UNC-Charlotte Construction

[peaceloveunderstanding]

lol. Brick up the Belk Tower... I don't even know how they would go about doing that.

[AuLukey]

lol. Brick up the Belk Tower... I don't even know how they would go about doing that.

Luckily I think they MIGHT leave that one intact. There also don't seem to be plans to brick up the backside of the library or the cone center. They may brick up the leftover portions of the quad though, since it is the only building facing the north courtyard without brick.

[Skyline49er]

You know what is funny M.C., I have a class in that same classroom that you have in picture 2. I actually sit in the back corner. I never would've thought i would see my classroom on UP. What class do you have in there M.C?

BTW, that is my favorite view of Colvard.

[Miesian Corners]

Uniformity is overrated. It's so 1789.

Yes it is, especially when its bad uniformity. I just love a cupola that is nothing but a party hat on a bad Georgian knock off.

Here's the award-winning McCain Library at little ole Agnes Scott College in suburban Atlanta. Now this is good classicism without pretending it was built in 1805 (IMO).

Get a better look (the interiors are incredible) at http://www.tvsa.com/

Under "portfolio" and then "education" The Georgia Tech buildings they did are pretty sexy, too.

[monsoon]

When I was going to school there one of the frats installed two fairly large balls close together and at the base of that bell tower..... Well you get the idea. The administration didn't figure it out for a couple of days then all of a sudden, BAM, it was gone. haha

I hope they don't demodernize the architecture of the entire campus. That horrific recladding of the library was one of the worst things that I have ever seen done to a building.

[AuLukey]

Yes it is, especially when its bad uniformity. I just love a cupola that is nothing but a party hat on a bad Georgian knock off.

Here's the award-winning McCain Library at little ole Agnes Scott College in suburban Atlanta. Now this is good classicism without pretending it was built in 1805 (IMO).

Get a better look (the interiors are incredible) at http://www.tvsa.com/

Under "portfolio" and then "education" The Georgia Tech buildings they did are pretty sexy, too.

The main hall is gorgeous inside but the rest of the building on the interior seems like most of the UNCx's. I do like the architecture on the exterior, very modern and very classic at the same time. I wasn't sure you could actually pull that off.

[Miesian Corners]

The following is the text from an email I received yesterday.

To all UNC Charlotte Students.

The Mecklenburg County Parks Department is beginning design of the Toby

Creek Greenway which will connect the campus to the Mallard Creek

Greenway. The trail will run through the campus from University City

Blvd. (Hwy 49) connecting to the newly completed section of greenway on

the east side of Mallard Creek via a bridge.

We need your participation and input, please complete the survey from

the "Link" below. Thank you.

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+a...enways/Home.htm

[AuLukey]

The following is the text from an email I received yesterday.

It's interesting they have decided to do this. Does anybody know if it will link to any of the area apartment complexes on Mallard Creek, 29, 49, or Harris?

[tiblerbrit]

The Greenway goes under 29, along the creek across from the Par 3 golf course and those apartments, then under I-85, the through the university research park till it hits the Montesorry(sp?) school on Mallard Creek road (there are quite a few complexes near there), then past some single family neighborhoods like Norcroft, Radbourne, Wellington, and Winchester. It also forks off just across from the Montessory school and goes past another apartment complex, under Harris Blvd, and to another apartment complex. Sorry I'm not more useful with the names of the complexes, but there are so many i just stopped paying attention. I think one may be called summit greenway or something like that.

[cityboi]

Its nice to see that UNCC is going towards more traditional architeture which makes the school look older. I attended UNCC back in the late 1990s. during that time they were refacing the library tower changing it from the concrete and black facing to the red brick facing. Its a very pedestrian friendly campus. If you live in the dorms, you dont drive to class, you walk to class. I stayed in the highrise dorms (Holshauser and Sanford halls) and was a student at the college of Architecture.

Edited May 10, 2006 by cityboi

[AuLukey]

In today's observer they had an article about putting the LRT on campus rather than shooting it down 29 to University Place. What do you guys think about this? It saves them $10 million in construction costs and provides UNCC that much need link to uptown it has been craving for years. I hope the MTC goes for it.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/14691856.htm

[dubone]

There is no way the MTC wouldn't decide to do this. I thought it was the same cost as staying on Tryon, but it is listed in that article/op-ed as being cheaper. Apparently, it is actually cheaper by $10m! What wasn't listed there, but was has been said a few other places, but it is expected to add around 2000+ daily riders to the LRT if it stops on campus.

