225 - 6th Ave

[Surrealplaces]

Bigtime, Bokimon and I Had a look at the renderings for 225 - 6th ave today. I agree with what others have said...it's improved over the other design, especially at street level. The winter garden type space in between the buildings 'Brookfield Place' looks great. Wooster summed it up best...... WFC atrium meets NYC Apple store. The plaza on the corner of the block 7th ave/1st Street looks nicer than before, and also will be used as a skating rink in the winter

The description of the glazing being a cross between EAP and Centennial (West side) is pretty accurate. Picture EAP glazing, but no protruding mullions, and instead a smooth surface. The corners of the building start off sharp on the lowest floor and as you go higher the corners get progressively curved. By the time you hit the top of the building, the corners look very much like HSBC in London. Between the corners and the glazing.......this building looks like a cross between Comcast (Philly) and HSBC (London).

What struck me most was the gallery area between the buildings, and the street level design. It's a huge improvement over the previous design. The tower looks similar, but is also an improvement IMO.

[The Fisher Account]

Pics!?

[Rusty van Reddick]

Originally Posted by The Fisher Account

...

Best. Username. Ever.

[Bokimon]

Some info about the tower.

Total complex building area is 2.6 million square feet.
East Tower is 247m (57office floors/30 elevators) and West tower is 178m (40 office floors). Lobby is 3 storeys high like EAP with secured elevator turnstile access like the Bow.
Parkade digging depth is 22m over 7 levels so the pit will be very deep to accommodate 1200+ cars and 200+ bikes.
Shadowing is NOT an issue for this project so technically it could go higher if Brookfield wants to pursue.
Podium is very large and central to the project but also very nice and open so I really like that. It kinda has a courtyard/arena type of feel for how expansive the space really is. It looks cool and a great place to host public or private events. Also will serve to connect the +15 access of BVS and the Core with another food court within the courtyard. Skylight has a large CORE style rounded glass with louver frames of some sort to help control daylighting which is neat.
The glazing intents will be interesting especially at the crown as they want 6m curtainwall window panels which is huge.
Expect concrete core with Steel outriggers like EAP for construction, no raised flooring.
The outdoor plaza kinda has a urban Rockefeller vibe for the skating arena intentions they want during the winter months. I think that is cool and there are plenty of trees for shading and beautification of the area. Overall 9/10 in my books and I'd love to see this thing rise. Brookfield has upgraded this to a handsome and elegant looking skyscraper that will complement our skyline for decades to come.

Oh I'm sure I have some renderings somewhere, eer i mean there are.

[Doug]

If the towers are phased, how will the atrium be built? I am assuming Brookfield would not want to build the entire foundation and podium at once as the cost negates much of the benefit of phasing.

[Acey]

2nd tower is 2 feet higher than EAP II. That pit... they better start digging now if they want to finish before the end of the decade. How deep was Bow's dig?

[WIGS]

Do they have a date for groundbreaking yet? or do they still have numerous hurdles to jump through?

[Bokimon]

Atrium will be partially built with the other half blocked off by the existing parking structure. The fancy roof will not be built until the whole atrium is fully built out so in the meantime it will have a normal flat roof like a 'cap off' you can say which will allow some limited functions of the atrium with some temporary retail bays. Cap off is possible as the span for the structure is not great enough so they can build the roof like in other typical buildings. The other chunk down the future will cause that to rip out and then rebuilt a bit more to put in the feature structure and glazing.

Oh ya and the LRT line might get ripped up for a few months as there are lots and lots of utility work that runs under this and feeds into that parcel. That will also be interesting and a headache for many users. Remember what happened before teh Bow got built on Center St? It was ripped up for months it seemed.

No idea for start date, probably late summer 2013 unless they get the DP done fast and at least a foundation to grade permit submitted right after.
I guess it depends on the DP wait times which is usually alot of months, especially for large towers like this.

[MarkL]

New Tallest!

I demand renderings.

[Doug]

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/al...246/story.html

By Jason Markusoff, Calgary Herald December 1, 2012 7:37 AM

Calgary's skyline will again be redefined in a few years, with a new downtown skyscraper designed to stand even taller than the Bow.

Brookfield Properties submitted this week plans for a 56-storey, 247-metre tower to rise on the site of the former Herald building, along with a 178-metre similarly styled tower on the same block.

A stylized box whose edges curve and taper upward to its crown, it won't outshoot the Norman Foster-designed Bow for iconic architecture. But it will, by 11 metres, lay to rest the Encana/Cenovus highrise's bragging rights as tallest building in Western Canada.

The project, variously called "225 Sixth" and "Brookfield Place" in the development permit, replaces Brookfield's proposal for a simpler square tower at 1st Street and 7th Avenue S.W.

After the developer bought the parkade on the same block, it decided to do something more striking, said Jan Sucharda.

"This site is literally the centre of the downtown, so I think to be the tallest building in the city makes sense," said Sucharda, Brookfield's president for Canadian commercial operations.

The plan for 2.8 million square feet of new office space is a confident bet for the company that recently learned it is losing its anchor tenant at Fifth Avenue Place - Imperial Oil, headed for a southeast office park by 2016. Brookfield has just begun marketing the Imperial offices, but is hopeful it can find an occupant for the new project and open one or both towers by 2017.

[The Fisher Account]

Anyone got these renders in hi-res?

[Jimby]

shouldn't there be a 53m antenna on top?

[Calgarian]

I like it! still pretty simple, but the slight taper and rounding of the corners are a nice touch.

[Ramsayfarian]

Better than expected. Prior to reading Wooster's description, I was expecting something drab and blocky.

[JBinCalgary]

This project certainly has potential. Im excited to see further developments

[nick.flood]

"Western Canada"

[WIGS]

Originally Posted by nick.flood

"Western Canada"

lol it's the truth

[YYCguys]

Originally Posted by Surrealplaces

... The winter garden type space in between the buildings 'Brookfield Place' looks great. Wooster summed it up best...... WFC atrium meets NYC Apple store. The plaza on the corner of the block 7th ave/1st Street looks nicer than before, and also will be used as a skating rink in the winter ...

WFC? What is that?

Also someone mentioned a "Spanish Steps" look in the lobby. Is this true? If so, that would be soooo cool!

[Vascilli]

Would prefer a stronger taper at the top but it's still looking good.

[nick.flood]

Originally Posted by YYCguys

WFC? What is that?

Also someone mentioned a "Spanish Steps" look in the lobby. Is this true? If so, that would be soooo cool!

World Financial Center New York