Category / New Construction

by Leo Suarez

Shimmer wall details

Here is some more information on the shimmer wall of the convention center, that was mentioned earlier here.

WHY A SHIMMER WALL
There is no entrance to the Raleigh Convention Center from the western side. The wall houses the 500,000-square-foot facility’s chillers and boilers that require significant air flow. Yet the wall facing McDowell Street is the most visible as motorists enter downtown Raleigh. Some 20,000 vehicles arrive downtown via the thoroughfare each day. Even those not destined for the center city are offered downtown’s most inviting vista as they motor east and west along Western Boulevard.

The convention center’s design team of TVS, O’Brien Atkins and Clearscapes saw the wall as a canvas yearning for artwork that defined the essence of Raleigh.
“The design team wanted to do something that would add visually to downtown,” Clearscapes’ Stephen Shuster said.

In addition to the wall’s visibility, it also benefits from spectacular southern and western sunlight.

So what would make maximum use of this visibility and light?
Shimmer wall thought the design team; the ultimate coupling of these two natural elements.

“To gleam; to shine with an unsteady light; to glimmer” is the definition of shimmer. So how to make a wall do that? The design team, working with artistic inventor Ned Kahn, decided to put 79,464 4-inch by 4-inch aluminum pixels hinged on louvers to allow for free motion on 4-foot by 4-foot grids. The design is 211-feet by 44-feet. To aid nighttime “shimmering,” backlight the 9,284-square-foot wall with 56 LED fixtures.

But not just a shimmer wall, the design team demanded. Rather a shimmer wall that offered an iconic image of our city. The oak tree, the design team exclaimed.
The oak tree – the symbol borne on the Great Seal of the City of Raleigh; Raleigh’s unofficial tag line – the “City of Oaks.” But the oak tree for oh so much more.
“We wanted an image that could be understood and appreciated by all – children and techies,” Mr. Shuster said. “A tree is a complex system. It symbolizes growth. It symbolizes the environment.”

At rest the almost 80,000 4-inch by 4-inch pixels will offer a clear depiction of a mighty oak in shades of silver. And yet this oak tree will be ever changing. The flow from the boilers and chillers; the natural breeze, the whoosh of the stream of cars along McDowell will keep the image at flux. As will the shifting slant of sun rays. Adding further to the uniqueness of this shimmer wall will be the back lighting from Cree’s LEDs. And the LED colors will vary, depending on the season, the celebration – whenever and whatever!

Lot more can be read here.

by Leo Suarez

Shimmer wall to distract drivers; entertain the kiddies

The city has announced a $1 million donation from Cree Inc. that will go toward a shimmer wall on the western side of the new convention center. This is the wall that overlooks McDowell St. and is certain to be very eye-catching as people drive by. The wall will be substantially large and at 9,000 square feet, should easily draw a crowd. Once it is done you can probably find me stumbling over from the warehouse district on Saturday nights to stare at it like a mesmerized fish.

Watch the WRAL video for a great visual of the design.

N&O story

by Leo Suarez

Large parking deck upgraded to Massive

About a week ago, the city council amended an agreement between the city of Raleigh, Highwoods Properties and Progress Energy to build a parking deck to support RBC plaza. They also selected Stewart Engineering to be the technical engineering rep for the parking deck. The deck will sit mid-block on Martin St. and will have retail space facing the street. Here is a list of the changes to the agreement.

  • The eight-story parking deck will now have 1,242 instead of 1,050 as originally agreed upon
  • The deck will be built for future abutting developments.
  • Total cost increases from $14.17 million to $20.93 million.
  • The city will own two shelled spaces instead of one, probably for storage purposes.

Why do we care about this?

This is the first development that is moving forward on the PEIII block and future development must work around this huge parking deck. As was posted earlier this week, demolition of the old buildings here has already begun. I hope the rise in the number of spots for the deck is there for whatever is built around it. This will allow more room for developers to work with as they do not have to incorporate parking into their designs.

by Leo Suarez

Historic Raleigh Gets Served

Over the past week, there has been some considerable work going on across the street from the Progress II building, the block we refer to as Progress III. Progress Energy owns the majority of the block and has major plans for this area. Possible plans may include a pair of 30 story towers but no renderings or announcements have been made.

Currently the block is being razed except for the storefronts facing Wilmington St. Most of them are closed and I expect them to be either destroyed or heavily renovated to be incorporated into whatever is built on the land behind the shops.

Witness the destruction for yourself. The map I have used earlier to show the construction on this block has been updated as well.


red – razed area, yellow – construction fences


That building used to have a middle section


Soon will bite the dust


Both those buildings used to connect

by Leo Suarez

Master list of projects

I’m working on a couple longer posts that highlight some of the projects that are going on around the convention center area. This mainly includes the plans on sites 1-6. Keep checking the site for those entries. They will probably pop up next week after I take some pictures this weekend.

Until then I want to highlight the link below. It is for a webpage on the Raleigh Livable Streets website that has all the public and private projects listed with information on each one. Just glancing at this list will give you an idea of what is going on in the area. Check it out when you have some time to kill.

Livable Streets Public and Private Projects

by Leo Suarez

Hotel development in the works

Nice article in the N&O about some hotels, the Winston’s want to bring to Raleigh.

RALEIGH – Winston Hotels wants to bring another tall tower to downtown – one that could rise 25 stories and feature two hotels and hundreds of condominiums on an entire city block.

…….

Winston’s plan to include two hotels from two chains in one building is part of a strategy to take on two emerging, diverging sectors of downtown’s hospitality landscape: boutique and business class. It attempts to do so in two merging sections of downtown: Fayetteville Street and the Glenwood South entertainment district. It’s on the one-acre block bounded by Hillsborough, Edenton, West and Harrington streets, where weathered, one- and two-story buildings now sit.

……

The project will also include a 120-room Hampton Inn, which is expected to attract visitors who like uniformity in services and amenities – stuff big chains are known for.

“But it will have a little more panache than a typical highway Hampton,” said Winston Hotels CEO Bob Winston.

……

Plans for 200 to 250 condominiums are still fluid. Construction is expected to begin in early 2008 and wrap up two years later. By then, the housing market could change radically.

“We think now it makes sense to do the condos,” Winston said. “But we’re flexible about that.”

With the condos, the tower would rise 22 to 25 stories high. Without the condos, the project would stand half as tall.

Location

by Leo Suarez

630 North sneaks up on us

This project has been a little under the radar and I keep forgetting about it. It seems that the 630 North website has posted a rough schedule of events. It says that the groundbreaking will occur in June of this year, with the building being completed in the fall of 2008.

This ten-story, mixed-use building will have a parking deck for its offices and condos on the upper floors. There is no on street retail, which I think is disappointing. However, most of the foot traffic in the area will be on Glenwood, which will work out in the near future. If the area continues to grow and develop, then I think it is possible to turn the ground floor space into some kind of shop for the local residents.

Overall, I like this project and it adds some good infill to downtown and the Glenwood South area. Also, no one should feel bad about the church that’s getting demolished in order to build this building. I think they came out pretty well in the end.

Where’s at?