Ritz-Carlton Hotel & 1 Bank of America Center

[tozmervo]

What I appreciate about this project is how completely modern it is. Most downtown projects are just "modernish," throwing in some metal panels and trendy looking doodads. This building is exactly what you see: steel and glass. Not only that, but advances in glass and sun shading will allow clear glass - something that most buildings of this kind could never accomplish without roasting the inhabitants. I bet this will be an awesome office building to work in (even if its not the best for pedestrians *clears throat*).

[New Name]

It's a far cry from the trend of EIFS turrets we have seen lately. Think of how this will look at night from up close. BOA 1 never sleeps, but we only get porthole lights in offices. This is going to glow all night over Epicentre and give a real sexy hue to the area.

[AuLukey]

I like this design with two considerations. First, my biggest gripe is the lack of any real work to the parking deck, especially at street level. This is going to be prime real estate at ground level, I don't see how BoA could pass this perfect opportunity up unless they plan to someday do something else with that deck.

Second, I wish they had kept the original design at the top with the "curtain" headed up above the roof level giving it the appearance of it being a steel building inside a glass shell rather than just being an all-glass and steel building. It just gave the building a less boxy look and looked more elegant.

Otherwise, I still love this project. Teamed with the street-friendly renovation of Founders Hall this area of College should shine.

[RiverwoodCLT]

This is the best picture I have seen on how this project will look. I think when it is built, it will look better than the picture. I like how it will connect to Founders Hall.

[Andyc545]

This is the best picture I have seen on how this project will look. I think when it is built, it will look better than the picture. I like how it will connect to Founders Hall.

The architectect's did do a respectable job of connecting the areas of 'their territory', through the renovations of Founders Hall, and the tilted glass that gives the views up to their corporate center. Props to them for that.

[Xss]

I know I'm only the French guy who's not from Charlotte and who only posts once in a while, but...I really don't like it.

The first design was okay, with the "curtains" going up, as mentioned above, with a building inside.

That second one is simply ugly for me. I was already disappointed with the new Wachovia that seemed to burst out from the 80ties...Well, that new BofA reminds me of those horrible grey boxes from the 60ties! Makes me think of a huge version of 200 South Tryon (Which I sadly don't like at all...) http://www.kineticstrategy.com/images/200tryon.jpg

I remember people saying here that one of the fa

[HopHead]

Per the web cam - It looks like all the trucks are out of the hole... Are they pretty close to being done with the excavation for the BofA tower? Can we expect yet another crane on site?

[Raintree21]

I would say they are not done from what I see on the webcam. From the 210 camera, you can see a huge mound of dirt still there and an excavator still digging.

[atlrvr]

I remember people saying here that one of the fa

[Andyc545]

I would say they are not done from what I see on the webcam. From the 210 camera, you can see a huge mound of dirt still there and an excavator still digging.

They do appear to be digging up the mound, though. But yeah- I'd say we still have at least another few weeks to get that land all prepared, based on how long it had took The Vue and NASCAR HofF's land. Anyword on if they had applied for their permit's to go vertical? The Vue received theirs over a month or two before their projected going vertical date.

[83alphaunder]

I dropped by Founders Hall at lunch and took way too long and studied the model very very closely. I noticed that there is a lot of information lost by the rendering and the pictures of the model. There is so much lost that people seem to be automatically discounting the design of this building. There is actually a whole lot going on. The building is much more than just a rectangle folks, its actually quite interesting. Its hard to tell from the photographs and the rendering but the there are cut outs at the top of the tower where the top "natural area" is actually outside. The Natural Areas themselves are actually set into the structure a bit breaking up the complete rectangle feel. Then the curtain juts like a fin out the distance that the natural area is set in to make it look like a complete rectangle, this feature is represented in white. I also represented the curved wall at the corner, but I don't know how easy it is to see. Another interesting feature of note is the fact that at least 25 % of the towers mass seems to canteliever over a central point above the base and the wintergarden.

[dxartist]

Cheer up everyone. I for one am not displeased with the BOA and Ritz buildings as some of you UPers are, although they could have gone away from the block style a little bit. Going on a small tangent. At least we are not getting a building that looks like this:

Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. 105 hideous stories

courtesy of Esquire.

