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  #1  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2019, 11:07 PM
Phil McAvity Phil McAvity is offline
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Best/Worst building remodel

Post pics of your favorite building remodel, your least favorite remodel or both

I stumbled across this redo today which transformed a boring brutalist box in Portland to a gorgeous futuristic-looking glass tower:



On the other hand Toronto fucked up when they had the chance to transform Canada's tallest building from a boring box into something spectacular but instead just chose to go with the exact same featureless look and design after spending over $100 million updating it:

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  #2  
Old Posted Apr 4, 2019, 11:55 PM
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Sam Hill Sam Hill is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil McAvity View Post
Post pics of your favorite building remodel, your least favorite remodel or both

I stumbled across this redo today which transformed a boring brutalist box in Portland to a gorgeous futuristic-looking glass tower:

Hmmmm. I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually like the "boring brutalist box" better. The new version is a hot mess.
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  #3  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 7:01 AM
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I really like First Canadian Place too.

For best reno, I'd have to nominate 100 Park Avenue. You would never know that it's a 70 year old building by its looks!
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Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 11:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Sam Hill View Post
Hmmmm. I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually like the "boring brutalist box" better. The new version is a hot mess.
Sorry but yeah, the new version looks pretty bad and what's with that tin shed on top?
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  #5  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 10:33 PM
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I liked what they did to Salt Lake's old Gateway East (Kennecott) building a decade-plus ago...

BEFORE:


https://100.okland.com/

TODAY:


https://www.commercialcafe.com/comme...bank-building/
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Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 10:47 PM
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Thats a definite marked improvement
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  #7  
Old Posted Apr 5, 2019, 11:02 PM
Phil McAvity Phil McAvity is offline
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Originally Posted by Amanita View Post
I really like First Canadian Place too.

For best reno, I'd have to nominate 100 Park Avenue. You would never know that it's a 70 year old building by its looks!
Before and after pictures would be nice, that's kind of the point of the thread

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Hill View Post
Hmmmm. I'm probably in the minority here, but I actually like the "boring brutalist box" better. The new version is a hot mess.
I wouldn't say it's replacement is any architectural masterpiece but compared to the previous version, it's a massive improvement. If no one liked brutalism it would never have existed, I just have never understood how anyone could like buildings that are devoid of any features, ornamentation or imagination, brutalism just seems like the laziest and most uninteresting design imaginable.
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  #8  
Old Posted Apr 6, 2019, 3:53 AM
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Sorry but yeah, the new version looks pretty bad and what's with that tin shed on top?
Yeah, I've never liked buildings that wear hats.
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  #9  
Old Posted Apr 6, 2019, 4:06 AM
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How about this one in Denver? It's only a proposal, but if we can trust the renderings, it should be a major improvement:

Before:


https://denverinfill.com/blog/wp-con..._current-1.jpg

After:


https://denverinfill.com/blog/wp-con..._rendering.jpg

https://denverinfill.com/blog/2019/0...enovation.html
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  #10  
Old Posted Apr 6, 2019, 6:51 AM
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Sorry, was on mobile last night, here's 100 Park Avenue:
Both pics from skyscrapercenter.com
Before:


After:
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  #11  
Old Posted Apr 6, 2019, 2:55 PM
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Originally Posted by Amanita View Post
Sorry, was on mobile last night, here's 100 Park Avenue:
Both pics from skyscrapercenter.com
Before:


After:
Wow. When I see the before, I have a hard time imagining why anyone would think that needs to be remodeled. When I see the after, I see a boring, bland office building. Whoever did this might as well have just stacked up millions of dollars of cash into a pile and lit it on fire. It's sad.
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  #12  
Old Posted Apr 6, 2019, 9:01 PM
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^I think part of the problem with 100 Park Avenue's facade was what it was made of- brick. Over time, many of those facades didn't age well and developed maintenance problems, which were probably getting expensive to deal with, so something needed to be done. Remember what 425 Park Avenue used to look like, same architects and same time period.
That and a modern facade was probably thought to be more appealing to potential tenants. I do agree it was nice looking before though
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  #13  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2019, 7:16 PM
Phil McAvity Phil McAvity is offline
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Originally Posted by Sam Hill View Post
Wow. When I see the before, I have a hard time imagining why anyone would think that needs to be remodeled. When I see the after, I see a boring, bland office building. Whoever did this might as well have just stacked up millions of dollars of cash into a pile and lit it on fire. It's sad.
I agree, I don't see much improvement after the reno, the original was nice
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  #14  
Old Posted Apr 8, 2019, 11:35 PM
InTheBurbs InTheBurbs is offline
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[QUOTE=Sam Hill;8531693]How about this one in Denver? It's only a proposal, but if we can trust the renderings, it should be a major improvement:

