Quote:
Originally Posted by plinko
That's all fine, but you realize that the ends are where the exit stairs are right? Cladding them in glass (fire rated glass no less) would quadruple the costs of those two stair towers. The ends are fairly slender (how wide is this tower...50'?). Does anybody know what the building is supposed to be clad in? Stucco? EIFS (more likely)? GFRC? Stone (wishing, but I know better)?
Anybody else notice that all the spandrel panels between floors (on the east and west) and between rooms (north and south) are colored? The renderings show maroon and gold... Interesting... The renderings also show horizontal projections on the south facade that will supposedly shade out some of the worst sun. Those will add some depth to the facade that's not readily apparent in the drawings. Unfortunately the shades won't really do all that much in that vertical solar shades are much more functional (oddly enough the worst conditions will be late summer afternoons on the NORTH side of the buidling).
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plinko, even if glass is too expensive, my point was that you're looking at a lot of square feet of solid beige panels. There must be more interesting, yet cost-effective options to make it a more appealing design. I have noted in past posts that perhaps it will look better once built and that I'm hoping that my intial expression of disappotinment will turn around once we get a gander at the finished product. I have reviewed the high-resolution rendering in detail several times and I can't say that I'm crazy about the alternating gold and maroon spandrel panels (though they look more burnt orange to me than maroon). If you look closely at the outer wall of the balcony at the lower left of the building, the alternating colored panels appear to be semi-transparent. They must be incorporating the color scheme in both glass and architectural panels. I do like the projections between floors that you note. It gives the appearance of shallow balconies and does break up the massive facade, adding shadows and texture. The major cladding material seems to be a mystery. It would be nice to know. I know you're an architect...can't they make GFRC that looks just like sandstone? I wonder if that's what was used on the convention center or if it is natural. I must say, the more I look at the hotel renderings, the less I'm hating it.
I would be very interested to get your honest opinion of the overall design.