PHILADELPHIA | Comcast Technology Center | 1,121 FT | 60 FLOORS

[diavolo]

@Comcast CEO Brian Roberts signing the final beam of the new Comcast Technology Center

https://twitter.com/PHLBizMCaffrey/s...13748802883587

[vandelay]

Originally Posted by skyscraper

lol, not trying to be debbie downer. just wondering why people think it's a good idea to copy things instead of being original. it's a post modern mentality, to "offer a nod" or "pay tribute" to another building just diminishes the building.
FWIW, I don't see it in the two Comcast towers, just asking as a general question. There may be a legitimate reason for it, I just haven't found it. Someone enlighten me please (not being ironic or sarcastic, I'd really like to understand the thinking.)

By the same token why is it so important for things to be unique or stick out?

The answer is obvious. It creates a more harmonious tableau. Think of a skyline as a composition created by many people. Discordant notes ruin the melody.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by diavolo

https://twitter.com/PHLBizMCaffrey/s...13748802883587

More here:

Comcast tower's last steel beam is hoisted into place | Philly.com

“Send it, you salty dogs!”

With that shout at 11:43 a.m. Wednesday, a crane operator hoisted the final steel beam, inked in black marker with the names of hundreds of construction workers for posterity’s sake, to the top of the new Comcast Corp. tower.

Comcast and Liberty Property Trust had lunch served for about 1,200 floor layers, glaziers, and other workers on the site at 19th and Arch Streets, a block from Comcast Center headquarters, as a thank-you for a job well done erecting what company officials say will be the tallest building in the United States outside Manhattan and Chicago.

“There’s a sense of magic that we’re doing something special here,” CEO Brian Roberts told the crowd of construction workers and officials gathered in an unfinished space that will become a ground-floor restaurant.

[snip]

John Gattuso, regional director and senior vice president at Liberty Property Trust, which jointly owns the building with Comcast and is managing the construction, said that the highest beam was hoisted into place several weeks ago, and that this was the “last beam.” Ironworkers had placed a small statue of Billy Penn on that highest beam to give the Eagles good luck.

[snip]

[iheartphilly]

^
Ok, LPT, time to spill the beans and give us an announcement on CC3.

[donnie]

Great job guys now for your next tower don't use Chinese steel and maybe you'll finish on time!

[Caruso975]

For what it is worth, no Chinese Steel was used on the project. The vast, vast majority was US steel.

[Caruso975]

Originally Posted by donnie

Great job guys now for your next tower don't use Chinese steel and maybe you'll finish on time!

For what it is worth, no Chinese Steel was used on this project. The vast, vast majority of the structural steel was produced in the US.

[donnie]

Originally Posted by Caruso975

For what it is worth, no Chinese Steel was used on this project. The vast, vast majority of the structural steel was produced in the US.

Just did some research and it turns out Steel Fab is the manufacturer and the ones getting the bill for the repair and weld inspection!

My opology......

[PHL10]

This morning:

[R5Ryder]

Is there a reason - like the shape of the blocks - that the wide (and IMO least attractive) sides of CC1 and CC2 face N/S rather than E/W? Also BAT as well. Come to think of it, the Mickey Mouse buildings are widest N/S as well.

[mcgrath618]

Originally Posted by R5Ryder

Is there a reason - like the shape of the blocks - that the wide (and IMO least attractive) sides of CC1 and CC2 face N/S rather than E/W? Also BAT as well. Come to think of it, the Mickey Mouse buildings are widest N/S as well.

It's the shape of the blocks. If you're going to be efficient and cram as much space as possible into one block, you're going to do it with a long side going East-West.

[Londonee]

Originally Posted by R5Ryder

Is there a reason - like the shape of the blocks - that the wide (and IMO least attractive) sides of CC1 and CC2 face N/S rather than E/W? Also BAT as well. Come to think of it, the Mickey Mouse buildings are widest N/S as well.

