Rowling Hall- UT McCombs Business Education Center | 101' | 5 FLOORS | U/C
 

Path clears the way for the new 458,000 sq ft business education center on the UT Campus. Taking over the empty gas station lot and Players' restaurant, the space will provide a legit gateway to campus at the corner of Guadalupe and MLK.

http://m.bizjournals.com/austin/blog...n-of-172m.html

http://www.utexas.edu/news/files/Row...aytime-4x3.jpg

http://www.utexas.edu/news/files/Row...ering1-4x3.jpg

[IMG]http://media.bizj.us/view/img/2696321/rowlinghall*640xx3788-2131-441-0.jpg[/IMG]

I was kind of hoping for something taller and sexier for that important corner. This is only five floors. That means each floor is going to be 80,000 plus square feet? This is just bulky and boring.

I think it looks interesting. Reminds me of something that you could see out of D.C.

Apropos for a business school. The very word "business" is bulky and boring. :sleep:

These illustrations look so urbane, unlike the current appearance of that corner which is just ratty, bedraggled, haggard... I wonder if it will really transform that much.

I'm sure the corner will look a lot better. It could not possibly look much worse than now. It just won't pack much punch visually, and it is such a prominent location. It looks more like a DC government building than a DC office building. The office buildings there are mostly 8 to 10 floors and usually only take up a quarter of a block, sometimes half a block. That is enough height for something visually more interesting. I was kind of expecting something like that for this corner. This building would be more appropriate buried inside the campus somewhere.

I think it'll be cool. The Dobie is an interesting building from afar but it doesn't fit at all in the campus asthetic. This type of mid rise will be much more appropriate for the area and fill in nicely with the other center pieces around campus. :cheers:

I'm surprised they're moving away from the Spanish architecture.

I will hold off on my judgment until it is built. As much as we love highrises, this may not be that bad for the area. Yes it is a very prominent site where a huge amount of traffic will pass by on a daily basis but in this case I think it is more about the street interaction rather than how tall the building will be. I will just have to wait and see as the building goes up.

The rendering shown in the attached article suggests that the building will be much more interesting from the interior and courtyard point of view. I guess this is the area facing towards the southeast away from the street.

http://m.bizjournals.com/austin/blog...n-of-172m.html

Yep. Because I'm going to drive by, say to myself "hey, I wonder what the inside looks like?".

No, I really couldn't care less about the interior or the courtyard. For $172m, I'm sure it'll be a very high quality building. It's just not very interesting.

I pretty much agree. It is in the tradition of UT's undistinguished looking but very expensive buildings.

what bothers me is that they have once again turned their back on the city. All of the drag and MLK buildings the street and the city. All backs and sides of buildings. Even the museum.
I realy wish they would have made this building interact with the neighborhoood around it instead of making that major corner the most boing and and least user friendly. Make it a welcoming point of entry.
Nice move "neighbor".

The rendering makes this building seem cut off from the public, as maybe it should be I suppose, but still, it would be nicer or neighbor friendly if access to it was from the public sidewalk via some sort of plaza with benches and some shade trees. It just has this keep away feel to it unless of course you are a student or staff member.

Absolutely right! This corner site is probably one of the most important and visible spots in the city outside of downtown. It has been an eye-sore for decades. This is an opportunity to create a "gateway" experience to the UT campus and the immediate neighborhood. I understand that UT has a kind of "enclosed quad" mindset, but there needs to be an exception made in this case. This is an opportunity to do something special.

Is this on the block where Players is right now?

Yes that's where Player's was.

I would say from the school's point of view security and lack of public interaction may be the bigger goal.

Well, they are probably going to have plenty of security, privacy etc. The place looks like a big mausoleum from the street.

When did Player's close? I ate their recently a few weeks back.

A fence has gone up around the old gas station lot this weekend. I would be interested in knowing if the University already gave Players the 6 months notice to close?

It's required by the April 2012 purchase agreement. Might give us an idea of the true timeline. I know construction was planned for this fall?

Correct, dirt will start moving this fall. Right now there are 2 porta potties on site. So that tells me construction is not to far off.