New-look Signature

[it's just dave]

Paula, that other building is formerly known as the SunTrust Tower, now just Financial Center. It has an interesting history as its shape was dictated by a property owner who refused to sell a necessary parcel of land while he pursued his own tower. Third National Bank (bought by SunTrust) had to move, so they designed the tower inset to accomodate the property they couldn't buy. Finally the man sold, and the plaza that exits there wraps that story.

[Skyscrapergeek]

Sorry about reposting your post linc. Still trying to figure out what I'm doing here. Anyway, to address your height question, the origianl design was to be 700ft. The photo rendering of the orignal design was way off scale compared to the rest of the existing skyline. It appears much too tall for its 700ft. The new photo rendering seems to be right on. The height of the new design is listed at 635ft. However, this does not include the height of the crown and spire. If you go by the scale of the 2-D renderings on the web, the height of the crown and spire is approx. 200ft. So the total height would be a fantastic 835ft! Again, nothing is set in stone (Ha) and any official height is subject to change. Tony's team seemed very confident though. Unless there is some major backlash, I don't see this design changing much at all. He did say they would take all of 2006 to design the specifics of the building. Even if they have the financing completed by the end of 2005, which was his requirement to proceed with design work, there is no way they can break ground in early 2006. It would be very late 2006 at the earliest. Then again, what do I know? I can't even figure out how to reply to a post.

[jdavidf]

By the way... what is the name of the building behind the Sig?  The one with the "parthenon" type top?  I REALLY like that building!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Paula -- interesting story about the Financial Center -- it's across Church street from the Downtown Presbyterian Church and the front of the building is designed to reflect the very very cool Egyptian motif of the church..

If you haven't taken a trip to Downtown Presbyterian, it's worth it.. they're rightfully very proud of the building and the minister and volunteers there are very knowledgable about its history.. check it out at http://www.dpchurch.com

David

ps -- sorry if that's off-topic - but I"ll be everybody here loves the Downton Presb!

[it's just dave]

I once climbed the stairs in one of the bell towers and rung one of those enormous bells, the rope pulled me off the ground and I couldn't hear from a day or two. Ahhhh, what fun.

My friend Judy and I also, in our clandestine tour of the church, found nearly 50 old pump version Singer sewing machines covered in plastic in an upper storage area. When we did get discovered by the minister, he told us about them, but I don't remember exactly what he said about why they were there. Maybe uniforms for World War I or something. Hmmm, might have to investigate that one.

Thanks for posting that. Paula, make a point to see this. You might get lucky enough to see Handel's Messiah there during a Christmas season sometime.

[DaddyYo]

Well, I guess it

[linclink]

Hey Dave!!!

Thanks for the info on the Financial Center AND on the Church!!! I will definetly check out the Christmas Program there!!!

jdavidf, thanks for the additional info!!!!! It's always nice to know the stories behind the buildings!!!!

And Skyscrapergeek good to have you here!!! Thanks for the info!!! Your right, that first montage probably was wrong cause that building looks REALLY tall!!!! I look forward to more of your posts!!

Daddyo!

Hey... folks here are really nice... but after that post.. don't know just how nice they'll be to ya! hehehehe So.. what do you suggest? What do you think Nashville should be doing to come into its own? What kind of buildings would you like to see going up?

Oh yeah.. and the Elvis.. my husband and I had a good laugh over it... we just figured that was their intention... I don't think the Evis impersonator was meant to be taken seriously...

[where_am_I]

Hi guys. I have been following Nashville posts for several months due to my interest to relocate somewhere in the Nashville area as soon as possible (hopefully in a couple of months), but this is my first post. I think Tony G. hit the nail on the head first by listening to the Nashville community's interest in the skyline instead of just going only on his pure interest. I love the "diamond color" design of the Signature Tower and would really love to see if it would influence a great deal of office space to be located in downtown Nashville with may incourage more buildings of its stature in the near future. Love the forum and the informative posts. I will continue to hang around and stay informed. Thanks!!!

[ariesjow]

I don't see how anyone can think this tower is "tacky." It's like a modern baby sister to the Chysler which is my favorite building in the world. It is elegant, doesn't overwhelm the Nashville skyline (which btw, is one of the premier skylines for mid-sized cities in the nation, IMHO). It's not too tall. It's not too short. It detracts from none of the the nice collection of buildings already in place. Yet it truly is a signature tower.

