Legacy Union (former Charlotte Observer redevelopment)

[SgtCampsalot]

From top floor of Museum Tower

[deleted]

12 minutes ago, SgtCampsalot said:

From top floor of Museum Tower

Dimensions look so much better from this perspective.

[SgtCampsalot]

24 minutes ago, JBS said:

Dimensions look so much better from this perspective.

Yes, Museum Tower residents literally have the best view of LU

[videtur quam contuor]

Architects, please: Does this building, or any contemporary Charlotte building, involve entasis in the design and construction?

[NCMike1990]

4 hours ago, JBS said:

Dimensions look so much better from this perspective.

This tower should've had setbacks on four sides instead of only the corners. It would've made it look better from certain angles.

[tozmervo]

3 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

Architects, please: Does this building, or any contemporary Charlotte building, involve entasis in the design and construction?

Not quite sure what you're asking. Entasis typically refers to the form of a curve in the vertical direction on a classical column, where it's wider at the bottom and narrower at the top but makes that transition on a curve. Without pulling order diagrams I think it was most common on the Doric. 

[JorgiPorgi]

Sitting in traffic sometimes allows nice photo ops. 

[videtur quam contuor]

24 minutes ago, tozmervo said:

Not quite sure what you're asking. Entasis typically refers to the form of a curve in the vertical direction on a classical column, where it's wider at the bottom and narrower at the top but makes that transition on a curve. Without pulling order diagrams I think it was most common on the Doric. 

So here? For example.

http://www.metromont.com/projects/capitol-towers

[BullDurhamer]

16 hours ago, NCMike1990 said:

This tower should've had setbacks on four sides instead of only the corners. It would've made it look better from certain angles.

i complete disagree.  the fact that this ins't set back all around like having a little hat on top is what saves this building from being a complete disaster, IMO.  

[tozmervo]

13 hours ago, tarhoosier said:

So here? For example.

http://www.metromont.com/projects/capitol-towers

The short answer is that I very rarely see it used, much less used correctly. You can find the same intent in interiors all over the place, where steel column wraps are designed to make columns seem smaller or more slender (for example round instead of square wraps)

[Dale]

Is it my imagination or is there a greenish tint ?

[navigator319]

To me it has always been more green/gray.  It does look blue sometimes though, but 80% its got a green gray look to me.

[KJHburg]

Back in town after going coastal for a few days.  Legacy rising and the new overstreet walkway.  Today.  Warning photo overload hadn't see the bridge up close yet.   The sky was perfect today and the temperatures were fantastic.  

[NcSc74]

On 10/24/2018 at 12:25 AM, Nick2 said:

A friend of mine's picture from a few weeks ago. You can see this prominently from pretty much everywhere in the stadium.

Wish those eyes would light up....especially for night games.  Turn lights down, smoke and THE EYES....

[Guest]

12 hours ago, NcSc74 said:

Wish those eyes would light up....especially for night games.  Turn lights down, smoke and THE EYES....

I'm sure if you let Tepper know he'd like the idea.

[Spartan]

On 9/19/2018 at 10:50 AM, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

As a design professional, I take my work very personally, and really hate it when a client steers something toward unsatisfactory, in my mind. It happens a lot, and its finding a balance between what you want and what they want. So if someone railed my work online, I'd probably get pissed too. That said, if something 632 feet of ugly is planned, you're damn right i'm going to speak out against it.

I swear I'm not pulling a monsoon here. I'm just catching up on threads. I think it's interesting that you hate this building so much but love the JW Marriott. IMO, this one is equally derivative. The difference to me is that I'm more partial to this derivative building than the other one.

 

On 10/6/2018 at 6:53 PM, KJHburg said:

Someone should do a poll of UPers on this building and others under construction to see what this in tune community of posters like.

I also like to hear what completed buildings people like uptown.   Not necessarily in this order but my top 5 uptown buildings completed would be:"  Bank of America Corporate Center, Hearst Plaza, 300 South Tryon Barings, Springhill Suites, Bechtler.    

