Durham City Center Tower

[DPK]

February 7th, 2018

Per a special request from @KJHburg, some up to date photographs of this tower construction.  I started further out and worked my way toward it, trying to get as many angles as possible.  It's just so massive when you get up close, making for some entertaining camera work on a rather dreary rain day.  Such a huge game changer for the inner-loop of downtown Durham.

    

    

    

    

    

    

 

[DwnTwnRaleighGuy]

@ DPK 

My thanks for the awesome pictures! I have to say that my hands down favorite is the picture which includes the Bull. (Bull-E?)

He looks as if he wants to say, sorry I didn’t mean to get in your shot...Lol 

[KJHburg]

^^^ Yes great photos and I do believe this is such a game changer to Durham and its downtown which is pretty vibrant.  Finally getting some height and  this is a really good looking building from afar and even the street level.  It doesn't seem to overwhelm the low rise buildings immediately around it.  Thanks @DPK

Edited February 8, 2018 by KJHburg

[Green_man]

I love the sidewalk presence of this building in those last few pictures.  Especially retaining the old historic facades!

[jtmonk]

This is probably my favorite project in the state right now.  The tower portion is turning out to be pretty handsome, great use of materials on the lower floors, they re used many of the historic facades along main street, and the street level is turning out pretty nice too.  Great job. 

[DPK]

6 hours ago, DwnTwnRaleighGuy said:

@ DPK 

My thanks for the awesome pictures! I have to say that my hands down favorite is the picture which includes the Bull. (Bull-E?)

He looks as if he wants to say, sorry I didn’t mean to get in your shot...Lol 

Haha yeah I think that's my favorite one as well!

[Jones_]

On 2/8/2018 at 8:48 AM, KJHburg said:

^^^ Yes great photos and I do believe this is such a game changer to Durham and its downtown which is pretty vibrant.  Finally getting some height and  this is a really good looking building from afar and even the street level.  It doesn't seem to overwhelm the low rise buildings immediately around it.  Thanks @DPK

I hadn't considered this, but you're totally right...it doesn't overwhelm the low rise stuff nearby nor the street experience in general. I think this is a super important aspect of this project and after studying it for a bit, I think it's because while the pedestal portion of the tower does front the sidewalks, the column portion does not...it is set back (and in this case, even katty corner) from the street frontage. Whether it was on purpose, or by accident, it certainly works. I've long thought you could build towers in the center of blocks and retain most of the old buildings facing the street....just like the Parking Deck placement in Raleigh for Moore Square and Wilmington Street. It seems to be a perfect balancing act. 

Edited February 9, 2018 by Jones_

[KJHburg]

This is my favorite new high rise in the Triangle (sorry Raleigh).  It is a fantastic addition for downtown Durham for its height, design, office space and residential.  From all angles today in the Bull City today. My favorite Raleigh new high rise? the Dillon for sure.  sorry for the photo overload but not up this way too much. 

[orulz]

16 hours ago, KJHburg said:

This is my favorite new high rise in the Triangle (sorry Raleigh).  It is a fantastic addition for downtown Durham for its height, design, office space and residential.  From all angles today in the Bull City today. My favorite Raleigh new high rise? the Dillon for sure.  sorry for the photo overload but not up this way too much. 

Thanks for the awesome photos. And as somebody from the eastern half of the Triangle, no offense taken. Raleigh has nothing to match it - it's a gem in every way from every angle. IMO Durham has the three best high rises in the Triangle from an architecture perspective: this, the Hill building, and University Tower (aka the Pickle.)  University Tower has been a bit of a laughingstock in the past only because of its location, but Light Rail will fix that right up.

[Spatula]

I would still find the University Tower ugly even if it were downtown, for what it's worth.

[KJHburg]

drive by through downtown Durham and love how One City Center has added so much to the skyline.  Today. 

[KJHburg]

posted in wrong category

Edited October 10, 2018 by KJHburg
wrong category

[Merthecat]

I drove past this building on Tuesday and I was really impressed with it, especially the ground floor levels.  I love how they managed to incorporate the older facades into the structure.  It really stands out, even at street level.

