April 23 2012

http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamhider/sets/72157629916831563/

The 600+ photos from the Skydance Bridge ribbon cutting and night shots will take a while.

You're the best, Will. Can't tell you how much we all appreciate you.

Here are some of those photos... Most impressive is the mature trees installed. It also looks like they are getting very close to completing the park and most the outside elements. I bet that area will be completely open within a few weeks.

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Why are there trees on the tops of those roofs?

Why are there trees on the tops of those roofs?

There are small patios up on those out-croppings.

I assume the trees are in planters to provide shade and ambience to those balconies.

Albuquerque, Sante Fe, Palm Springs, Amarillo, San Antonio

You think Santa Fe is "treeless and dusty" ?? Have you ever been there? It's surrounded by heavily-wooded mountain ridges. That area of New Mexico is a snowboarder's paradise.

It may just be the perspective in some of those photos but it appears that the trees planted on the west side of the auditorium are so close to the building that they will eventually be growing right against the building as they get larger.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat lists Devon's height at 844 feet and 52 floors above ground.
http://skyscrapercenter.com/oklahoma-city/devon-headquarters/

You think Santa Fe is "treeless and dusty" ?? Have you ever been there? It's surrounded by heavily-wooded mountain ridges. That area of New Mexico is a snowboarder's paradise.

Santa Fe is treeless and dusty. At best they have some low riperian vegitation but it certainly is not forested or have a major tree canopy. But yes, nearby mountains are forested.

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat lists Devon's height at 844 feet and 52 floors above ground.
http://skyscrapercenter.com/oklahoma-city/devon-headquarters/

I know it all depends on who is doing the reporting but the detailed schematics show it at just under 844 feet -- that IS how tall it actually is, but I know that is not always the issue.

Cool statue on the grand lawn during the arts fest...

1267

great composition shawnw. Neat piece of art there. Hope it gets snarfed up by someone in the area who puts it on display

great composition shawnw. Neat piece of art there. Hope it gets snarfed up by someone in the area who puts it on display

It can be yours for a measly $38,000!!!

It can be yours for a measly $38,000!!!

Nah, I'm weird enough that even if I did something like that, I'd probably give it to the elementary school or middle school my kiddos attended in Norman. Both schools had blue in their color schemes. Added bonus for me, I wouldn't have far to drive to look at it. All in all, probably best if I leave it to be snarfed by someone from the city. Some would pitch a fit, but ya know, the city does still get a few hundred grand a year on the arena naming rights. This sure might look nice near the north entrance or the new south entrance.

We're in the 'List of Tallest Buildings in the United States".There is a picture of the tower and the height is 850ft.(259 m). We are tied with the GE Building in New York and Chase in Chicago at #33 tallest in the U.S. (Wikipedia) Also, how do we know those buildings are exactly 850 ft. tall? We were just added in the last few days.

http://i48.tinypic.com/30u6ah1.jpg

Cool statue on the grand lawn during the arts fest...

1267

Was that piece titled "Durant going for the rebound". Lol

Was that piece titled "Durant going for the rebound". Lol

I was thinking going for the dunk

Those chain fences south of the garden wing look really close to coming down.

What's with the windows that are white with small vents? You can see them in the picture above.

What's with the windows that are white with small vents? You can see them in the picture above.

That was where the construction elevator was located. They just have not gotten around to filling in the glass.

Was leaving the Thunder game last night and the Devon Tower had white flashing lights going up the sides of the building, almost like a runway. It was awesome! anybody else see this?

Yeah it looked like all the fire alarms were going off inside but it was a cool sight. esp with the lightning

Flint in the colcord has made huge progress in the last few days ... floor and walls are up .. and tables and benches are being installed ... it should be open soon ...

the outside portion should be another month or so

The have a countdown calendar on their webpage; 15+ days as of this post which would make their opening date Thursday May 17th:

http://flintokc.com/

Last night after the Thunder game it was raining and lightning. And the windows in the tower look like they were getting shocked, was it because of the lightning? And why?

Everytime I am the last post of a page I get over looked! haha

I was thinking going for the dunk

Something like that. And I think it was actually $48,000!

Would be cool if the Thunder (or even the city) bought it for outside the Thunder practice facility.

Nice article in the Oklahoman about Devon Tower:

http://newsok.com/devon-energy-headquarters-in-oklahoma-city-stands-tallest-in-oklahoma-but-will-it-stand-test-of-time/article/3669406

But will it stand the test of time, architecturally?

Here is an easy way to tell. Would it still look good with all the windows broken? If the answer is yes then the architecture speaks for itself. If the answer is no, then the architecture is lackluster and nothing more than glass.

Here is an example:

http://img.timeinc.net/time/photoessays/2009/reliques/reliques_01.jpg

Can the tower withstand a tornado or earthquake?

Can the tower withstand a tornado or earthquake?

I don't know the specs of the Devon tower, but I am sure it can withstand both to a point. It certainly safer than most houses during a tornado, as long as you get away from the glass. A really strong tonrnado could strip a lot of it, but I doubt even the strongest could bring it down. I am pretty sure it would take a large earthquake to do some significant damage too. In almost all cases you are probably safer inside of it than on the street when the glass falls off of it.

Can the tower withstand a tornado or earthquake?

If you are referring to my comment about the test of time then that questions would be: Will it stand the test of time, structurally? The answer to that is a resounding yes. It will be standing for centuries even without any maintenance. But will it look as cool as the Roman Coliseum or the Acropolis or be as unique as Stonehenge?

