC- the StLukes, the new Hermann, and this. I can't wait....

[H-Town Man]

Here is a rendering of the 22 story Outpatient Care Center to start in early 2006.  I think it will be a different design that we usually do not see in the med center.  although this is not a detailed rendering.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Now this, this is a cool building.