Chase Tower

[TaurusNYC]

Actually, Trump has his name on dozens of buildings in New York. The image you showed is his building on Fifth Avenue. I was referring to the Trump World Tower by the United Nations.

[architect5311]

I have entertained the thought of a revamped Chase Tower as well and thought Centerpoint Energy Plaza in Houston was a good example........although a somewhat easier building to work with, given its square footprint and more simple detailing.

Before


After

[architect5311]

Concerning revamping highrises downtown, I think Oklahoma Tower holds more promise than Chase. Chase is at least complete, whereas OT has always appeared incomplete to me as if they ran out of money and had to stop short, which may be the case.......there was a planned 50 story highrise perhaps on the NW corner of the Galleria Site (correct me if I'm wrong, Steve?)

Anyways, if the market could make use of the additional office space I would like to see something like this............

Existing Oklahoma Tower


Oklahoma Tower with added floors and topped off

[ronronnie1]

I love your renderings, Architect!!! I'm in total agreement with you.

[earlywinegareth]

I had another brain wave for the fins idea atop CT...install a large 'egg-beater' type wind generator inside the fins for a kinetic look that also gives the tower a Green element.

[Kerry]

Actually, Trump has his name on dozens of buildings in New York. The image you showed is his building on Fifth Avenue. I was referring to the Trump World Tower by the United Nations.

Here is the Trump World Tower. I only thought of the 5th Ave building because I just modeled it using Lego Designer.

[OKC@heart]

Anyways, if the market could make use of the additional office space I would like to see something like this............

Oklahoma Tower with added floors and topped off
[/QUOTE]

If the building was infact designed and constructed to carry the loads I would love the idea of extending the tower to reach its full potential. Would probably like to see some variations on how the top of the tower could be treated, but it is a great way to add vertical class A office space or even a residential highrise component to the downtown core. that would provide opportunities for an ammenity deck mid-span somewhere or at the top. Lots of potential cool ideas with that.

It would also go along way in helping the Devon Tower to not stick out quite as much in our skyline.

The next types of projects that I would love to see come to the CBD is true mixed use Highrise buildings. With Ground floor retail and a grand entrance for the main lobby with office/hotel/residential in stacking configurations. This type of project requires good planning on the part of the Developers to bring the right end users together, but is often a much safer proposition for large scale highrise buildings economically speaking because it is not pure speculative building that lenders are terrified of these days and it is not sole tennant reliant. Much higher likleyhood of longterm success.

I for one envision the core of the CBD expanding and south as well as west. I think that (I know that I am dreaming here) it would be awesome to see the area around the civic center surrounded with taller buildings.

[gen70]

I agree with the vision of tall bldgs. around the civic center. Not sure why but, I think it would create a sorta cool plaza area. Which I guess it kinda is already.

[OKC@heart]

It was the image that was provided yesterday by scapula on the Devon Tower Construction thread that illustrated to me how it could be a great to increase the density with larger buildings there as a natural extension of the CBD and to accentuate the articulation of the Park area that is already there and make it stand out from the vacant spaces that are all around it. The key to all of this is brining the services and supporting retail etc. that will make living in the downtown area not only possible but an advantage.

It is the ole chicken or the egg dillema, which comes first. I think in this case the answer is the rooftops and residents need to reach a certain critical mass to draw the supporting retailers, grocers etc...to set up shop in the areas thus attracting more residents....the cycle becomes self supporting at some point as it creates its own momentum. But I have to say that we need real urban homes and even rowhouses done correctly. Not as facade's hiding an appartment type structure behind it; but real honest to goodness rowhouses.

I would like...no Love to see a developer take a tract of vacant lots near downtown and masterplan it as a series of true rowhouses and allow residents to pick from say 15 designs that will work in a partywall configuration that have a minimum 3 story configuration to create the types of urban neighborhoods that many of the great cities in the east have that become very desirable locations to live. Break it up with some larger residential buildings done with the same quality and attention to detail and provide some cool rental options so that the community is not all one strata of age and or socioeconomic ilk. That is what makes the beginings of a vibrant community in an urban setting.

[earlywinegareth]

Since we're all at the wishing well...one more from me is the old Sonic HQ building located directly west of the Skirvin. I believe its construction was also halted midway, so it could add another 15-20 stories and really add some density.

These ideas underscore yet again how much potential this city has...on the one hand it's great to see progress underway, and on the other it's frustrating how amazing it all could be and how far we have to go!

[architect5311]

Downtown OKC in the near future?

[Kerry]

I see you left a lot of open space between high-rises. I would like to see them closer together like the existing core.

[DelCamino]

Concerning revamping highrises downtown, I think Oklahoma Tower holds more promise than Chase. Chase is at least complete, whereas OT has always appeared incomplete to me as if they ran out of money and had to stop short, which may be the case.......there was a planned 50 story highrise perhaps on the NW corner of the Galleria Site (correct me if I'm wrong, Steve?)

Anyways, if the market could make use of the additional office space I would like to see something like this............

Your renderings are good - thanks for doing them.

Not Steve, but you're correct - the original Galleria plan envisioned a 50-ish story office building on the nw/c of the site (or the se/corner of Park and Harvey, site of the new library).

As for OKTower - it's a good idea and would definately look good on the skyline, but as OKC@Heart mentioned, the building wasn't designed for additional story's and the superstructure likely couldn't withstand the additional weight. I agree with you though, it's never looked good and a new, architectural element on top would be great.

