CHICAGO | Aqua | 858 FT / 262 M | 87 FLOORS

[honte]

^ ??? 815/83 = 9.81

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by honte

^ ??? 815/83 = 9.81

exactly. why is this so hard for people to understand? 9'-0" ceilings and 9" thick floor slabs. that makes perfect sense to me. sure, it's on the smaller side of floor-to-floor heights for contemporary residential highrises, but by no means will this be an unusually short building for its floor count.

[GuitarAce]

Contrast with Aon at 1,136' with only 83 floors = 13.7'/floor. What's up with that?

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by GuitarAce

Contrast with Aon at 1,136' with only 83 floors = 13.7'/floor. What's up with that?

Aon is a commercial office building, which almost always have higher floor-to-floor heights than residential buildings. this is because office buildings have to accomodate the great depth of the steel members that support their large clear span spaces, and also because office buildings never use the underside of slab as the ceiling. office space usually uses dropped ceilings and sometimes raised floors to accomodate all of the complex building systems requirements that you find in office buildings, but are not required for residential buildings.

with the whole luxury living push in the residential market, we have seen a rise in the floor-to-floor heights of some higher end residential buildings to accomodate these 10' and 11' ceilings, but 9' ceilings are hardly uncomfortable or "mean" as some people might try to tell you.

[honte]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

exactly. why is this so hard for people to understand? 9'-0" ceilings and 9" thick floor slabs. that makes perfect sense to me.

Right. As an extreme example, 340 On The Park actually achieved 4.5" thick floor slabs via post-tensioning, if I recall correctly...

[Saber925]

As I recall from the sales literature, the ceiling heights in Aqua are to be 8' 8". And the first two street levels are certain to be much taller to accomodate the hotel ballroom/meeting rooms.

[kalmia]

Originally Posted by honte

Right. As an extreme example, 340 On The Park actually achieved 4.5" thick floor slabs via post-tensioning, if I recall correctly...

4.5"?

WTF?

[CHAPINM1]

Here in St. Paul, MN the Jackson tower is very short for how many floors it has, reason being the developer went broke and had to build cheaper. They told buyers that they would have 10' ceilings in their units, yeah right!!! The building is only 436 feet tall yet 46 floors. If I were a buyer and was told I'd have a 10' ceiling I'd want a 10' ceiling. The ceilings are nowhere near what they should have been. The building is too crunched together. Very poor planning and development on their part. I don't think a building could ever be built as cheaply or crunched together as Lakepoint Tower was 645 feet yet 70 floors. Just knowing the numbers makes me feel chlostrophobic and questionable.

Even though I am not crazy about how short Aqua is in contrast to it's floor count, I will give it credit for two things.

1. It has higher floors then the Jackson Tower, even though by not a lot, it still does.

2. It is announced that the ceilings will be 8.8 feet high. No numbers are being hidden, sure it's average at best however the developers are stating the truth and buyers will know that they are getting 8.8 foot ceilings. I don't think another Jackson Tower incident would happen again with lack of funding and crunching the building together even more, so it's all looking good.

[honte]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

I don't think a building could ever be built as cheaply or crunched together as Lakepoint Tower was 645 feet yet 70 floors. Just knowing the numbers makes me feel chlostrophobic and questionable.

LPT does not feel claustrophobic inside at all (aside from perhaps the elevator lobbies). This is probably due to the layout of the units and the large amounts of glass. It actually feels rather cozy for a steel and glass high-rise.

Aqua hopefully will have the same result.

[Marcu]

The short ceilings are not a problem if they were bargained for by both parties. It also creates some less luxurious units making downtown living in a world class building like aqua or lake point tower accessable to more people. I personally know a lake point tower resident that was able to live in such a location just because he saved money on the floor height.

[brian_b]

I can barely touch the ceiling when standing flat footed, so I'm guessing the ceiling height in my apartment is somewhere around 8 feet high. With the floor-to-ceiling windows covering 2/3 of the outside wall it really feels light and airy. There's no cave feeling, it's not cramped. Before I tried touching the ceiling I would have guessed the ceiling was much higher. It's all about the windows and how much light they let in.

The people living in Aqua will be just fine.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by honte

LPT does not feel claustrophobic inside at all (aside from perhaps the elevator lobbies). This is probably due to the layout of the units and the large amounts of glass.

indeed. the ceiling height in LPT is just fine, the units aren't claustrophobic at all. to all the people that find an 8'-8" ceiling height so objectionable, i have 1 question for you, were you born and raised in a cathedral by any chance?

the bungalow i grew up in had 9'-0" ceilings and not once in my life did i ever consider them to be short or claustrophobic or any of that kind of nonsense. maybe this issue is really all related to the type of home you lived in as a child and what you're familiar with and accustomed to. or maybe the fact that i'm only 5'-9" tall means that i'm just not as aware of and concerned about ceiling heights as someone who is 6'-5".

[BVictor1]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

indeed. the ceiling height in LPT is just fine, the units aren't claustrophobic at all. to all the people that find an 8'-8" ceiling height so objectionable, i have 1 question for you, were you born and raised in a cathedral by any chance?

the bungalow i grew up in had 9'-0" ceilings and not once in my life did i ever consider them to be short or claustrophobic or any of that kind of nonsense. maybe this issue is really all related to the type of home you lived in as a child and what you're familiar with and accustomed to. or maybe the fact that i'm only 5'-9" tall means that i'm just not as aware of and concerned about ceiling heights as someone who is 6'-5".

5'-9"? You lucky bastard!!!!

