VCU Developments

[tparkerzut]

On 7/19/2018 at 8:54 PM, wrldcoupe4 said:

As a state agency, is Vcu required to submit drawings to the city ?

Most MCV projects go through BCOM (Bureau of Capital Outlay Management), not the city. I know for mechanical, electrical and plumbing anyways.

[Shakman]

Thanks for the information.  Are these submissions open to the public?

Edited July 26, 2018 by Shakman

[tparkerzut]

49 minutes ago, Shakman said:

Thanks for the information.  Are these submissions open to the public?

I couldn't say actually, I've never tried to find them.

[Shakman]

Steel piles are onsite for sheeting and shoring  for the Adult Outpatient Tower.  

Edited August 2, 2018 by Shakman

[Shakman]

 

On 8/2/2018 at 5:29 PM, Hike said:

Too bad for those near by,  CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, for the next several months probably.

CLANG CLANG CLANG has commenced.

Edited August 10, 2018 by Shakman

[Brent114]

GRC looks great inside too!  1.5k residents. That’s just starting to sink in. 

[eandslee]

Mobile crane going up on the site of the VCU Adult Outpatient Tower (not a tower crane...yet).  Should we have a new thread devoted to this project?  Anyone want to create one?

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

Don't know if it's been posted here before already but VCU is redoing/updating its Master Site Plan for the two campuses, calling it ONE VCU, with some pretty interesting concepts being thrown around, including what looks like a complete demolishing of the Student Commons and Temple buildings for an 'iconic green', surrounded by bigger classroom buildings, among other things.

Click the links on the left side to see some pretty aerial (not renderings really, but master plan conceptual images of future density of buildings)

https://masterplan.vcu.edu/draft-plan/

[Brent114]

I’m most exited about the parking deck “G”. I’ve been waiting  for years to see this happen.  

Not really exited about the new green and rebuilding existing buildings (Temple, Student Commons).

”D” student housing is disappointing too. It involves replacing an existing, fairly substantial) building.  This was supposed to be a high rise building on the other corner (vacant lot and 1 story building)  of this book. 

Edited September 27, 2018 by Brent114

[eandslee]

I’m excited about X and H.  X could be a very significant tower in a very prominent location.  I could see 15 stories or so with X. H has some promise too.  It appears that it will have some height (close to the 15 story range) and it’s in their short-term plans!  I like the density they are planning!

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

1 hour ago, Brent114 said:

 

”D” student housing is disappointing too. It involves replacing an existing, fairly substantial) building.  This was supposed to be a high rise building on the other corner (vacant lot and 1 story building)  of this book. 

Did you mean "N"? Cause on the site of "D" doesn't seem like much of substantial existing structure. the "N" site however would be replacing that X-shaped tower where the Honors College currently is (which I'm not too happy about, would rather they put another tower on the empty lot next to it)

anyway, I'm excited about "X" (the inpatient bed tower), and "S" (the additional new wrap-around building around the existing parking garage off Main near Monroe Park)

 

edit: and in (slightly) related news, Monroe Park is going from purple to green (at last) on the development map. It appears the grand opening/ribbon cutting was today with the mayor and VCU president present.

Edited September 28, 2018 by RVA-Is-The-Best

[Brent114]

No.  I meant D.  It’s a two- three story building from the late 70’s maybe?  

I really hate all new everywhere.  Looks cheap and temporary.  But the lot across from N is what I was referring to.  The last master plan had that lot designated as high-rise residential. 

I don’t like the Metroplolitain hospital being replaced either.  Can’t  stand wasting money rebuilding stuff that already exists (year down housing to build housing). 

[I miss RVA]

This looks interesting - appears the plan includes many fairly substantial buildings - hopefully high-rise. Interesting to see what will obviously HAVE to be high-rise buildings planned for the MCV campus. Going vertical on the Academic Campus is a good thing as well! The A.C. has changed a LOT since I graduated in '85.

[tparkerzut]

I believe some of these are renovations and not replacements. "K" is the West Hospital building and I'm quite confident that this is not being replaced in the near term. My company is currently working on two whole floor renovations in that building. So some of this isn't completely new buildings in my opinion. 

[eandslee]

Cool YouTube video of the completed GRC:

 

[skycity]

Thank you for the great video above. One of the things that really bothers me about this building, beyond the cheap looking materials and "craftsmanship," is the way the new building relates to the old. It could not be a more disrespectful relationship. The new building towers over and overwhelms the "Public Baths" facade. The jarring contrast between the glassy facade and the old stone greatly detracts from the old facade. The building sprawls out over an entire block like an updated version of Soviet-era housing dressed in contemporary garb. How much better it would have been if they had cradled the old facade in something of a similar height with complimenting materials and then allowed a tower to rise behind or on one or the other side of the block.

[drayrichmond]

I actually like the contrast between the old and new. 

Edited October 12, 2018 by drayrichmond

[Brent114]

Agreed. Skycity gets the one wrong. 

The building is successful on every level, particularly the way the old facade is incorporated into it.  It is classic treatment of an antiquity in this sort of situation.   It’s a textbook example of how to do it respectfully and it is museum quality (btw, look no further than the new addition at Tredegar to see this practice in action). 

It is a  handsome  building, especially at night and has brought life and an airiness to the block.  The back of the building is particularly striking.  

[RVA-Is-The-Best]

I sort of get what he's saying though, it looks like a big wall on one side of Monroe Park. i wonder if the different facades were a way to try and break that up, but I still feel like it's kind of one big monotonous ensemble

Edited October 13, 2018 by RVA-Is-The-Best

[tparkerzut]

I generally like the building as well, the way the incorporated the baths is one of my favorite parts actually. My biggest complaints are the materials and the entire block length, however I've given up any hope that modern buildings won't always be massive block length structures. I think that's just how the economics works anymore.

[drayrichmond]

Lets keep in mind to when judging the Gladding Residence that when it really comes down to it, we are looking at a student dormitory; we can't expect a masterpiece of architecture for that. I think for what it is, a dormitory, it looks great.  

[Shakman]

Structures should look visually appealing regardless of the use.

Edited October 15, 2018 by Shakman

[drayrichmond]

1 hour ago, Shakman said:

Structures should look visually appealing regardless of the use.

If that were the case then we'd have some very expensive silo's and prisons..

[Shakman]

On 10/15/2018 at 3:08 PM, drayrichmond said:

If that were the case then we'd have some very expensive silo's and prisons..

Even a fresh coat of paint can be visually appealing.

[skycity]

It is possible to make beautiful and well designed university dorms. Steven Holl's contribution at MIT is one example:

https://www.archdaily.com/65172/simmons-hall-at-mit-steven-holl

I think it is definitely possible for new and old buildings to compliment one another, creating a greater composition- like Boston's John Hancock tower next to Richardson's church. Tredegar is much more successful because the scale is the same. This is completely out of scale. It looks like they grudgingly built around an old building because they were told to. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by skycity