Aside and FYI: I've always thought we got ripped off with OKTower (on various levels...). It's not a particularly handsome building, certainly not memorable. But..it's not even ours.

The developer of the building, along with CorpTower, was Vincent Carrozza from Dallas. He was developing buildings there in the late 70's and I think it was him, who built the building there, today called Patriot Tower. You guys be the judge (see picture below), but it appears to me he did some tweaking on the plans for that one and in the early 80's, we ended up with a knock-off of an ugly Dallas building....

[OKC@heart]

[QUOTE=DelCamino;304264]

"as OKC@Heart mentioned, the building wasn't designed for additional story's and the superstructure likely couldn't withstand the additional weight."

DelCamino, just to clarify, I have no knowledge that would suggest whether or not Oklahoma Tower was designed to support additional floors or not. My intention was to state that adding height would be great (qualifier) so long as the structure was designed originally to support the addional loads of additional floors.

Just so we are all on the same page.

I too enjoyed the renderings Architect5311. shows real possibilities for the growth of the CBD. It is important to maintain and add to the density as was mentioned in Kerry's post. It is always nice to have the density swell outwards from the core, but with C2S the likelihood is that we will see a jump made like you illustrated and then need to fill in to tie it all together. Developers will want to locate large projects off of the park. It was the same with the woodall rodgers park in Dallas. Granted they had a Higher density to begin with, but the sheer knowledge of the reality of the park being built over Woodall Rodgers spured a virtual land grab that resulted in the building of several highrise buildings, some mixed use with office and residential. So it wouldn't be all that surprizing to me and I don't think that it would be bad either.

[earlywinegareth]

DelCamino, I agree and would further say OK Tower is the offspring of Patriot Tower and Carter+Burgess Plaza in Fort Worth.

I recall OK Tower, CorpTower, and Mid America tower all going up in short order back in '81-'82 as part of the Pei plan then everything came to a halt when the economy tanked.

[architect5311]

As for OKTower - it's a good idea and would definately look good on the skyline, but as OKC@Heart mentioned, the building wasn't designed for additional story's

We really don't know, the structure could have been designed to take on additional floors, it is not uncommon...........although being a spec office building maybe not.

[architect5311]

I see you left a lot of open space between high-rises. I would like to see them closer together like the existing core.

Those buildings were placed on somewhat empty lots, i.e. car dealership and the open lot at Reno and Walker. It's fantasy architecture at this point, I could see alot of lower rise infill to fill the gaps............

[DelCamino]

We really don't know, the structure could have been designed to take on additional floors, it is not uncommon...........although being a spec office building maybe not.

Yes, it's not uncommon. But with this building, I'm very sure this isn't the case. I remember when it was built and followed the news accounts of the construction at the time (like some of us are now with the Devon building) and there was never any mention the building's substructure was constructed in a manner that could support additional stories.

[DelCamino]

Since we're all at the wishing well...one more from me is the old Sonic HQ building located directly west of the Skirvin. I believe its construction was also halted midway, so it could add another 15-20 stories and really add some density....

Yes that's right, halted by the 30's Depression, or thereabouts. There was a proposal during the late 70's early 80's to double the height of this building, I think by Continental S&L ?? Didn't Steve L. have a picture of this proposal in his 2nd Century book? Anyway -- the doubling of that building would be great for density and skyline views.

[architect5311]

There is something to be said of having some breathing room, if you will, between highrises. We officed downtown in the FNC on the 28th floor and the best views were not looking out the window at City Place just across the street or Oklahoma Tower. Because of the lack of density we have here, I think we can look at a city like, say Atlanta, where the CBD & highrises are strung out over several blocks............

[Kerry]

There is something to be said of having some breathing room, if you will, between highrises. We officed downtown in the FNC on the 28th floor and the best views were not looking out the window at City Place just across the street or Oklahoma Tower. Because of the lack of density we have here, I think we can look at a city like, say Atlanta, where the CBD & highrises are strung out over several blocks............

If you are on the 15th floor or lower in Atlanta then you look at the building acorss the street. The only people in Atlanta with views are the ones above the 15th floor or in buildings that are on the edges.

[architect5311]

I see you left a lot of open space between high-rises. I would like to see them closer together like the existing core.

If that's your preference...........here is a google earth image of Atlanta.



Leadership Square sure would look better with some space around it vs buried where it is. Point being you can benefit from viewing a building and having views from the building.

[architect5311]

Chesapeake Building in Ft. Worth sure looks nice in space..........

[OKC@heart]

Chesapeake Building in Ft. Worth sure looks nice in space..........

As well done as I think their campus is for the area it is in...I sure wish they would have pulled a Devon or even a Chesapeake, Fort Worth, in Downtown OKC. Would have been great to have another vertical tower there! I am still holding out hope that they will eventually outgrow their campus and realize that due to their success surpassing their wildest dreams that they need to move to downtown, and sell off the office space to smaller companies that could share amenities such as the parking structure and pay for the maintenance through an HOA type structure.

I know...I know...dreaming again!

[Soonerus]

The 50 story affiliate to Oklahoma Tower was planned for the NW/corner with a hotel on the top 10 floors....I do not believe there was ever a plan to add to the current Oklahoma Tower a/k/a First Oklahoma Tower....