Hearst Tower is unquestionably the best in uptown. It has unique/interesting architecture, doesn't rely on boring modernist garbage to serve its purpose, incorporates historic buildings on Tryon Street, and most importantly has a solid ground floor presence on all sides to the extent that it could cram stuff in.

 

On 10/12/2018 at 7:32 PM, Tyrone Wiggum said:

I'm going to use this in everythread that praises boring modernism/modern architecture from now on haha.

On 10/15/2018 at 12:27 AM, JBS said:

I know that's the argument, I just don't buy it.  Even if true, the people make the decision.  I'd personally stay on the street most of the time.  In the bitter cold or sweltering heat, it would be a nice option.  Toronto and Minneapolis are thriving cities and they have them.  The bigger issue for me is placing retail off the street and in the passages but I'd like to think that the tunnels will help people safely get to the retail on the streets.  More people (either in the tunnel or on the street) is the goal...

Well, the numbers exist to prove it. On any given weekday, there are more people that traverse the Overstreet mall than are on the sidewalk on Tryon. 

Grade separated pedestrian environments are a product of the post-war modernism movement in the 50s-60s, and that's where Overstreet has its origins. Charlotte had these grand center city plans in that time frame for a fully separated pedestrian network that connected the newly formed Government District to Tryon Street without having to go down to the street level. Sadly, the concept survives. The concept can work in places with insane ped volumes (like Asia) and makes more sense in places extreme weather conditions (Toronto, Minneapolis). However, in Charlotte, the humidity is kinda bad for maybe 3 months out of the year, but its almost always it's fine to be outside for the 5 minutes it takes to walk 2-3 blocks. Further, the pedestrian volume on the street is what is used to market Center City to potential retailers, and it's buildings with active street frontages (like retail) that make for a vibrant and interesting city.  These are not opinion. These are facts. So, all those thousands of people are, by not going out on the street, contributing to the lack of meaningful retail in this city.

So, given that most of the readers of this site would/should consider themselves urbanists, it is inherent that anything that takes pedestrians away from the street should be opposed since they are antithetical to the type of true urban environment we'd like to see in this city.

 

On 10/20/2018 at 12:15 PM, atlrvr said:

I like Granada, Spain's low tech solution.

It works really well...

 

I like those. I also like the street they're on. 

[King of the Queen City]

6 hours ago, ricky_davis_fan_21 said:

I'm sure if you let Tepper know he'd like the idea.

With the logo now at midfield and the occasional shake up in uniform combos, it does seem like he is taking fan suggestions seriously.  Given this, I would like to suggest TEPPER TOWER.  I think it has a good ring to it. Combine team offices, Appaloosa Management, apartments,  a 1,000+ room hotel, an observation deck, and a podium big enough for football fields that serves as the Panthers practice facility with both indoor practice fields and a rooftop outdoor practice field. To usher us into the “roaring 2020s”, it can be built with a modern twist on classic 1920s Art Deco architecture such as the Chrysler Building in New York City, with Panther Gargoyles (such as the statues outside of the stadium) on all corners at the top that light up with strobe lights and speakers that boom the sound of thunder whenever the Panthers score a touchdown. Did I mention that it would be the tallest building in the world? It would be a marvel like the world has never seen before and would officially give Charlotte the long coveted world class status we have always aspired towards!

All kidding aside, I think it would be cool if a Tepper Tower existed in some form (even if it is not as extravagant as what I proposed).

[CarolinaDaydreamin]

8 minutes ago, Spartan said:

I like those. I also like the street they're on. 

It WOULD be nice to close off a number of streets meant for automobiles and turning them into pedestrian streets. It would also be nice to not encourage driving through thousands of parking spots in 2 huge decks, as this project provides. 

Edited November 1, 2018 by CarolinaDaydreamin

[Windsurfer]

29 minutes ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

It WOULD be nice to close off a number of streets meant for automobiles and turning them into pedestrian streets. It would also be nice to not encourage driving through thousands of parking spots in 2 huge decks, as this project provides. 

