What is your favorite new Uptown architecture?

[tozmervo]

I've tried to list the last 15 significant openings, give or take. The Mint and Vue are practically open, and UNCC is about 75% clad - use your imagination

[SmellyCat]

I love the UNCC building. I think it's incredibly unique. I realized there are cantilevered buildings around the globe, but I've never seen one quite like this one. I like to refer to it as the "Rubik's Cube".

[Urbanity]

Hey, where's the Trump Building? (hehehe)

I just don't know if I have a favorite YET of the above list. I want to see the UNC Charlotte building completed and am waiting to see MINT in action. Obviously the Duke is my favorite skyline building though, but going by pure aesthetics I kind of dig what Bechtler does for the city the most.

I can list my least favorites of the above list:: Catalyst

[HopHead]

It's hard not to say Duke Energy Center for me. It adds (especially at night) a lot of razzle-dazzle that the skyline has been lacking. The Bechtler museum is a solid #2.

[nonillogical]

yeah it was a really tough choice. i think the Bechtler is by far the most architecturally unique for the city, followed by the Mint and UNCC, but Duke clearly is the biggest spectacle and has the most wow factor.

i voted for 1BOA though because i'm just in love with how sophisticated and simple it is, and i don't think it gets enough credit.

i'll vote Epicentre for least favorite, but i'm by no means an Epicentre hater. i get a lot of use out of the place.

[HopHead]

What about the NC Music Factory? Though it's not "new" construction per se, it's a great re-use project. I love the amphitheater and how it fits in with the old mill buildings and has a skyline view.

[tozmervo]

I debated including the Music Factory. Ultimately I decided it was sort of an oddball of the bunch and difficult to compare, despite how great the project is.

[nashbill]

The Bechtler, to me, is the winner. The materials and shape are so different than anything else uptown. I have to make a trip to Charlotte to see it in person.

[DEnd]

I'm not really a fan of any of the options... but out of them I'd guess The Vue...

[ScottCLT]

I'm not really a fan of any of the options... but out of them I'd guess The Vue...

Just curious...what would be your pick outside of the options given?

[AuLukey]

Not as if they were contenders for best architecture, but the Sierra Hotel and aLoft are both new construction as well.

UNCC gets my vote purely because it brings something to the city that it doesn't really have yet -- a mid/low-rise building that isn't bland. I actually wish it were closer to the cultural campus as it would work really well with the architecture of the Mint and Bechtler. In terms of impact, Duke takes the cake. But UNCC is my favorite new architecture in uptown (especially coming from my alma mater which has been architecturally stuck in the same boring style for the last decade.)

[DEnd]

Just curious...what would be your pick outside of the options given?

Honestly I can't really say, but the BOA tower is my favorite building in Uptown. I like the design ideals of 1 BOA center, but to me they are visually just glass towers. I'm not a fan of the "New Modern" buildings like UNCC Uptown, or the Mint, but they do add some character to Uptown, which is was sorely needed. Though I am a fan of Levine's Childrens Hospital, except for it's awning (I know not Uptown). The awning looked ok in the renderings but that was somehow lost in it's implementation, in the renderings it looked light, but in real life it looks bulky and bloated, and a bit cheap. To me the Sky-Window on DEC is just idiotic, and the way it is lit at night adds a visual weakness to the building, like it's top heavy. But all of the options are a heck of a lot better than the Westin... Which I just don't "get" at all.

[Urbanity]

UNCC gets my vote purely because it brings something to the city that doesn't it doesn't really have yet -- a mid/low-rise building that isn't bland. I actually wish it were closer to the cultural campus as it would work really well with the architecture of the Mint and Bechtler.

I'm hopeful that the UNCC building will eventually spur some complimentary architecture on that side of town.

[southslider]

I like the addition of Duke to the skyline, but the Bechtler is much better appreciated up close and personal. For that reason, I voted for the Bechtler. I still admire the DEC from afar, but it fails to impress at street-level.

[aceboogie]

It is really hard for me to pick one. I think the VUE and the Duke Energy Tower add the most wow factor to the skyline, especially at night. I love the UNCC business tower. The Levine Cultural campus has several nice buildings, most notable the Bechtler museum. I like the ideology behind 1BOA tower and its good to have more green buildings, but aethetically it's not all that wow to me.

[Spartan]

In terms of "pretty skyline additions" the Duke Power Tower wins. That building has really grown on me, and it has a semi-decent urban design with the plaza and shops along 1st St.

HOWEVER- The VUE gets my vote for three reasons:

1)It has generally good urban design. The street level has 4 retail spaces facing 5th, and the entrance on Pine being relatively unobtrusive. The residential tower design reminds me of something from Vancouver, and the garage doors on the crown add a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the skyline.

2)It will contribute more to the core of Charlotte for LOCALS. Over time it will add potentially over 1000 new residents to center city, which will add demand for non-boutique retail and non-steakhouse restaurants...

3)It replaced a parking lot.

[tozmervo]

3)It replaced a parking lot.

I wasn't here pre-duke/arts campus; what used to be at that site?

[krazeeboi]

I wasn't here pre-duke/arts campus; what used to be at that site?

I think it was a Goodyear.

[AuLukey]

I think it was a Goodyear.

Goodyear is across the street still last time I checked. The construction has been around for so long on this project that I actually forget what used to stand on site.

[NCMike1990]

I wasn't here pre-duke/arts campus; what used to be at that site?

It used to be a Firestone and a surface lot.

[EnergyLED]

You are correct--the site was an abandoned Firestone service station. Because of the use, the soil was contaminated, and the site was labled a Brownfield. The development of Duke Energy Center removed and remediated over 75,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil thereby convirting the otherwise useless Brownfield into a vibrant area of Uptown where thousands of people will work and play.