SAN ANTONIO | The Floodgate | 212 FT | 17 FLOORS | T/O

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Actually, I think San Antonio would look better with some glass. I don't say that because of a bias since Austin does have tons of it now, but rather because I'd rather not see a bunch of modern buildings pretending to be old and trying to fit in San Antonio and only ending up upstaging San Antonio's old stock. To me, that's more disrespectful to that era than glass is. There's also the bonus of glass reflecting those old facades and making for some cool sightlines, even giving you a view of it in reflection before you walk around the corner and see it. One city that I think of in this instance is Kansas City where they have a lot of old skyscrapers and also new glass towers.

If any place needs some that look old like the one above in Chicago, it's Austin, since we have so few of them. We only have two buildings taller than 300 feet that were built before the 1940s. The Texas Capitol and the University of Texas Tower. And we have no 200 footers that were built before the 1960s.

The Floodgate is a really unique design, definitely modern, and definitely not an homage to anything even resembling "old". It reminds me more of The Independent in Austin than it it reminds me of anything else in San Antonio. I do think it fits in, and it's not without its nod to say, the Tower Life Building.

For sure, I definitely agree SA needs some glass. The beige/brown theme definitely needs to be offset a lot. Didn't mean that to be a diss towards Austin either, I just mean since there's a relative lack of height downtown right now, I'd hate to see the good buildings get swamped by generic yet tall apartment towers.

The Independent, Indeed Tower and The Republic are good examples I can think of that are glass towers with character. 6x is good too. I can't think of many good modern apt towers that aren't all glass off the top of my head, but I'd definitely like to see some architectural variety here if they're gonna start building taller. SA could very easily start to look like a mini Vancouver if they start plopping those towers all over the perimeter of downtown since we seem to be hovering on that 350-400 ft plateau.

[SproutingTowers]

I get the feeling new construction has to follow strict LEED energy efficiency city codes. With the exception of the new Frost Bank building I noticed the rest use little glass with a stucco exterior where the sun may mostly hit.

[JACKinBeantown]

I'm in favor of neither all glass or stucco. I'm tired of both. There are plenty of other options. Maybe some architect can start a much needed new trend for others to follow.

I'm tired of stacked boxes too.

[Carlos Reyes]

305 soledad is a great design in my opinion. I hope we get more designs like that in the future.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by Carlos Reyes

305 soledad is a great design in my opinion. I hope we get more designs like that in the future.

It's alright, but if more and more of these buildings of that style and height get built around the perimeter of downtown (where they almost certainly will go) it's gonna turn bland really quick.

Some of the newer residential buildings in NYC are good (the supertall in Brooklyn, jenga building in Tribeca and some of the ones around Central Park come to mind)

Obviously that's a totally different league but it goes to show they can make a non copy and paste residential building if they wanted to.

[LSP]

Originally Posted by theOGalexd

It's alright, but if more and more of these buildings of that style and height get built around the perimeter of downtown (where they almost certainly will go) it's gonna turn bland really quick.

Some of the newer residential buildings in NYC are good (the supertall in Brooklyn, jenga building in Tribeca and some of the ones around Central Park come to mind)

Obviously that's a totally different league but it goes to show they can make a non copy and paste residential building if they wanted to.

The new Hemisfair tower looks strikingly similar. I see what you're saying, but a few buildings like that just to add some urban density wouldn't hurt. We're starved for both height and density.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by LSP

The new Hemisfair tower looks strikingly similar. I see what you're saying, but a few buildings like that just to add some urban density wouldn't hurt. We're starved for both height and density.

Definitely agree. I'm all for any developments with some height and density, we need it. I just hope the developers/architects put some thought into future residential projects since office towers like the Frost seem to be going out the wayside these days.

[Carlos Reyes]

Photo update? Please.

[The Model]

[IMG]The Floodgate Construction by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]

[theOGalexd]

Screen grabs from TexasTravelers on YouTube. I think this is gonna start to come together once the white paint/facade material goes on.

[The Model]

I'm not liking the white rails on the balconies. Why not use clear glass?

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by The Model

I'm not liking the white rails on the balconies. Why not use clear glass?

Yeah I agree glass would have been a cleaner look. Maybe the used the white rails to accentuate the shape of the building? I guess we'll see how it ends up looking when the facade is done. Right now there's too much of a contrast.

[Carlos Reyes]

Any update on this?

[theOGalexd]

Saw this on reddit, from the almost finished 1Watson rooftop bar. Seems like the facade is moving at a snails pace lol.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

I'm desperate for the sun to come out but that foggy cityscape this morning was pretty rad, love that image.

[Carlos Reyes]

Any photo updates?

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by Carlos Reyes

Any photo updates?

Not the best picture, but from a couple days ago. Seems like it's moving at a snails pace. If you go on IG and look at the location for the new 1Watson rooftop you'll see pics cause it has a direct view of it.

[ajarreguin3]

Views from 1 Watson on Jan. 21, 2023!

https://imgur.com/gallery/tWTPErg

[Carlos Reyes]

Is this completed yet?

[babysal]

It is not complete. The last few months has seen very little change to the outside facade. Hopefully they've been working on the interior and the automated parking system.