This comes up from time to time on here.  I'm old enough to remember when it was pursued in the 70's in many cities.  I specifically remember Columbia, SC.  Have they since reopened to traffic?  What I remember were vacant sidewalks and a ghost town feel to it. While looking for information on Columbia, I came across this interesting article comparing successes with failures regarding street malls : http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/tag/pedestrian-mall/

 

[Nick2]

40 minutes ago, Windsurfer said:

This comes up from time to time on here.  I'm old enough to remember when it was pursued in the 70's in many cities.  I specifically remember Columbia, SC.  Have they since reopened to traffic?  What I remember were vacant sidewalks and a ghost town feel to it. While looking for information on Columbia, I came across this interesting article comparing successes with failures regarding street malls : http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/tag/pedestrian-mall/

 

There aren't any in Columbia that I know of.

[Spartan]

2 hours ago, CarolinaDaydreamin said:

It WOULD be nice to close off a number of streets meant for automobiles and turning them into pedestrian streets. It would also be nice to not encourage driving through thousands of parking spots in 2 huge decks, as this project provides. 

Closing off streets for pedestrians can be a good thing... but it won't work if your sole purpose is to do it to attract pedestrians. If pedestrians are already there, then it works great. King Street or Market Street in Charleston would be a good candidate for it.

1 hour ago, Windsurfer said:

This comes up from time to time on here.  I'm old enough to remember when it was pursued in the 70's in many cities.  I specifically remember Columbia, SC.  Have they since reopened to traffic?  What I remember were vacant sidewalks and a ghost town feel to it. While looking for information on Columbia, I came across this interesting article comparing successes with failures regarding street malls : http://www.urbanreviewstl.com/tag/pedestrian-mall/

The reason it didn't work in the 70s is as I said above. Places that did it - including my hometown, Spartanburg, - did it because people stopped going downtown in favor of malls and it was done to compete with that concept. Columbia never had one, as far as I know, but they've had some unusual designs for their Main Street over the years. They did remove one block of Senate Street through the capitol complex entirely, and to this day close a couple blocks of Greene Street through USC's campus during the school year.

[Nick2]

@Spartan Green St is fought over every year among students. Whether or not to keep the gates closed or open or to close them during school hours. 

 

[Guest]

I like those. I also like the street they're on. 

I’m addressing me hating Legacy Union here. You can read why I hate it here in article below. Summary; Awkward, bad proportions, bad materials, looks like a two square blocks, a octagon block and a pyramid block on top of each other. The windows that top each transition point belong on a parking deck, not a multi hundred million dollar building. It’s essentially a square building, with crap haphazardly placed on top. It’s building that I’ll lie to visitors about and say its just a well preserved product of the 1980s. Might look fine from straight on, but from 45” angle its fat, ill-proportioned, the step back is too dramatic, and the pyramid is too small, and also not well transitioned. I could do just a few tweaks here and there to make it a better building. It’s awful.

https://www.charlottefive.com/charlotte-deserves-better-than-the-planned-office-tower-at-the-former-observer-site/


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[Guest]

As far as liking JW Marriott goes compared to Legacy Union

• Good street front presence. Stonewall Street will essentially be like a block long Essex. A large bulk of the building will cantilever 20 feet into the sidewalk about 30 feet up. Permanent cover from the elements, so the street level can stay activated year round.

• Nice Texture the articulating windows and alternating lineation on the building adds texture and variance. Not to mention its only about 35% glass curtain. Nearly everything built in Charlotte in the past 10 years has been just glass curtain walls. Nice to see something go away from this.

• Great signage on the stone strip on an angle. I dig that, its difference and huge.

• Its a box sure, but theres subtle bits of articulation. The wall facing Tryon for instance. Its not flat, it slightly articulates, you can see the top of the buildng to see this.

• Sure its a box, but hey, boxes are rarely as poorly proportioned as Legacy Union, a 632’ abortion of a building.

• Its not going to have a 12k sq foot bank branch in the lobby of it. Spoiler Alert Legacy Union retail is going to blow.

 

 

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[KJHburg]

I like the JW Marriott and  I also like BOAT at Legacy and loving the Legacy 2.  

and what is wrong with a bank lobby?   The reason Charlotte has much taller buildings than our peer cities are our banks and Legacy is planned to have lots of retail anyway.