Devon Energy Center

[DelCamino]

All this is true - suppose I'm remembering the 80's too much. lol. Not sure if more development will come, to help 'fill-in,' and thinking the structure may stand there by itself for a long time.

Even so, it's a very large building. At yesterday's meeting, I was looking at the downtown model, from all sides and good or bad, it does dominate....

Pete, I agree about Chase Tower - Mr. Cotter is going to need to do some serious updating in the coming years, for that building will not age gracefully.

[Pete]

This is interesting: Will the Skyline Continue to Rise?

That is interesting!

Just goes to show what momentum, excitement and perception can do.

The bottom line is that if even a medium-sized company wanted to move downtown right now, their only option would be a bunch of B & C class space spread amongst multiple buildings.

I think in the next 10 years OKC could easily sustain a couple more 30- to 40-story office towers that would bring about 2 million more square feet to the CDB. And I hope some taller hotels and residential buildings will come as well.

[Luke]

I wouldn't doubt if more companies give OKC a second look. NBA, Devon, C2S... I mean come on.

[CrimsonOberon]

I wouldn't doubt if more companies give OKC a second look. NBA, Devon, C2S... I mean come on.

That was exactly the thought that went through my head when I read Cuatro's comment.

Does the Devon Tower carry more benefits than even we have considered before?

If that link is true, does that mean existing Oklahoma City companies are considering construction of their own buildings---though obviously on a smaller scale than Devon's---or does it mean that companies outside of Oklahoma City are taking a closer look at OKC now that Devon's plans have been unveiled?

Either way, I can hardly remember OKC ever getting so much press and visibility on the business side. And don't forget the NBA. The NBA in OKC was another thing that people had speculated would increase out-of-state business interest. Does Devon's new project put that interest at an incredible new high?

[Luke]

This will be the new view of the skyline I'll bet. On news broadcasts, postcards and whatnot. Otherwise, it's just not balanced right. At some angles, it's just asinine.

[AFCM]

I'm trying to get my bearings looking at that picture. The view is looking southwest, right?

[Luke]

A pic like that could be taken from, say, St. Anthony's?

[PLANSIT]

Deep Deuce

[donbroncho]

I decided yesterday that I would wait a day before I give my comments on the new tower so that I could think the whole thing through. And after a day of looking at the tower and all that comes with it, I am thoroughly impressed. Yesterday was another fine day in our city's renaissance.

As a soon to be college graduate, I am proud to say that I am NOT going to Texas, LA, the usual places people my age threaten to go so they can leave "boring" Oklahoma. I want to stay and see all the good things that are happening and I am glad that I get to live through all this.

And Steve's latest blog posting is very encouraging indeed as he has talked to people in the know who think more towers downtown are becoming more likely...

Good job Devon!

[metro]

I'm trying to get my bearings looking at that picture. The view is looking southwest, right?

Southeast.

[metro]

I've said it before, and been criticized. But I really think Paycom (small to mid-sized, but poised for growth). Should build one of those smaller towers (10-20 story range) shown in the C2S renderings. We all know they bought acreage on far far west Memorial Rd. near Council for development on HQ, but they have been reconsidering. Yes, they are a suburban company, but I wonder now that NBA and Devon Tower have been announced and knowing Maps III/ C2S is coming up, they'd have to be foolish not to at least consider it......

[Decious]

I'm trying to get my bearings looking at that picture. The view is looking southwest, right?

Yes.

[OKCisOK4me]

Southeast.

Negative sir, this would be looking to the Southwest from say NW 5th & the I-235 Southbound exit where you go down toward Bricktown. Over near where Grant Humphreys project is.

[metro]

yep, now I see it, although it is strikingly similar to the SE view.

[Pete]

I really think Paycom (small to mid-sized, but poised for growth). Should build one of those smaller towers (10-20 story range) shown in the C2S renderings.

How about Express Personnel?

Of course, Bob Funk chose to build out in the sticks as well.

[OKCisOK4me]

This proposal, the new Devon World HQ Building, is great, great news, don't get me wrong.

But for arguments sake, and stepping away from our civic pride and looking purely at aesthetics, is the building a good fit? While the city could handle a newer, taller building, is this proposal too tall? Does is blend in with the existing skyline or overpower it? Will it stick out and look like it doesn't belong? Is the height, size, the best look for the city?

Another city comparison:



Granted, it's a much larger and richer economy and much more excessively taller but the amount of notoriety this city has seen has been overwhelming. Also, the buildings that surround it ARE much more modern being that Dubai used to be a strip of communal housing in 1997 along a dusty two lane stretch of highway along the Persian Gulf.

Oklahoma City's age does show when it comes to the last round of architecture. Heck Leadership Square sticks out from its surroundings but it is not noticed as much because the chop down it got from its original design. Hence, I do not think this new tower will look out of place. Especially, and this should happen, if Chase upgrades their exterior. They need to look only to their sister in Indianapolis! They redid their whole exterior and it made a helluva difference.

Overall, I do think it will overpower the skyline...I mean, it is a 415' height difference! But that's okay. If we as a city are willing to step up to the plate of wanting to be a world class city (whether thats Tier 2 or Tier 1) then we need to represent ourselves as that. Overpowering is a good thing in that case.

[BG918]

Negative sir, this would be looking to the Southwest from say NW 5th & the I-235 Southbound exit where you go down toward Bricktown. Over near where Grant Humphreys project is.

