The skyline thread

[orulz]

There's a new article on the front of today's News & Observer, that talks mostly about the future of Raleigh's skyline and how it reflects upon the city. There's some mention of increased street activity and livability, but the emphasis is on the skyline, so skyscraper fans rejoice!

See the article here:

Things are looking up for Raleigh

It also includes quotes from RaleighNC and Flash, and most of all, the full-color picture front-and-center on the newspaper is a graphic based on a rendering done by Flash! Way to go, Flash! RaleighNC's website RaleghMSA, and Flash's, RaleighSkyline, get props (Congrats, guys!) but unfortunately none for UrbanPlanet . They'll take notice of us yet, though!

[Flash]

Thanks orulz. Believe it or not I did tell Mr. Eisley to visit the Triangle section of urbanplanet.org for some first rate discussion. He took note of it. But out of the 35 minutes I talked to him you can how little trickles into the written article.

[Subway Scoundrel]

Raleigh's skyline is a complete JOKE for the population of the city. It should be more like Richmonds.......

[ChiefJoJo]

Here is an interesting article about the high demand for crane operators in Raleigh.

[Jones_]

Here is an interesting article about the high demand for crane operators in Raleigh.

[carynative]

that number seems awfully high. Can anyone find a pic of that? We have about a dozen here? I was trying to count them on my way in.

[tjoad]

Yes, Dubai has about 30,000 cranes. Unbelievable.

Here's a short video showing some cranes in Dubai .

[carynative]

wow... that's pretty amazing.

[architect77]

I think the article says just "Raleigh has 12 cranes" rather than DT Raleigh. Needless to say, today's media must sensationalize everything.

[Eastwestrob]

When will Richmond have an RTP. I bet Raleigh's skyline will pass Richmonds well before Richmond ever even attempt to build something like RTP.

[RDUairport]

I was wondering if it would be possible for someone to create a skyline of Raleigh with a 40ish story tower located at Block Bs site. I know Flash does amazing work in this field but anyone who could help thanks. I just wanted to visualize what Raleigh would look like, now that there is a rumor that a 40 or above tower may be going up at that site. Thanks again!

[Jones_]

Just a note....if its mostly or all residential the floors are shorter and would not be much taller than BB&T or Wachovia and RBC, with its crown, would likely still be taller...thats what I am thinking anyway. Having that in mind, from the money shot , with it being farther back it would be about the same height in the picture as BB&T and Wachovia and just to the right of RBC depending on where on the block in ends...could be slightly obscured by RBC if its right at the Martin/Wilmington corner.

[Spatula]

It would be taller than RBC if it had a crown. Don't forget that RBC has a fair share of residential floors too.

[dmccall]

There was some concern about the moneyshot rendering's accuracy. At this point we have enough mass to compare the two, and it looks like there were some errors, especially with the Marriott's massing:

Rendering

Actual (7/13/07)

[DanRNC]

The differences between the proposed and actual convention center rendering are subtle at best but the Marriott renderings are way off which maybe is a good thing.

[Spatula]

They were wrong about how much the trees would grow too.

Still, I like that Progress I is more visible and Bank of America is less. BoA is a vastly inferior building.

[DPK]

The camera angle in those photos is off by about two lanes.

[dmccall]

They moved the road.

I plan on going out there some time to restage that original photo on a clear day. This one is while driving at about 35 hoping I wouldn't get rear-ended. I took about 10 just hoping to get one very similar to the original.

[ncwebguy]

The rendering also has the Marriott almost flush with BB&T/Two Hannover. But it didn't take the "Cabarrus Street"

access to the pickup/dropoff area, and the tower itself starts a little further south, with a 1-2 story lobby area in the F Street/Cabarrus/Salisbury part of the "block".

That opens the view to Progress 1 and blocks a lot of BoA out. Also, the Lafayette has not started. It might block out some of the Marriott, and will be taller than the rendering if built as planned. I am not sure if the Lafayette will block some of BoA too. But Site 1 will block a lot of the south face of BoA, which is all the Mariott leaves visible other than the white part on top. Site 1 will be quite visible in this view, at least until sites 2 and 3 are developed.

[dmccall]

OK, I got a better position on a prettier day.

Official Rendering

Actual 7/21/07

[urbanvb]

The money shot is looking better all the time.

[architect77]

there used to be an even more impressive view on lake wheeler road, because at night the skyline was visible all at once sandwiched trees on the left and right. this vista has been ruined however, by some complex at the crest of the hill that put up bright lights along lake wheeler road.

for all you height fans, dubai's new 2,200+ foot tower, though unfinished, is now officially the world's tallest

[bj-26]

Looking at the money shot, the RBC headquarters and the two Edison buildings should fill in the gap quite nicely between the Wachovia and BB&T towers.

[RaleighRob]

Suppose Raleigh needs to find a new "money shot" angle now. This one doesn't show the new Progress Energy building nor the Quorum Center. And I don't think the Reynolds tower would get into it either?

[Jones_]

^^I bet the roof of Ray Price improves on this shot a bit.....also like a shot east of downtown that would miss Quorum etc but gets PEII in nicely....its a block or two farther east of Lincoln Theater looking west.