[Green_man]

5 hours ago, Merthecat said:

I drove past this building on Tuesday and I was really impressed with it, especially the ground floor levels.  I love how they managed to incorporate the older facades into the structure.  It really stands out, even at street level.

FYI, all of the facades are new.  Logistically, it was too difficult and a hazard to the facades themselves to salvage them.  Built new to mimic old facades.  I think it turned out amazing!

[jtmonk]

31 minutes ago, Green_man said:

FYI, all of the facades are new.  Logistically, it was too difficult and a hazard to the facades themselves to salvage them.  Built new to mimic old facades.  I think it turned out amazing!

Really? So these facades are not original?  

Just looked back at google earth and you're right, they took down the original facades around 2015.  Very impressive.

Edited October 12, 2018 by jtmonk

[BullDurhamer]

they took down the original facades with the intent to reuse them. after they had deconstructed the walls they found they were too degraded to save.   i believe the plan from there would be to incorporate some of the bricks that were in better shape into the new walls with new materials mixed in.   i don't know if they actually ever used any of the old materials or not but that was the plan. 

[Jones_]

Perhaps the lintels survived since those look like they are stone and harder to come by nowadays to boot. 

I've trying to figure out why this tower doesn't feel imposing on it's immediate surroundings (a common criticism of towers) and decided it is because the glass tower stack is not oriented towards any street..only the brick lower floors are. The feeling of this huge thing looming over the sidewalk is avoided with this setup. Interesting approach I had never considered. Kudos to the architecture team who came up with this...best of both worlds achieved here, if I've ever seen it. 

[NcSc74]

It needs a little brother for skyline balance.  Maybe a 100 foot glass mid rise.

[DeleteMe]

On 2/8/2018 at 4:37 AM, DPK said:

February 7th, 2018

Per a special request from @KJHburg, some up to date photographs of this tower construction.  I started further out and worked my way toward it, trying to get as many angles as possible.  It's just so massive when you get up close, making for some entertaining camera work on a rather dreary rain day.  Such a huge game changer for the inner-loop of downtown Durham.

    

    

    

    

    

    

 

Now, these are good pictures.

[KJHburg]

from the developers own website and they reused the facade materials and rebuilt them.  However the materials bricks etc are not new or most of them are not.

In fact, ALP will be using approximately 80% of the salvaged original brick while reconstructing the facades along both Parrish Street and Main Street.

Upon completion, One City Center will combine the old with the new to contribute to the burgeoning collection of great buildings downtown while championing the vitality of the city’s core. One City Center will shine as the tallest building in Durham and stand as a true landmark for years and years to come.

http://www.austinlawrencepartners.com/current-project/one-city-center/

[KJHburg]

Working out of my Durham office in One City Center.  Beautiful building.   Some shots from the building. 

[KJHburg]

Couple more photos from downtown Durham today.  

Edited October 22, 2018 by KJHburg

[NikOnder]

On 10/16/2018 at 11:00 AM, Jones_ said:

Perhaps the lintels survived since those look like they are stone and harder to come by nowadays to boot. 

I've trying to figure out why this tower doesn't feel imposing on it's immediate surroundings (a common criticism of towers) and decided it is because the glass tower stack is not oriented towards any street..only the brick lower floors are. The feeling of this huge thing looming over the sidewalk is avoided with this setup. Interesting approach I had never considered. Kudos to the architecture team who came up with this...best of both worlds achieved here, if I've ever seen it. 

You're right, it's brilliant. Bravo, Indeed. This may be one of the most well designed and thought out projects I have ever seen. I mean, if I hadn't read it here I would have never guessed those original facades were recreated. Man, talk about a developer "getting it"! This gives me high hopes for future projects

[BullDurhamer]

the developer did a nice job, but without the historical folks in durham's guiding vision, no telling what could have happened here. 

[nicholas]

I can't think of another building that utterly dominates a skyline while also fitting right in.  Austin Lawrence did a spectacular job with this building, and I hope the other properties they own in Durham will turn out at least somewhat close.  Honestly I think this might be the single most important large development in the state in recent history given the dynamics of downtown Durham.