Devon Energy Center

[amaesquire]

Aubrey better have some spectacular plans for Nichols Hills Plaza if he wants to top this.

Maybe Aubrey and Humphreys are planning on making the ferris wheel, a CHK employee attraction... That would be, uh, spectacular, right?

[AFCM]

Maybe Aubrey and Humphreys are planning on making the ferris wheel, a CHK employee attraction... That would be, uh, spectacular, right?

...or bringing in an NBA team.

[Doug Loudenback]

I'll add one more comment before dropping off to finish my image work ... someone in the audience asked about how it would be "lit up" (my term) at night. They darkened the room and went to the model at the north side ... this one ... I don't have a photo of the "illuminated view" but the triangles at the top sort of form a crown ... use your imagination ...

Larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...20_2008_01.jpg



The triangle areas at the top were illuminated ... apparently the issue is not settled (as one would expect that it wouldn't be, given the other work that has a higher priority in getting this thing done ... the architect said that perhaps the "insets" (my word) into the more-or-less triangular shape might be illuminated as well.

The remaining images on the press kit CD are as follows (reduced for internet purposes)

Site Plan -- notice that a lot of water is present in the plan
Larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...ildingview.jpg



Cross-section view
Larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...osssection.jpg



South Elevation
Larger image: http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a49...helevation.jpg

[Luke]

Simply incredible.

[circuitboard]

Forbes covers it.... Devon plans 925-foot skyscraper in Oklahoma City - Forbes.com

[Pete]

That floorplan view is really interesting.

Love how they centered the rotunda at the end of the road that splits the parking garages to the north and how they attached to the west garage. Also, there is a direct line from the rotunda to the Myriad Gardens.

And it seems the atrium will extend well behind the tower and rotunda.

Very, very cool!

[Luke]

I'd like to see more pictures of the tower superimposed onto our skyline from different angles.

That thing is huge.

[Pete]

From the Forbes article:

the proposed tower would be the 20th tallest building in the United States as of today. The only cities with taller buildings would be Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Seattle.

[BG918]

I'd like to see more pictures of the tower superimposed onto our skyline from different angles.

That thing is huge.

I know we have some Photoshop gurus on here. I'll see what I can do later this evening. WAY taller than what I originally thought when I posted this image, although the building is similar it would be almost DOUBLE the height:

[HOT ROD]

Just got everything updated on Emporis.

Sooner, I checked Emporis and it isn't updated.

We need to move Devon to #1 position and approved, at 925', 54 floors, 1.9M sq feet.



Congratulations to Oklahoma City.

CONTINUE THE RENAISSANCE!!!!!!!!!

[Doug Loudenback]

That floorplan view is really interesting.

Love how they centered the rotunda at the end of the road that splits the parking garages to the north and how they attached to the west garage. Also, there is a direct line from the rotunda to the Myriad Gardens.

And it seems the atrium will extend well behind the tower and rotunda.

Very, very cool!

I seem unable to leave this thread and actually get to the work of putting my blog article together! But, since I've not gotten to that yet, let me say that the architect who made the main presentation (Jon Pickard) made a big deal of showing what he called the "Harvey" axis and how it ran through downtown as we know it and as it will come to be with "Core to Shore" down to the Crosstown relocation, and how that was a factor in their design. The focal point of the Devon project, he said, was the Rotunda which sits squarely on that axis ... as a point of ingress and egress both north and south along that axis line.

In his presentation, he had several images displayed which showed the interrelationship and flow lines ... unfortunately, none of those images are included in the press kit ... but he was trying to show how everything in the Devon project "tied together" with that "axis" as relates to Core to Shore planning. Of course, if his Harvey "axis" remarks are correct (as they appear to be), the Devon project would be smack in the middle of that axis ... as it doubtless deserves to be.

[DelCamino]

A quick run-down from Skyscraper page (stress 'quick' so it may not contain all thebuildings) -

Building that are taller than the proposed Devon HQ, west of the Mississippi River:

Los Angeles
US Bank Tower
1,017 ft

Houston
JP Morgan
1,000 ft

Houston
Wells Fargo
991 ft

Seattle
Columbia Center
932 ft

Oklahoma City
Devon Energy
925 ft

NOTE: The page shows a building in San Francisco u/c or announced, that would be the tallest: Transbay Terminal at 1,197 feet.

So, if all goes according to plan, and none of those tejas'uns plant a 6 foot high flag pole on top of the Bank of America in Dallas, this will be the 6th tallest building in the western US.

Very cool.

[Pete]

Thanks again, Doug.

Just goes to show how Nichols and the people he hired to do the planning are really focusing on downtown as a whole, both in how it is now and where it's headed with Core to Shore.

It's really unbelievable how far-reaching this project will be and the impact it will have on the whole of downtown.


Now, we need Skyline Ink and/or the visualization company based in Norman to do a new video that shows all this superimposed on the existing skyline.

And maybe someone can do a quick drawing on Google sketch-up?