*sigh* I guess some people just can't stand positive progress. Get over yourselves! Hey Nashville, send Tony G. up here. Detroit would LOVE to have that tower.

[GaTechGuy]

Wow Daddyo. Put some boxing gloves on next time....that hurt!

I guess I'm in the camp that is really excited about the new design. The old one was nice but not too original...I'm not sure that building a retro tower would have been the way to move forward. Retro towers are nice but I think they belong as secondary buildings not THE building in the skyline.

[DaddyYo]

Daddyo!

Hey..don't know just how nice they'll be to ya! hehehehe .

Oh, they are usually not so nice to me at first but then they get used to me.

So.. what do you suggest?

A New York Architect with some taste. It is an insult to even speak the name of the Chrysler building and that tacky hunk of metal and glass in the same breath.

I say, with some refinement, the first design would have great. But the Church Ladies in the Nashville Civic Design Center had to stick their nose into the fun.

I like it that TG said he changed the design to reflect the desires of the Nashville Civic Design Center. Now we can blame it on them when it get trashed by the architectural critics.

I was at the first meeting of the NCDC. I don't see anything that TG can claim that he was responding to that was mentioned at that meeting. All the downtown NIMPDs (not in my public domain) could think to whine about was that the private property wasn't opened to the public and that the "affordable" housing units weren't on front of the building and the garage didn't look like anyone lived in it.

So what does he do? Gets rid of the any plaza - public or private. Brings the building out closer to the curb. More square feet for sale - what a sacrifice. Designs a big garage in the back - ohh much better, from two sides. What about the affordable housing for the recent college graduates that my tax dollars are going to fund? Are they going to be in the penthouse?

Don't get me wrong. I like TG. He is the Puppet Master and all the urbanist kooks are his marionettes.

[DaddyYo]

Wow Daddyo. Put some boxing gloves on next time....that hurt!

Ha, sorry dude. I'm not known for pulling punches.

I'm not sure that building a retro tower would have been the way to move forward.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

What is a "retro" tower? One that has some relationship to architectural history? I would rather see an exact copy of the Woolworth Building go up than this piece of self-referential modernist crap. It looks like a tacky piece of furniture. Trump would love this building.

[Lexy]

Oh, they are usually not so nice to me at first but then they get used to me.

A New York Architect with some taste.  It is an insult to even speak the name of the Chrysler building and that tacky hunk of metal and glass in the same breath.

I say, with some refinement, the first design would have great.  But the Church Ladies in the Nashville Civic Design Center had to stick their nose into the fun.

I like it that TG said he changed the design to reflect the desires of the Nashville Civic Design Center.  Now we can blame it on them when it get trashed by the architectural critics.

I was at the first meeting of the NCDC.  I don't see anything that TG can claim that he was responding to that was mentioned at that meeting.  All the downtown NIMPDs (not in my public domain) could think to whine about was that the private property wasn't opened to the public and that the "affordable" housing units weren't on front of the building and the garage didn't look like anyone lived in it.

So what does he do?  Gets rid of the any plaza - public or private.  Brings the building out closer to the curb.  More square feet for sale - what a sacrifice.  Designs a big garage in the back - ohh much better, from two sides.  What about the affordable housing for the recent college graduates that my tax dollars are going to fund?  Are they going to be in the penthouse?

Don't get me wrong.  I like TG.  He is the Puppet Master and all the urbanist kooks are his marionettes.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Daddy is a straight shooter I see. B)

[ATLBrain]

I think the new design is horrible.

[it's just dave]

And quite the entertainer too. Daddy Yo, I hate to tell you this, but your comments are welcome here...even if the hair on the back of my neck stood up a bit. This isn't SSP, so I certainly hope you're not coming in here for a long debate. We've all decided that we like it here, legitimate negative comments included. Your Nashville scenarios (gap-toothed, spiked hair, leg warmers) is a little dated, and a bit trite. Please get some original material. We need people like you, but remember, you addressing a predominantly Nashville audience, not the all-encompassing academy of misfits you are used to on the "other " forum who make it a bit of a pasttime to bash Tennessee. I think this is fun. Write some new stuff then give us your best shot.

Your intellect is showing...you might try to mask that a little bit if your diatribes are going to stay fresh. That intellect projects doubt into the legitimacy of your comments. Not bad, but it needs some work. Next.

[it's just dave]

There's a party? Tell me, tell me. Brain, thanks.