[UrbanFuture]

h - o - l - y c - r - a - p

that looks like a sand castle gone horribly wrong.

[RiverwoodCLT]

Yes it is has never been completed. I saw this on thr History channel and it pointed out it has been sitting there for years.

[Andyc545]

Yes it is has never been completed. I saw this on thr History channel and it pointed out it has been sitting there for years.

So that's the one that reached to its max like 10 or 15 years ago, ran out of financing, sat for years after years as an eyesore, then got demoed. I saw that special on the History Channel also. Thank god stuff like that doesn't happen in Charlotte.....*cough* The Park *cough* The Smith Curry Clock Tower *cough*... well at least they aren't ugly and/or massive.

[rockhilljames]

Demoed? Oh no, it's still there, crane on top.

[Raintree21]

So....back to the topic at hand and not some building 7,000 miles away.

Will the green roofs on the sides of the winter garden have access to them? It seems like there is a covered area next to them with columns and no railings preventing people from crossing out onto the grass.

[uptownliving]

I saw the model in person today and it looks much better in person than online. Still it is a rather plain jane building. It feels like a new generation of Mies Van der Rohe...very modern and low on the architectural frills. It will be unique and new to the Charlotte skyline. I still am not sure about the street level design though. You can't really tell much from the model...so we will just have to see how it turns out. I can't tell if there will be public access to the Winter Garden green roof...but I hope there will be.

I agree with atlrvr that it would be nice if the glass curtain could be extended above the current roofline.

On the Founders Hall side it looks like they will be putting in a restaraunt on the top level at the Trade/College corner with outdoor patio seating. The view and daylighting from that patio should be pretty nice.

[Charlotteman]

Since it appears to be public now - this is the rendering dxartist was taking a photo of.

I've spoken about the architecture of this building many times, but this new picture paints an even drearier image. Without the formerly rounded walls, this tower looks almost identical to Seattle's Washington Mutual tower (also a LEED highrise).

Washington Mutual is one BORING skyscraper. International Style retro........might as well be an early 1980s glass box.

I thought by 1988 people were sick of International Style! I thought by 1990, the glass box was dead. Boy was I wrong. Stick some fancy glass on the exterior and call a glass box LEED!

[uptownliving]

I know this has been posted several times already...but the rounded corner is still there...on the College/5th corner which isn't visible in the posted renderings...but you can easily make it out when looking at the model in person. That rounded corner does add some architectural flare and there are some glass extensions and overhangs that arnt visible or easy to make out in the renderings. This clearly isnt the Hearst Tower...but I don't think the building is as plain as these renderings make it out to be.

[AuLukey]

It also looks like they partially included the new look for Founders Hall represented by glass in the bottom of that rendering and are those umbrellas?

[Appetite for Construction]

As I type, a new tower crane is being hoisted for the site. It is on the College St. side of the hole near midblock between 5th and 6th.

With all the cranes on this site, it's amazing they won't be running into each other!!!

As they get higher up today, I wonder how the wind will affect the work ... don't know about out in the 'burbs, but it is crazy windy here uptown!

[Miesian Corners]

I have only one comment: cheapest model ever. Times must really be bad at BoA for such a lousy representation.

[brokenraven]

I have only one comment: cheapest model ever. Times must really be bad at BoA for such a lousy representation.

Haha, I agree. It basically looks like a plastic box with a light inside of it. As for the actual building itself, I have to reserve judgment until the building is actually complete (or we get some sort of a halfway decent model to see). From the look of the latest rendering, it seems the building may have an interesting, almost industrial, feel. Of course, it's hard to see with such a small picture.

[Guest]

Haha, I agree. It basically looks like a plastic box with a light inside of it. As for the actual building itself, I have to reserve judgment until the building is actually complete (or we get some sort of a halfway decent model to see). From the look of the latest rendering, it seems the building may have an interesting, almost industrial, feel. Of course, it's hard to see with such a small picture.

By the "small rendering" comment its obvious you haven't seen the model in person, and are making judgements from "quick photos" as the photographer called them. There is also 5 foot tall rendering around the model(actually quite well done). And if you want to get a good idea of the general shape and layout of the exterior of the building refer to 83AU's post a page back, its suprisingly accurate.