Is that the old PSCo building?
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  #15  
Old Posted Apr 9, 2019, 1:33 AM
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That Kennecott bilding looks awful IMO...it looks suburban just by it's generic façade and lazy attempt of masonry.

That Park Avenue project is pretty brutal as well. Looks kind of like a robot instead of a respectable skyscraper.
Not sure what's going on in that Denver render.....it look worse than it's current rendition by some measure.
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  #16  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2019, 2:38 PM
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Is that the old PSCo building?
Ummmm, I have no idea.
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  #17  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2019, 2:49 PM
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Originally Posted by GeneralLeeTPHLS View Post
Not sure what's going on in that Denver render.....it look worse than it's current rendition by some measure.
Interesting. I have such a hard time understanding how anyone could like the first one better. I almost feel like you're playing devil's advocate here. The first one looks hideous to me.

It's interesting how no one can agree on these "improvements." I almost feel like complete remodels on old buildings should just never be done, because the end result almost always ends up looking like an awkward compromise -- even if it is an improvement -- plus you just can't predict how people are going to feel about it decades in the future.
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  #18  
Old Posted Apr 11, 2019, 3:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Comrade View Post
I liked what they did to Salt Lake's old Gateway East (Kennecott) building a decade-plus ago...

BEFORE:


https://100.okland.com/

TODAY:



https://www.commercialcafe.com/comme...bank-building/
I think I might be leaning towards the original version on this one. Neither one is particularly attractive though.

For the longest time I used to think that particular style of 60's architecture was hideous. In fact, I hated just about everything built in the 60's. But lately, some of those 60's architectural styles are starting to look classic to me. Sleek, stylish, restrained, classy...

I feel like most people have a hard time seeing that right now, but in another 20 or 30 years they will.
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Old Posted Apr 11, 2019, 8:38 PM
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Excellent idea for a thread!

New York City has quite a few of these:

BEST

2 Broadway | Completed in 1958 and remodeled in 1999.


Source | Source


Source


Source

Salesforce Tower | Completed in 1974 as the headquarters for New York Telephone, remodeled in 2007.


Source | Source

Trump International Hotel & Tower | Completed in 1970 as the Gulf + Western Building, remodeled in 1997 into a luxury hotel and condominiums.


Source | Source

WORST

52 Broadway | Completed in 1898 and sadly remodeled in 1982 with 8 additional floors.


Source | Source

375 Pearl Street | Completed in 1975 as a telephone switching building for New York Telephone. Partially remodeled into an office building in 2016, there are currently no plans to reclad the rest of the building...


Source

1 Times Square | Completed in 1904 as the headquarters for the New York Times, remodeled in 1963 into the Allied Chemical Tower.


Source

Since 1995 it has covered with billboards as the owners felt the building would be more profitable as a giant billboard due to the tiny floor plates.


Source

335 Madison Avenue | Completed in 1913 as the Biltmore Hotel and remodeled into an office building in 1981.


Source | Source

3 Columbus Circle | Completed in 1928 as the Columbus Tower, remodeled in 2005 into 3 Columbus Circle.


Source | Source

2 Columbus Circle | Completed in 1964 and remodeled in 2005.


Source

Grand Hyatt New York | Completed in 1919 as The Commodore Hotel, remodeled in 1980 by Donald Trump. The building has been proposed for demolition earlier this year.


Source | Source

Last edited by Patrick; Apr 11, 2019 at 8:52 PM.
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  #20  
Old Posted Apr 12, 2019, 6:21 AM
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2 broadway looked better than before, its facade was quirky and interesting. Now it just looks really generic. Same with 2 Columbus Circle.
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