[Pete]

My one, greedy, thought is that if the "crown" could be made slightly taller, we could have the tallest building west of Chicago!

But frankly, if this gets built as shown I'll be dancing in the streets.

[DelCamino]

...In his presentation, he had several images displayed which showed the interrelationship and flow lines ... unfortunately, none of those images are included in the press kit ... but he was trying to show how everything in the Devon project "tied together" with that "axis" as relates to Core to Shore planning. Of course, if his Harvey "axis" remarks are correct (as they appear to be), the Devon project would be smack in the middle of that axis ... as it doubtless deserves to be.

That's right, Doug, and I thought Mr. Pickard presented a nice plan for the Harvey axis/alignment.

We were very careful, when developing C2S, to acknowledge that spine, which would run north from the river, thru the new park, across the new boulevard, into the Myriad Gardens, continuing north thru this site, up to the National Memorial and Federal Building, and north to hopefully a new green space at NW 10th Street.

I think this development, with the public space rotunda situated where it is, indicates a great anchor for that idea.

[amaesquire]

But frankly, if this gets built as shown I'll be dancing in the streets.

If this gets built close to what has been shown so far, I will still dance in the streets.

[Doug Loudenback]

We one, greedy, thought is that if the "crown" could be made slightly taller, we cold have the tallest building west of Chicago!

But frankly, if this gets built as shown I'll be dancing in the streets.

Still in this thread and not getting down to my "blog" business ... but ...

Someone in the audience this morning (obviously with a connected computer) commented and questioned something like the following:

This will apparently make the Devon Tower the 21st tallest building in the US ... shy by 10 feet of the 20th. Any chance of adding a few more feet to make it the 20th?

Audience laughter followed.

The architect (Jon Pickard) thought that would be cool [obviously adding $$$ to his team] and he laughed. Larry Nichols laughed, too, but in a way that said, "Nada." It was a rather engaging exchange. Nichols has made clear that "height" is not the object, and Pickard earlier echoed that sentiment. Pickard said that his charge was "to make the most beautiful building we know how" and he added, "height is fleeting [as in, someone's always going to build a taller building], but beauty is not."

Doug Dawg concurs in that assessment!

[BG918]

What do we know about its sustainable features? LEED Certification?

And what is the next timeline for progress? We knew 8/20 we were going to see renderings, what is the next "big" date for when we can see more details regarding the design? Who will be the local architect of record? When will they select a contractor? When do they plan on breaking ground? I want some dates!!

[Luke]

Kinda off topic... but speaking of this "Harvey axis"...

Looking at a map directly south of the Myriad Gardens are all sorts of properties...

What happens to those in order to make this whole Core to Shore possible?

[jbrown84]

Sooner, I checked Emporis and it isn't updated.

We need to move Devon to #1 position and approved, at 925', 54 floors, 1.9M sq feet.

He's already done it, it just has to be approved by senior editors.

[Pete]

I don't think there will be many (if any) more milestone dates.

Now the concepts have been approved by OCURA, I suspect they'll work on finalizing the financial aspects regarding the garage and land.

Then, they'll do final design and begin plans. Once those are largely completed, they will issue an RFP for a contractor -- maybe using separate entities for the garage vs. the building vs. Myriad Gardens, etc.

They have said construction would start 3Q 2009 and besides some periodic updates to OCURA and their employees, I wouldn't necessarily expect a lot more news until they break ground.

[jbrown84]

Kinda off topic... but speaking of this "Harvey axis"...

Looking at a map directly south of the Myriad Gardens are all sorts of properties...

What happens to those in order to make this whole Core to Shore possible?

Eminent domain.

[UnFrSaKn]

Well I finally just got back from work. All I can say is WOW. This is way above any expectations I could imagine. I've had the OKC Central — All about downtown OKC website loaded on my iPhone all day and I kept refreshing the page every few minutes that I could while at work. Just..amazing. I haven't been this excited about something in a really long time. I couldn't help but show co-workers the pictures on my phone. Most of the responses were like 'hey that's pretty cool'. I'm thinking 'Nooo...it way more than just cool'. Heh. It's still sinking in, slowly. The guys at SkylineInk need to update those videos with Devon Tower. Imagine how much more impressive it will look?
Midtown Oklahoma City Animation - by Skyline Ink on Vimeo

[Pete]

Looking at a map directly south of the Myriad Gardens are all sorts of properties...

What happens to those in order to make this whole Core to Shore possible?

The city has already acquired that old postal facility. I suspect they will attempt to buy out others -- such as the car dealership -- and use eminent domain if necessary.

[DelCamino]

Yep, all that property will need to be acquired. Pete's right: the City has already purchased the old postal facility, and they will be acquiring more properties, when available and affordable, in the coming years.

Eminent Domain is probably a tool that is going to have to be employed in this area for some of the properties, but first, the City will need to officially declare/designate the area 'blighted' thereby giving OCURA authority to act.