AUSTIN | Third + Shoal | 389 FEET | 29 FLOORS | U/C | Complete

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by resansom

The boring, gray siding just got a little less boring. LET THERE BE LIGHT:

Interesting optical illusion but looks like Austin Proper is leaning towards 3rd & Shoal to the point where they look to connect. The building itself is at slight angle compared to 3rd.

[the Genral]

Yeah, they do look like they are leaning towards each other. They are RIDICULOUSLY too close together.

[resansom]

Here's an even better shot of the new lights - they're actually quite bright:

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by the Genral

Yeah, they do look like they are leaning towards each other. They are RIDICULOUSLY too close together.

This is a legitimate question. Why aren't they one building?

[Jdawgboy]

Originally Posted by resansom

Here's an even better shot of the new lights - they're actually quite bright:

This is the earliest that I've ever seen a building lit! It's only about half way built...

Maybe they are testing to see if it's too bright? Better to try it out before spending all that money to complete it.

[resansom]

Interesting - it looks like there were some last-minute design changes. Based on this earlier rendering, it appears as if garage was originally going to be covered in glass on that west side of the building (where the lights just went up):

[myBrain]

Walked by today:

[Sigaven]

So what are the panels covering the garage made of? Perforated metal? Metal mesh? Whatever the material is it looks warped and messy and cheap. I wish they would've gone with glass.

[futures]

That's got to be the cheapest material possible to cover a parking garage.

I'm pretty shocked something this terrible will be facing the creek and will be visible from town lake.

[drummer]

I agree, it does look cheap at the moment. However, if they put lights all the way across on that side it may help it to look better. The section with the lights installed already looks way better than the other, even if it is just a slight mask over ugly materials.

I'm curious to see the final product of that section, so I'm going to hold my breath on it for now.

[H2O]

Originally Posted by We vs us

This is a legitimate question. Why aren't they one building?

Because they are two separate properties with two separate owners separated by a 20' wide alley. Your question is like asking why the W and AMLI on 2nd (or any other two buildings across the street or alley from one another) aren't one building.

[KevinFromTexas]

Well, they could have been developed as one. The main thing preventing that from happening is as you said, they are owned and are being developed by different companies.

The alley issue isn't really one, though, they would need approval from the city to build over it. Some of our big office towers along Congress from the 80s that run the full length of the block (east to west) crossed alleys. One Congress Plaza, 301 Congress, One American Center, and 816 Congress, all were built across the alleys on those blocks. The Frost Bank Tower and the JW Marriott did, too, along with the Fairmont and the Hilton as well as UT's new HQ.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by H2O

Because they are two separate properties with two separate owners separated by a 20' wide alley. Your question is like asking why the W and AMLI on 2nd (or any other two buildings across the street or alley from one another) aren't one building.

I was under the impression they were owned by the same company.

[myBrain]

Originally Posted by drummer

I agree, it does look cheap at the moment. However, if they put lights all the way across on that side it may help it to look better. The section with the lights installed already looks way better than the other, even if it is just a slight mask over ugly materials.

I'm curious to see the final product of that section, so I'm going to hold my breath on it for now.

It looks better in person, at least to me. Obviously not as good as glass, but better than poverty siding or some of the other materials used around town to cover up garages. It has an interesting translucency that really doesn't come out in the photos, almost like a thin fabric.

The section with the fins/lights does look a lot better. The gaps are too wide in the sections without them and it makes the panels look uneven. Unfortunately, looking at the renderings, I don't think the other sections are getting lights.

[corvairkeith]

Parking garages need to "breathe". If all dozen or so levels of the parking garage were encased in glass there would need to be some way to remove the carbon monoxide. I'm sure it would also require a second HVAC system or it would be unbearable in the summer months. I think the panels they are using look much better than having a fully exposed parking garage taking up half of the height of the building.

[futures]

Originally Posted by corvairkeith

Parking garages need to "breathe". If all dozen or so levels of the parking garage were encased in glass there would need to be some way to remove the carbon monoxide. I'm sure it would also require a second HVAC system or it would be unbearable in the summer months. I think the panels they are using look much better than having a fully exposed parking garage taking up half of the height of the building.

Yeah, that's no excuse. Almost every new building downtown over the last 20 years has an enclosed parking garage. They all have other ways to circulate the air or use much better materials to allow for air flow. There's a dozen or so downtown that do use glass all the way down (including 500 W 2nd right next door), they just get air in and out in a much more aesthetically pleasing fashion.

[KevinFromTexas]

I think there are probably safety standards put in place by the fire department that would require garages that are enclosed to have mechanical ventilation. That creates the need to accommodate those systems on each floor. I know that the Co-Op garage in West Campus, which is entirely enclosed on the north/south facades, has two huge ventilation shafts on each level sucking the air out up to the roof. These are separate systems from the building's HVAC systems since it's simply vented air, rather than heated or cooled. Plus, you don't want air that has been contaminated with car exhaust to be circulated into other parts of the building, in the case of garage levels within a tower.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by myBrain

Walked by today:

Good catch!

[Mopacs]

From yesterday, 12/9/2017





to the right of the Prosper

[corvairkeith]