[BlueStar]

Per previous discussions on the pedway I have an email from their commercial agent stating that there will not be any pedway connection to the Swissotel, but there "definitely" will be a connection to the pedway. He does not mention how the connection would occur which in my opinion may have an adverse affect on the value of commercial property in Aqua and in the pedway up to and around Aqua.
I have also prosperd to the developers that it would be very interesting if they would consider extending the pedway under the four buildings yet to be built along the waterfront essentially creating a glass wall corridor along wacker facing a multi-story mall within and beneath the upper deck. It would be a very facinating mall proposal and a winter refuge for many during the rather long and cold spell that visits us nearly half the year. You might call it a Michigan Avenue of River South. Regardless, it would be a true haven on those most cold and blustery days of winter.

[kalmia]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

indeed. the ceiling height in LPT is just fine, the units aren't claustrophobic at all. to all the people that find an 8'-8" ceiling height so objectionable, i have 1 question for you, were you born and raised in a cathedral by any chance?

the bungalow i grew up in had 9'-0" ceilings and not once in my life did i ever consider them to be short or claustrophobic or any of that kind of nonsense. maybe this issue is really all related to the type of home you lived in as a child and what you're familiar with and accustomed to. or maybe the fact that i'm only 5'-9" tall means that i'm just not as aware of and concerned about ceiling heights as someone who is 6'-5".

I can touch an 8 1/2' ceiling withouth jumping, but I don't consider it too low. I like it a little higher though.

I've been in basements that had ceilings lower than 6' where I would bump my head while walking stooped over. I guess that's why 8-9' ceilings don't bother me much. I recently did work on the second floor of a house where I tore down the ceilings and rebuilt them higher at 7'.

[kalmia]

Originally Posted by BlueStar

Per previous discussions on the pedway I have an email from their commercial agent stating that there will not be any pedway connection to the Swissotel, but there "definitely" will be a connection to the pedway. He does not mention how the connection would occur which in my opinion may have an adverse affect on the value of commercial property in Aqua and in the pedway up to and around Aqua.
I have also prosperd to the developers that it would be very interesting if they would consider extending the pedway under the four buildings yet to be built along the waterfront essentially creating a glass wall corridor along wacker facing a multi-story mall within and beneath the upper deck. It would be a very facinating mall proposal and a winter refuge for many during the rather long and cold spell that visits us nearly half the year. You might call it a Michigan Avenue of River South. Regardless, it would be a true haven on those most cold and blustery days of winter.

I get the feeling that not a lot of people know that the pedway exists. That might be a problem for commercial space.

[CHAPINM1]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

indeed. the ceiling height in LPT is just fine, the units aren't claustrophobic at all. to all the people that find an 8'-8" ceiling height so objectionable, i have 1 question for you, were you born and raised in a cathedral by any chance?

the bungalow i grew up in had 9'-0" ceilings and not once in my life did i ever consider them to be short or claustrophobic or any of that kind of nonsense. maybe this issue is really all related to the type of home you lived in as a child and what you're familiar with and accustomed to. or maybe the fact that i'm only 5'-9" tall means that i'm just not as aware of and concerned about ceiling heights as someone who is 6'-5".

I'm 6' even and no it's not an issue for me, where I grew up in the ceilings were roughly 8 to 9 feet. It's just that for residential highrises 9' is the average at best for ceiling heights. Yes I can't believe you brought up my childhood, it was very warped and I still get nightmares, lol J/K... Remember this though, what about room for duct pipes, wiring, ect... All the ceilings cannot be 8.8 feet throughout considering that the floorslab is roughly a foot thick, and that's just the floor slab. There may be points where they drop to less than 8 feet due to this reason. Thats another one of my concerns. For example, in the Carlyle that just got built here in Minneapolis 471 feet/39 floors, it has 10' ceilings in the units, however due to duct pipes among other things, occasionally the ceilings are lower at parts of every floor roughly by 8". It just doesn't seem right though that on every floor, the slabs with mechanical equipment will be less then 1 foot.

This is just something I dislike about this building and I have every right to think that... Thanks for those who shed their insight, I'm glad someone brought up the floor height ratio, I was wondering about that myself. The only thing that is nonsense here are personal attacks due to ones personal opinion. Well, maybe if one's comments are NIMBYish or are for height restrictions, lol... That would make me question why they were on this forum in the first place.

By the way, this is where I grew up.

[DANTHEDISCOMAN]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

This is just something I dislike about this building and I have every right to think that... Thanks for those who shed their insight,

After taking a sustainbility class at my design college, this is something I LIKE about this tower, "low ceilings" help reduce heating excess that so many of these 9'-12' newly standard ceiling heights generate.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by CHAPINM1

All the ceilings cannot be 8.8 feet throughout considering that the floorslab is roughly a foot thick,

the floor slabs are not going to be a foot thick. they'll probably be in the 6 - 8" range, i'm guessing, which means that it will be possible for all units on all levels to have 8'-8" ceilings. sure, they might have to soffit down in certain areas for ducts and plumbing, but the vast majority of the unit ceilings will be able to stand the full 8'-8", which is more than adequate. as far as i'm concerned, this whole made up issue of the ceiling heights in aqua being too low isn't an issue at all.

[Marcu]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

the floor slabs are not going to be a foot thick. they'll probably be in the 6 - 8" range, i'm guessing, which means that it will be possible for all units on all levels to have 8'-8" ceilings. sure, they might have to soffit down in certain areas for ducts and plumbing, but the vast majority of the unit ceilings will be able to stand the full 8'-8", which is more than adequate. as far as i'm concerned, this whole made up issue of the ceiling heights in aqua being too low isn't an issue at all.

I dont think it's completely a non-issue. There are plenty of people who would condition the purchase of a condo on ceiling height. Particularly, this is a big issue for European buyers who consider almost all American ceiling heights as too low.