Quote:
Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas
Yeah, that podium is all parking and retail. Digging takes forever here because of the limestone bedrock you find at a shallow depth. I can't even dig a 2 foot hole in my backyard without hitting it. Anyway, the developer included a lot of parking since it's what tenants were asking for. I know it's not ideal, but office projects here still love their parking, while residential buildings and hotels have little or even none at all. What also influenced the podium in this building is the Capitol View Corridor that runs through that site. Austin has about 3 dozen sight corridors that protect the view of the Capitol dome from designated places. They're protected by City of Austin and State of Texas law, and are strictly enforced. The silver lining is that it's created some interesting designs. Instead of square buildings, we get ones with angled walls, and it also encourages height since it reduces the allowable height certain blocks can have. It's part of the reason this project ended up being so tall. Without the view corridor, they could have had two towers on the block instead of one taller one.
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Ah yes, sightlines. Reminds me of Vancouver then, albeit much less restrictive.
I'm aware of the likings of automobiles in those big Texas cities, partly since I listen to some podcasts from around there haha. Just wish this would have more of an interesting arrangement of materials for the lower levels at least.