For those who want to see the routing of the UNCC option:

http://www.charmeck.org/NR/rdonlyres/ejozr...eting050106.pdf

[AuLukey]

I made it back onto campus today to snap a few updated pics of the construction on campus:

College of Nursing and Health Sciences:

Atkins Library tower renovation:

Brocker Health Center:

Parking Deck G:

[dubone]

I really like that nursing building, but the others...not so much.

Thanks for sharing the photos.

[monsoon]

What!??? Are they rennovating it again? If they are, I guess it is good they are removing the horrific re-cladding that was done about 10 years ago when they took a marvelous looking modern building and tried to go the neo-classic brick style that is in favor at UNCC now.

[atlrvr]

Don't worry....the brick will return. This time they are using real masons instead of slapping on pre-fab brick panels.

[ellifyno]

I never saw what the library looked like before the previous re-cladding, so I can't really judge how that looked compared to how it's looked over the past few years. I can say though that anything would be an improvement over how it looks at the moment. I'm sure it was quicker, and cheaper, to use the prefab blocks, but I can't imagine that it's still cheaper since they're having to do it all over again. Plus, the campus has been home to this crane for close to a year, with at least another semester until it's gone. A few pictures I took while on campus about a week ago:

Detouring around the crane:

This view shows just how many different directions this campus has gone in, with the differences in the look of the buildings as well as the sidewalks:

And this view shows just how sad the entrance to the library looked to any visitors:

[Rufus]

The library is being renovated because too much sun was entering through the windows, and ruining the books and articles. Supposedly sunlight discolors the pages and covers, thus reducing ink visibility and overall value, at least that is what an admissions guide told me about the library.

[ellifyno]

The library is being renovated because too much sun was entering through the windows, and ruining the books and articles. Supposedly sunlight discolors the pages and covers, thus reducing ink visibility and overall value, at least that is what an admissions guide told me about the library.

From the construction history page:

Immediately after the work was completed, the tower windows began to leak with nearly every rainfall. Contractors worked diligently to reseal window weather stripping, but to no avail. Discoloration of the brick fa

[peaceloveunderstanding]

Hopefully the proportions will be better after this second recladding. It looked quite akward with the fake brick.

[squatopus]

It looks like finally the 1970's front entrance will soon get a replacement with a new, modernized brick entrance on Highway 49. The current entrance will remain only a pedestrian entrance; the new traffic entrance will be moved further south on 49, eseentially cutting the front field in half.

The entire description (along with other University projects) can be found at Facilities Management Planning

A rendering of the new entrance can be found New Front Entrance Rendering

Construction should begin sometime this summer...can't wait to see the finished product!

[AuLukey]

It looks like finally the 1970's front entrance will soon get a replacement with a new, modernized brick entrance on Highway 49. The current entrance will remain only a pedestrian entrance; the new traffic entrance will be moved further south on 49, eseentially cutting the front field in half.

The entire description (along with other University projects) can be found at Facilities Management Planning

A rendering of the new entrance can be found New Front Entrance Rendering

Construction should begin sometime this summer...can't wait to see the finished product!

It starts in July, we caught that awhile back... but thanks for the reminder

[peaceloveunderstanding]

http://facilities.uncc.edu/capital/StudentUnion.asp

^ Rendering for the new $59 million student union.

I think construction starts soon. I wonder what they will do with the Cone Center and the current ugly book store when this thing is completed.

addition:

2000 posts!

Edited June 8, 2006 by moonshield

[AuLukey]

http://facilities.uncc.edu/capital/StudentUnion.asp

^ Rendering for the new $59 million student union.

I think construction starts soon. I wonder what they will do with the Cone Center and the current ugly book store when this thing is completed.

addition:

2000 posts!

I read somewhere that Prospector (the food court within the same building as the bookstore) is going to be expanded into that space. I also heard of the post office getting an expansion Kinko's style.

I doubt Cone Center will really change at all minus a few offices. As much as I like it I don't really see it as a true student union. The hall inside it will still probably be used for blood drives and such.

Thanks for letting us know about the new student union. I probably wouldn't have checked on there for another month or so as they rarely update the site.

For those of you too lazy to check the site:

[TowerRooster]

It's a far cry from the LEED building many of us students were petitioning to have built, but whatever. It's kind of ironic to call it a student union when the students' opinions were ignored.

Ho hum another boring architecture display at the University. I guess an LEED building would have looked pretty out of place amongst all that other drabness, anyway. Particularly the hideous Science and Technology building that I set foot in every day.