Asheville's next high-rise

[Matthew]

I was thinking recently about Asheville's skyline and the possibility of a new tallest. What should our next skyscraper look like? If you were a developer, what would you do. First prepare for a long fight. Now, share your design ideas!

Height?

Design?

Use?

Location?

Parking?

Name?

http://photo.starblvd.net/matt4mayor/4-3-5.jpg

Courthouse and City Hall, by Douglas Ellington

The Courthouse (left) part of this proposal was never built.

I still like the site across from the Renaissance Hotel. I think a performing arts center, with office space and residential space would work great on that site. Also the views would be excellent! I would name the structure Wolfe Plaza. The parking would be underground. I would have one or two reserved spaces in a card access private parking area for each resident and shared parking for performances and office workers. I think it's time for Asheville to build a new tallest. I think something around 380 feet to it's highest "measured" point would look great.

Now for the design! I would create a postmodern design based on the "never built" work of Douglas Ellington! The old Courthouse proposal! The end structure would have around 27 non-mechanical floors and provide residents with the option of "high ceilings" or "cathedral ceilings" in some rooms and allow them to elevate some floors in their residence, if they choose. The building would also feature a fitness center and pool on one of the upper floors, looking out on the city. Are you listening Mr. Madison? Lets built it!

What's your ideas?

[M. Brown]

I 600ft Glass Tower. Thats what I want for Manchester too.

[Allan]

If I was a developer, I'd at least want to build something that was in scale with the rest of the city, and in Asheville, there won't be any 500 foot buildings anytime soon. I think that I would probably build a modern glass tower that's between 300 & 350 feet. Anything taller would make the building look very isolated, and would dwarf the other buildings around it. The key here is that the building must be tall, yet in scale with the rest of downtown Asheville.

[Matthew]

I also don't think Asheville is ready for something that tall. I think 380 feet to the highest point is the highest you can go for now. I think glass could work with Asheville, if the tower is designed respectfully to it's surroundings, both in the urban core and the natural terrain. It's a reflective material, which opens a designer up to many different ideas and the possibility of a much taller tower? There's also some cost savings to working with glass. It may also work well with the Biltmore Building and the new Climatic Data Center. I should work on some drawings. I'm thinking of ways to stretch the height of the tower in the photo and still maintain the original design quality of Ellington. I also feel it should be current architecture in design and not an old, past, architectural style, as some suggest Asheville should do for all new structures.

[pawa_k2001]

I would love to see a 380 ft building in Asheville. It would really make the downtown look better.

[DigitalSky]

Yeah it would be important to keep things in scale in Asheville.

[pawa_k2001]

I agree cantnot. Over 380ft would make everything look ugly. Now a tower at 380 ft and one at 420ft would look ver nice.

What I hate(from reading alot of Asheville news and forums) about Asheville is the council. They dont want Asheville to grow(atleast looks like it).

I highly doubt that officals would let a 380 ft tower be built in Asheville downtown.

[hauntedheadnc]

Any plan for a building that works well with the Biltmore Building is a plan that needs to be folded into corners and sat upon, because the Biltmore Building is bar none the most wretched structure in downtown Asheville, although the Wachovia Bank is close behind.

That being said, I would hope that any architect or developer looking to build a new tall building downtown would consider taking the blueprints for Ellington's courthouse or the Grove Arcade Tower, modifying them until they meet modern codes, and then building them. I say this because there is no attractive modern architecture in Asheville. Inoffensive is about as much as you can hope for. And having said that, because modern architecture doesn't work in Asheville, I wish developers would consider falling back on the styles that did work.

While I'm dreaming, I'd also like a pony. What Asheville is going to get is more glass boxes and more "Queen City Boring"-style brick and fake stucco boxes. The next tall building downtown will be one of those two.