Here is an easy way to tell. Would it still look good with all the windows broken? If the answer is yes then the architecture speaks for itself. If the answer is no, then the architecture is lackluster and nothing more than glass.


Your statement is obvious. If an all glass building had all of the windows smashed out of it, of course it would not look good.

Have you seen the Michigan Central Station in a while? If it looks that great, why are all of the windows being boarded up and painted to look like windows?

If you are referring to my comment about the test of time then that questions would be: Will it stand the test of time, structurally? The answer to that is a resounding yes. It will be standing for centuries even without any maintenance. But will it look as cool as the Roman Coliseum or the Acropolis or be as unique as Stonehenge?

The Roman Coliseum has seen 2 major earthquakes. The southwest corner collapesed but has been partially rebuilt. The interior is also pretty well eroded away as well.

The Roman Coliseum has seen 2 major earthquakes. The southwest corner collapesed but has been partially rebuilt. The interior is also pretty well eroded away as well.

And it still looks pretty neat and serves a model for architects today. That is the point I was getting at. Is there anything unique about Devon Tower? Are future architects going to study it and use it as inspiration for another tower? I loved the referenced article about how they said they drew all this inspiration from other buildings in OKC – and then it was pointed out that it still looked like all the other building they did. Notice they didn't draw any inspiration from Leadership Square.

I don't know if Devon Tower can outlast the Roman Coliseum without humans keeping it air and water tight. Eventually water would find its way to the rebar. Isn't the Roman Coliseum a bunch of stones stacked on top of each other?

I don't know if Devon Tower can outlast the Roman Coliseum without humans keeping it air and water tight. Eventually water would find its way to the rebar.

I was at the coliseum about 6 months ago and there was about 2 feet of water in it, boy did it stink in there.

Can the tower withstand a tornado or earthquake?

With a tornado it should be able to handle most any tornado's wind speed fine, however if it has debris that makes much more iffy on localized damage depending on what type of debris it is.

Can the tower withstand a tornado or earthquake?

There is no tornado in the history of tornadoes that could take down the Devon tower. If the winds of an EF-5 could topple that tower, the architects and engineers should be sued for stupidity.

More details on the LED lighting.

Looks like the system won't be complete until July.

They need to use the Building Maintenance Unit (BMU), which is the crane mounted on top of the building that lowers a basket for window washing and other maintenance tasks. For whatever reason, there is limited access to this, which is probably why it's taken so long to replace the few remaining windows.

They need to use the BMU to repair the multitude of fixtures that weren't installed properly. In the various tests, you can clearly see a bunch of them aren't working.

We all know the three indentions in the sides of the building have multi-functional LED lights in the vertical fins; there are five columns of fins that run the entire height of the structure in each indention.

If you notice in the triangular areas of the top of the building (technically, the crown faces) they have 26 vertical fins, all having the same capabilities. So, much, much more density of fixtures up there and each fixture on each fin can be controlled independently.

Also, I believe once fully functional, the normal operating mode will be white low-powered lights up the sides and color at the top. But of course, all these fixtures will be fully programmable, so lots of special features can be employed when desired.

This is the floorplan for the banquet space on the 50th floor of the tower.

The largest space (the north ballroom) is just over 4,000 square feet and can accommodate about 250. The smaller rooms are only about 600 square feet.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon50th.jpg

This questioned has probably been answered, but is the restaurant at the top of the tower open to the public?

This questioned has probably been answered, but is the restaurant at the top of the tower open to the public?

The restuarant and meeting/convention space are on the 49th and 50th floors. Both are open to the public, but you can imagine the meeting space is more on a reserved basis.

Exactly, I'm also imagining that the restaurant is pretty expensive?

I have been checking the Skyline Cam the last few weeks to see if it was working again and it is. Right now it has a big yellow ball sitting on top of it....the moon.

I'm getting married next spring or summer and I would love to have it on the 50th floor... but do you guys think it'll be all booked up? I wonder if I could have it in the rotunda.

Ed, I just booked an event on the 50th floor for August 2013. Saturday nights in the summer are already filling fast so you should talk to them soon.

Not sure about the rotunda.

More GREAT photos of Devon and the rest of downtown from the air!
Photos by Holly Baumann:
http://hollybaumannphotography.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/aerial-photos-devon-tower-oklahoma-city-commercial-photographer/

From today courtesy Urban Pioneer:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon59122.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon59123.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon59124.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/devon59125.jpg

So when does Vast open? I did a quick google search and could not find a website for it as of yet. I did eat at Nebu today. The food was pretty good and the myriad of options was dazzling.

Vast is supposed to open sometime around September.

Finally got over to eat at Nebu. WOW! I'll be going there often - finally a place nearby to get a healthy lunch - or even a not-so-healthy one!

Vast is supposed to open sometime around September.

What is Vast?

What is Vast?

The restaurant that will be at the top of Devon Tower.

Any new indoor photos or updates of the tower?

Any new indoor photos or updates of the tower?

Yeah It seems like people dont even care about this thread anymore =(

The Pickard Chilton website has new pictures of Devon Tower. Go to PickardChilton.com.

The Pickard Chilton website has new pictures of Devon Tower. Go to PickardChilton.com.

If you click on the ARTICLE tab at the top of this thread, you'll see all those photos have been added.

Ed, I just booked an event on the 50th floor for August 2013. Saturday nights in the summer are already filling fast so you should talk to them soon.

Not sure about the rotunda.

That's awesome! I'm not sure who to call to do the booking tho.

That's awesome! I'm not sure who to call to do the booking tho.

Start here: http://www.wahospitality.com/

If not them directly, they can refer you to the right people.