[Hankster]

Hi, everyone! I'm new to this forum. I've lived most of my life in Nashville, but have been living in Chattanooga the past 3 years. I'm soooo excited about the Signature. I love this new design. This is the kind of building I've always dreamed would one day stand gloriously in the center of downtown Nashville. By the way, I just noticed on Bidclerk the the Signature was listed there. Does that mean constuction may be sooner rather than later???

[linclink]

Hey DaddyO...

I too really liked the originalSignature (especially that pencil sketch... the night shot of it wasn't as nice as that original sketch... but THIS new one is what is going up... and its also a building to be very proud of.... Yes, my first impression of it was that it was a bit glitzy, a bit "Nashvegas", but you know what.... it really fit in to the skyline... and it REALLY DOES grow on you....

Sorry... the first time I posted my son started crying and I uploaded it without reading it over...it didn't get what I wanted to say across... hence the edit...

[it's just dave]

I think there's a good chance the schedule will proceed as listed. At the presentation, the Atlanta guys quoted 12 months for design and engineering and it was presented as a tight schedule. But hopefully by the end of 2006, early 2007, the 36-month construction schedule will begin. No matter what, until a shovel hits the dirt, the parking lot is all we'll be looking at for a while. I'm just gonna enjoy watching the Viridian and SunTrust move on up along with Icon, Adelecia and the other things around town...and boom, suddenly dirt will move on Church. That's my hope.

[Skyscrapergeek]

The PR company that made the video really has a good handle on what we are about.  Check out the video when the voice over calls us a music city and shows the Symphony Hall and then shows some Nashville sophisticates in the new Signature Tower including a gyrating Elvis.  Hey, Memphis

[Skyscrapergeek]

I think there's a good chance the schedule will proceed as listed. At the presentation, the Atlanta guys quoted 12 months for design and engineering and it was presented as a tight schedule. But hopefully by the end of 2006, early 2007, the 36-month construction schedule will begin. No matter what, until a shovel hits the dirt, the parking lot is all we'll be looking at for a while. I'm just gonna enjoy watching the Viridian and SunTrust move on up along with Icon, Adelecia and the other things around town...and boom, suddenly dirt will move on Church. That's my hope.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

IDJ, its going to be tough waiting but I think you're right. I'm already falling into the trap of thinking its a done deal. Real easy to that tower on the skyline.

[showtime21]

I disagree with Daddy yo . Where i am from we call that hatin. We as a forum here all agree that the new design for the sig tower gets two thumbs up. BTW, what ever happen to Heckles???

[cheeriokid61]

Looks like that isn

[it's just dave]

Leg warmers, in August? Wow. I guess I do no absolutely nothing about fashion in the schools. Generally, we'd have had to go home if we dressed so comfortably. And the last time I had spiked hair, I was writing in Johnny Rotten for president. And all that metal made my neck chaffe. But that's just me.

Yeah, bring on modernity...but a good balance is good. I like what's happening around here. And I'm pretty laid back. I even had gravey and biscuits for breakfast yesteday. Wet white flour on top of baked white flour. Mmmm.

[GaTechGuy]

Go to high school buddy. Leg warmers and spikey hair are, in fact, "in." Very much so, as a matter of fact. Get your facts straight.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

First of all, I'd disagree with that. At least the leg warmers part...

Second of all, that was exactly the point he was trying to make, so I don't think you are helping your argument much there.

Third of all it was all a bit of a metaphor so this is all a moot point I'm making. Anyway....

Daddy Yo:

As for my comments on a "retro" tower I stick with them. First you made the comment that we as Nashvillians are so far behind the rest of the world (with your 80's fashion references) and then you make a comment that Trump would love this tower. First of all I disagree with that assertion (see my later comment). Secondly, whether you agree with his tastes or not he is very much at the forefront and cutting edge of developing large and exciting buildings.

Two examples of Trump's tastes:

Trump tower NY, NY

His Chicago building under construction

Both of those are very different from the Signature Tower design.

As for the architects who designed this building they are a very reputable Atlanta firm that has designed many buildings for Atlanta and as far away as Kulala Lampur, Malaysia. They designed the Hearst Tower in Charlotte. You may know of it.

To make a long story short I disagree with you, but I suppose that makes for great debate. I guess we'll just both have to only agree on the fact that the Woolworth Building is a truly beautiful building.

[showtime21]

well put GTG, i don't think daddy yo know how far nashville has come in the last 5 years.