The view from Block 42 and Central Ave. Lofts I believe.

[Luke]

Those in Maywood Park will be getting that view. It's the view towards the southwest. There's a gap in the skyline just for the new tower.

For comparison:

[metro]

How about Express Personnel?

Of course, Bob Funk chose to build out in the sticks as well.

Bob Funk isn't moving more than 10 minutes from Piedmont, but I bet he's interested in having a presence in our new downtown. Thing is, he just built a new HQ, Paycom hasn't but has expressed that they are planning to, and recently announced their plans are on hold and "reconsidering design, etc.". My point is maybe companies like Paycom could be persuaded to build 10 story or so HQ's on the border of the C2S park.

[UnFrSaKn]

Devon tower architect draws inspiration from area

By Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money
Business Writers

The Proposed 54-story Devon Tower will be one of the tallest skyscrapers west of the Mississippi, but its lead designer, Jon Pickard, looked to the neighboring 11-story Colcord Hotel for much of his inspiration.

"One of the key founders of skyscraper design, in fact, the gentleman responsible for much of the Colcord's terra cotta design, is the architect Louis Sullivan,” Pickard said. "And when Mr. Sullivan spoke of a skyscraper, he preferred the skyscraper as where every inch should be a proud and soaring thing — that it should, with great exaltation, reach to the sky without a dissenting line.”

Pickard's design attempts just that, even as he also looked to other components in the downtown Oklahoma City skyline, including First National Tower. The 33-story tower, built in 1931, inspired the planned Devon Tower's diamond-shaped faces at the very top.

The tower will have a three-sided footprint so that it will have no back door and can be viewed in the round from all points in Oklahoma City.

"A skyscraper has a different attitude,” Pickard said. "It is an attitude that embraces issues beyond just the pure, rational solutions to a problem. It looks at how a building fits into the city, and what it says about public values.”

To that extent, Pickard said, yet another downtown icon, the Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Gardens, influenced the round, glass rotunda with a visible steel superstructure that will serve as a key entry for employees and visitors.

Pickard calls the rotunda, 100 feet high and 100 feet across, the heart of not just the new Devon Tower, but perhaps all of downtown.

"You have a tough climate,” Pickard said. "And we need to compensate for that. This space will rise up 120 feet and will allow people to come together.”

Pickard said the rotunda is designed to welcome outsiders who might want to use it for public gatherings or simply to cross through from Harvey Avenue to the Myriad Gardens. Restaurants and shops will call the area home, similar to what exists with the atrium at Leadership Square.

When people will look up at the glass rotunda, they will see not just a skylight, but also walkways connecting to the tower.

The rotunda is part of a six-story "podium” that stretches west to Hudson Avenue. Just the podium alone would be a significant addition to downtown. Designed at 400,000 square feet, the building will house auditoriums, classrooms and offices and is almost as big as Chase Tower or the former Kerr-McGee Tower.

Pickard said the podium and the tower itself are designed to provide open views for a 2.5-acre park that will front Sheridan Avenue and the Colcord Hotel.

The roof of the podium likely will be lined with plantings that will capture rainwater and allow it to slowly seep back into the city's storm sewer system.

"What you can see we have not done is create a big, high-rise corporate building that was surrounded by security and did not embrace the city,” Nichols said. "In fact, what we have done is to create exactly the opposite — a building that surely houses our employees, but down at the ground level, where citizens work, eat and dine, it is wide open to the public. ... We tried to design a building that embraces the city and is open to its citizens to enjoy as much as possible.”

[Luke]

My point is maybe companies like Paycom could be persuaded to build 10 story or so HQ's on the border of the C2S park.

All we need is a big residential development (tower) to be announced. I think that alone would push many companies considering a downtown location.

[BG918]

Bob Funk isn't moving more than 10 minutes from Piedmont, but I bet he's interested in having a presence in our new downtown. Thing is, he just built a new HQ, Paycom hasn't but has expressed that they are planning to, and recently announced their plans are on hold and "reconsidering design, etc.". My point is maybe companies like Paycom could be persuaded to build 10 story or so HQ's on the border of the C2S park.

That would be great. What about Midfirst Bank's presence downtown? Would they need a new tower if they were to consolidate offices elsewhere around town? BancFirst? Banks seem to build new towers more than most companies. I don't know enough about how much space these banks currently lease downtown.

Austin has changed its skyline in the past 5 years with condo towers and hotels. That would be awesome to see some of that. I love the infill development downtown but I really would like to see a midrise or highrise condo/apt. tower. I know I would be more apt to live in one of those, have a view, etc.

[metro]

OKCisOK4me, good points. On a further note, the Burj Al meel in the picture above under construction in Dubai is a mile high (yes, 700+meters)skyscraper and have several that are 2000'ft plus under construction? For those who want the "our skyline will be out of balance now" argument, look at Dubai, they are building monsterous things that one half it's size wasn't possible just a few years ago, now the sky is literally the limit on how high. Crazier than that, in Kuwait, a 1001 meter one is proposed and will be completed in 2030, that's more than a mile and one third!!!!

Gulf States in Race to Build World’s Tallest Tower

[UnFrSaKn]

I'll take something like this, Signature Tower - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Speaking of a skyscraper that stands out...
Signature Tower - Nashville, Tennessee - Welcome
Signature Tower - Nashville, Tennessee - Welcome

[Luke]

A mile freaking high is, what, 5 Devon towers tall?????!!!!