AUSTIN | Fairmont Hotel | 595 FEET SPIRE/456 FT ROOF | 37 FLRS | Complete - Page 65

drummer · #1 Posted **Dec 27, 2016, 2:56 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoninATX

Even though we as forumers are divided about how The Fairmont looks, I have to say at least we are getting a spire out of it. Also if you look closely, it looks as if the base of the tower is getting a lighting scheme.

https://www.facebook.com/FairmontAustin/?fref=ts

Do you mean the far right of the base? If what I'm seeing is it, it seems like that's the side that would face Cesar Chavez to the south, right?

JoninATX · #2 Posted **Dec 27, 2016, 3:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by drummer

Do you mean the far right of the base? If what I'm seeing is it, it seems like that's the side that would face Cesar Chavez to the south, right?

Correct, the far right side of the base. But I'm also thinking that the front side will be decorated in lights as well.

drummer · #3 Posted **Dec 27, 2016, 9:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoninATX

Correct, the far right side of the base. But I'm also thinking that the front side will be decorated in lights as well.

That could be a pleasant surprise then.

Jdawgboy · #4 Posted **Dec 27, 2016, 7:28 PM**

There are a lot of nice Fairmont hotel designs, some of course are refurbished older buldings. One thing that makes ours stand out is the number of rooms it will have. Only the Fairmont in Toronto will have more rooms.

There's no doubt that I would have loved the original design but it's not too bad in its final form. I think if the fact that we have a large rectangle with the JW makes it less appealing and even the JW isn't just a glass rectangle but has some other design elements including the white wing that juts out. I'd really like to see a change with future hotels. Proper is at least a start. I guess Aloft is too except the south facing wall is still bothering me.

Lighting is going to be the next test, will they light the crown? Will the spire have some sort of lighting? Will the lighting be bland or will it have some color and vibrancy?

We vs us · #5 Posted **Dec 27, 2016, 8:53 PM**

Worth noting that this isn't so much a Fairmont hotel as a Manchester hotel. If you look at what they've built in the past this makes much more sense. Fairmont is really just the management company, and the brand that's agreed to work with the Manchesters on their project.

clubtokyo · #6 Posted **Dec 28, 2016, 3:38 AM**

I am happy with this tower, its massive! Every time someone visits me from out of town, they mention how wide it is. Austin needs this tower, hopefully the next eye catcher will be more interesting.

StoOgE · #7 Posted **Dec 29, 2016, 4:17 PM**

Yeah, I'm not sure why we are showing photos of things like the Plaza that were built long before Fairmont took over management of them as "proof" of what the building should look like.

lzppjb · #8 Posted **Dec 29, 2016, 9:44 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by StoOgE

Yeah, I'm not sure why we are showing photos of things like the Plaza that were built long before Fairmont took over management of them as "proof" of what the building should look like.

Because it's not a comparison of the building should look like. It's a comparison of what they do look like.

Syndic · #9 Posted **Dec 30, 2016, 1:10 AM**

Explored Dell Med on my run downtown last night and got this cool view of the Fairmont in the distance. It'll be real cool once it's all finished and the spire is all lit up.

Sigaven · #10 Posted **Dec 29, 2016, 4:35 PM**

I think we are all just dismayed that Big (Dollar) Bill took a VE sledgehammer to the tower to flatten it out into a giant and rather featureless glass wall. Same thing happened in San Antonio with the Grand Hyatt downtown. (but hey, at least the glass wall is good for something - it blocks the view of the hideous Hilton behind it!)

KevinFromTexas · #11 Posted **Dec 29, 2016, 9:55 PM**

^I think his point was that those buildings were built years before Fairmont (which really is an old company) had anything to do with those properties. Besides, only a few of those would be any good as an urban hotel. The rest are resorts that would likely be built in the Hill Country.

lzppjb · #12 Posted **Dec 29, 2016, 10:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

^I think his point was that those buildings were built years before Fairmont (which really is an old company) had anything to do with those properties. Besides, only a few of those would be any good as an urban hotel. The rest are resorts that would likely be built in the Hill Country.

I know what he is saying. And it has nothing to do with the comparison I made. That's what my previous post was trying to say.

Speculator · #13 Posted **Jan 2, 2017, 4:22 PM**

The view from Sunday Funday.

the Genral · #14 Posted **Jan 3, 2017, 12:59 AM**

I don't mind that blank wall. I bet it will be lit up somehow. At least it has some design and texture and isn't too big.

ivanwolf · #15 Posted **Jan 3, 2017, 5:33 PM**

This thing has only one interesting part and that's the curvy part on Waller Creek side. The ugly blank wall with stupid vertical lines is horrible, and the glass, well its just lots of glass all the same color with no architectural intrigue to the whole thing! So in short, It's ugly.

urbancore · #16 Posted **Jan 3, 2017, 8:45 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ivanwolf

This thing has only one interesting part and that's the curvy part on Waller Creek side. The ugly blank wall with stupid vertical lines is horrible, and the glass, well its just lots of glass all the same color with no architectural intrigue to the whole thing! So in short, It's ugly.

agreed....this building (so far) has been a massive let down.

I fear Austin will never get a big architecture marvel (something we can really be proud of)....unless prices for condos/office spaces triple (to reach the prices of the bigger more well known cities, where a big name with high design is expected).

We vs us · #17 Posted **Jan 5, 2017, 10:07 PM**

Not sure if y'all are interested in things like this but one of my friends at the Fairmont shared this time lapse vid on her LinkedIn page . . . and it's worth watching, if only because it puts the hotel in a newish perspective (for me at least). Shows off the height, the reflectivity of the windows, its relative isolation from the rest of DT. It's a big building for where it is, and to me is kind of an obvious first foray into developing that portion of Waller Creek. The building itself may not be visionary but it's placement definitely is.

https://vimeo.com/197914720

the Genral · #18 Posted **Jan 6, 2017, 1:44 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by We vs us

Not sure if y'all are interested in things like this but one of my friends at the Fairmont shared this time lapse vid on her LinkedIn page . . . and it's worth watching, if only because it puts the hotel in a newish perspective (for me at least). Shows off the height, the reflectivity of the windows, its relative isolation from the rest of DT. It's a big building for where it is, and to me is kind of an obvious first foray into developing that portion of Waller Creek. The building itself may not be visionary but it's placement definitely is.

https://vimeo.com/197914720

pretty cool, thanks for posting.

_Matt · #19 Posted **Jan 6, 2017, 9:10 PM**

Nice video. Combination of aerial drone footage and time-lapse. Can't wait for the spire!

ivanwolf · #20 Posted **Jan 6, 2017, 10:11 PM**

I got it!

The only good thing about the big blank wall is that it could be used as a Drive In Movie Theater Screen. Use the parking lot across Cesar Chavez for watching it, and the IHOP is the concession stand.