Best/Worst building remodel
 

Post pics of your favorite building remodel, your least favorite remodel or both

I stumbled across this redo today which transformed a boring brutalist box in Portland to a gorgeous futuristic-looking glass tower:

http://www.seradesign.com/wp-content...re-n-after.jpg

On the other hand Toronto fucked up when they had the chance to transform Canada's tallest building from a boring box into something spectacular but instead just chose to go with the exact same featureless look and design after spending over $100 million updating it:

http://www.ellisdon.com/wp-content/u...figure5@2x.jpg

Hmmmm. I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually like the "boring brutalist box" better. The new version is a hot mess.

I really like First Canadian Place too.

For best reno, I'd have to nominate 100 Park Avenue. You would never know that it's a 70 year old building by its looks!

Sorry but yeah, the new version looks pretty bad and what's with that tin shed on top?

I liked what they did to Salt Lake's old Gateway East (Kennecott) building a decade-plus ago...

BEFORE:

https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/5a70...Kennecott).jpg
https://100.okland.com/

TODAY:

https://cloudflarecdn.commercialcafe...C75CF/3818.jpg
https://www.commercialcafe.com/comme...bank-building/

Thats a definite marked improvement

Before and after pictures would be nice, that's kind of the point of the thread

I wouldn't say it's replacement is any architectural masterpiece but compared to the previous version, it's a massive improvement. If no one liked brutalism it would never have existed, I just have never understood how anyone could like buildings that are devoid of any features, ornamentation or imagination, brutalism just seems like the laziest and most uninteresting design imaginable.

Yeah, I've never liked buildings that wear hats.

How about this one in Denver? It's only a proposal, but if we can trust the renderings, it should be a major improvement:

Before:

https://denverinfill.com/blog/wp-con..._current-1.jpg
https://denverinfill.com/blog/wp-con..._current-1.jpg

After:

https://denverinfill.com/blog/wp-con..._rendering.jpg
https://denverinfill.com/blog/wp-con..._rendering.jpg

https://denverinfill.com/blog/2019/0...enovation.html

Sorry, was on mobile last night, here's 100 Park Avenue:
Both pics from skyscrapercenter.com
Before:
http://images.skyscrapercenter.com/b...lookup1_nl.jpg

After:
http://images.skyscrapercenter.com/b...overall_nl.jpg

Wow. When I see the before, I have a hard time imagining why anyone would think that needs to be remodeled. When I see the after, I see a boring, bland office building. Whoever did this might as well have just stacked up millions of dollars of cash into a pile and lit it on fire. It's sad.

^I think part of the problem with 100 Park Avenue's facade was what it was made of- brick. Over time, many of those facades didn't age well and developed maintenance problems, which were probably getting expensive to deal with, so something needed to be done. Remember what 425 Park Avenue used to look like, same architects and same time period.
That and a modern facade was probably thought to be more appealing to potential tenants. I do agree it was nice looking before though :)

I agree, I don't see much improvement after the reno, the original was nice

[QUOTE=Sam Hill;8531693]How about this one in Denver? It's only a proposal, but if we can trust the renderings, it should be a major improvement:

Is that the old PSCo building?

That Kennecott bilding looks awful IMO...it looks suburban just by it's generic façade and lazy attempt of masonry.

That Park Avenue project is pretty brutal as well. Looks kind of like a robot instead of a respectable skyscraper.
Not sure what's going on in that Denver render.....it look worse than it's current rendition by some measure.

Ummmm, I have no idea. :shrug:

Interesting. I have such a hard time understanding how anyone could like the first one better. I almost feel like you're playing devil's advocate here. The first one looks hideous to me.

It's interesting how no one can agree on these "improvements." I almost feel like complete remodels on old buildings should just never be done, because the end result almost always ends up looking like an awkward compromise -- even if it is an improvement -- plus you just can't predict how people are going to feel about it decades in the future.

I think I might be leaning towards the original version on this one. Neither one is particularly attractive though.

For the longest time I used to think that particular style of 60's architecture was hideous. In fact, I hated just about everything built in the 60's. But lately, some of those 60's architectural styles are starting to look classic to me. Sleek, stylish, restrained, classy...

I feel like most people have a hard time seeing that right now, but in another 20 or 30 years they will.

Excellent idea for a thread!

New York City has quite a few of these:

BEST

2 Broadway | Completed in 1958 and remodeled in 1999.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/89/9f...3eeb95333c.jpg https://www.theraffon.net/~spookcent...oms_real15.jpg
Source | Source

http://www.genetechsys.com/uploaded_...)_Progress.jpg http://www.genetechsys.com/uploaded_...)_Finished.jpg
Source

https://picture.phorio.com/photo/787...mars/image.jpg
Source

Salesforce Tower | Completed in 1974 as the headquarters for New York Telephone, remodeled in 2007.

http://cdn.tungstenproperty.com/img/...fice-space.gif https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20190110145639
Source | Source

Trump International Hotel & Tower | Completed in 1970 as the Gulf + Western Building, remodeled in 1997 into a luxury hotel and condominiums.

https://storage.googleapis.com/hippo...62e94476d6.jpg https://en.wikiarquitectura.com/wp-c...8-768x1024.jpg
Source | Source

WORST

52 Broadway | Completed in 1898 and sadly remodeled in 1982 with 8 additional floors.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ingNYC1920.jpg https://www.rubenco.com/52bway/images/img1.jpg
Source | Source

375 Pearl Street | Completed in 1975 as a telephone switching building for New York Telephone. Partially remodeled into an office building in 2016, there are currently no plans to reclad the rest of the building...

https://imgs.6sqft.com/wp-content/up...4040518293.jpg
Source

1 Times Square | Completed in 1904 as the headquarters for the New York Times, remodeled in 1963 into the Allied Chemical Tower.

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2014...y=90&auto=webp
Source

Since 1995 it has covered with billboards as the owners felt the building would be more profitable as a giant billboard due to the tiny floor plates.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AQiaDpgY5i...Band%2Bnow.jpg
Source

335 Madison Avenue | Completed in 1913 as the Biltmore Hotel and remodeled into an office building in 1981.

http://www.nypap.org/wp-content/uplo...l-875x1055.jpg https://nyocommercialobserver.files....to74.jpg?w=768
Source | Source

3 Columbus Circle | Completed in 1928 as the Columbus Tower, remodeled in 2005 into 3 Columbus Circle.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/30/29...747614b315.jpg http://images.skyscrapercenter.com/b...-w-cahill1.jpg
Source | Source

2 Columbus Circle | Completed in 1964 and remodeled in 2005.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EUMPjHxN0B...le+cropped.jpg
Source

Grand Hyatt New York | Completed in 1919 as The Commodore Hotel, remodeled in 1980 by Donald Trump. The building has been proposed for demolition earlier this year.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ty%2C_1921.jpg http://www.nyc-architecture.com/IM-1...-GON061-03.jpg
Source | Source

2 broadway looked better than before, its facade was quirky and interesting. Now it just looks really generic. Same with 2 Columbus Circle.