It's the shape of the "lots" - something I've long lamented. We often have long rectangular shaped lots due to the positioning of the street grid especially in Market and JFK West. This means that the cheapest and most efficient way to maximize a developer's $$ return is to build long rectangular buildings - which generally are very ugly. I call them the Philly Special. Think of the Penn Center buildings along JFK, the Sterling, Kennedy House, etc. NYC by comparison, b/c the Streets are so close together, generally has more square shaped lots which leads to more handsome, vertical-oriented towers.

In Philly, to get square shaped towers developers often only build on only half the lot - like the Comcast Center - or place the tower in the middle of a rectangular podium - like Melon Tower.

[PHL10]

Originally Posted by Londonee

It's the shape of the "lots" - something I've long lamented. We often have long rectangular shaped lots due to the positioning of the street grid especially in Market and JFK West. This means that the cheapest and most efficient way to maximize a developer's $$ return is to build long rectangular buildings - which generally are very ugly. I call them the Philly Special. Think of the Penn Center buildings along JFK, the Sterling, Kennedy House, etc. NYC by comparison, b/c the Streets are so close together, generally has more square shaped lots which leads to more handsome, vertical-oriented towers.

In Philly, to get square shaped towers developers often only build on only half the lot - like the Comcast Center - or place the tower in the middle of a rectangular podium - like Melon Tower.

The history of the "Philly Special" design actually goes back a lot further than that.

[jjv007]

Originally Posted by Londonee

It's the shape of the "lots" - something I've long lamented. We often have long rectangular shaped lots due to the positioning of the street grid especially in Market and JFK West. This means that the cheapest and most efficient way to maximize a developer's $$ return is to build long rectangular buildings - which generally are very ugly. I call them the Philly Special. Think of the Penn Center buildings along JFK, the Sterling, Kennedy House, etc. NYC by comparison, b/c the Streets are so close together, generally has more square shaped lots which leads to more handsome, vertical-oriented towers.

In Philly, to get square shaped towers developers often only build on only half the lot - like the Comcast Center - or place the tower in the middle of a rectangular podium - like Melon Tower.

This is a very good point. The square shape is symmetric in form and more aesthetically appealing than its rectangular cousin. Look at the Society Hill Towers, or heck, 432 Park Ave. Just simple square forms. Rafael Vinoly pretty much makes a living off of that.

[Marcos]

I'm amazed by the sheer volume of complaining & outright criticism of this building dating back to page one of this thread.

[Knight Hospitaller]

^Probably because it can be described in many ways (many of them positive), but, speaking personally, "beautiful" and "elegant" are not among them.

[Aurizen]

When is the building supposed to open? I'm hoping they're hiring soon.

[Jayfar]

Originally Posted by Aurizen

When is the building supposed to open? I'm hoping they're hiring soon.

As far as I know they're always hiring.

[Aurizen]

Originally Posted by Jayfar

As far as I know they're always hiring.

I haven't seen one for the position I'm after. Maybe someone more familiar with the progress might have an opening for the new building.

[Nephi215]

Originally Posted by Londonee

It's the shape of the "lots" - something I've long lamented. We often have long rectangular shaped lots due to the positioning of the street grid especially in Market and JFK West. This means that the cheapest and most efficient way to maximize a developer's $$ return is to build long rectangular buildings - which generally are very ugly. I call them the Philly Special. Think of the Penn Center buildings along JFK, the Sterling, Kennedy House, etc. NYC by comparison, b/c the Streets are so close together, generally has more square shaped lots which leads to more handsome, vertical-oriented towers.

In Philly, to get square shaped towers developers often only build on only half the lot - like the Comcast Center - or place the tower in the middle of a rectangular podium - like Melon Tower.

Philly's streets, especially Center city streets, are significantly more narrow (or as you said "close together") than NYC/Manhattan streets, so there must be a better explanation for the lot designs/layout.