PNC Tower Preserved Facades Sketch

[stevo6]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

That's the contextual case for preserving the facades. That feel in Market Square is now spreading up that side of Forbes (through the Market Square Place development), and it is also going on across Forbes from this section (see the new Penn Avenue Fish Market, and Point Park's plans for its new Playhouse). I think it would be great to preserve that continuity at street-level on just this one side of the site.

I think this sentiment is good, but would prefer it be accomplished with new architecture. Preserving the old facades would be fine if they were exceptional works (they are not with the possible exception of the tile one on the corner). Preserving all of these would be a small bang for a big buck relative to doing a new street front. They just need a competent architect and a reasonable review process.

[stevo6]

Originally Posted by alleghenyangel

Here is the 9th greenest skyscraper in the world, according to Consumerenergyreport.com (check out the facades at the base):



Ten of the Greenest Skycrapers in the World

Just shows you green and beauty don't necessarily relate!!

[BrianTH]

Originally Posted by stevo6

I think this sentiment is good, but would prefer it be accomplished with new architecture.

I don't think it is possible to recreate the same feel as the historic buildings in Market Square and along Forbes with new architecture. Of course you can do better and worse versions of contemporary street-level design, but even good contemporary design won't have the same feel.

Preserving the old facades would be fine if they were exceptional works (they are not with the possible exception of the tile one on the corner).

I think if they were cleaned up, properly restored, and renovated at the street level, they would be pretty cool buildings--they all have some great detail-work.

But again, the core issue is how they function in relation to their surroundings, including the historic facades across the street, and down Forbes into Market Square.

By the way, I can't remember if I posted this before, but there is already an existing city-designated historic district for Market Square. These pictures outline part of that district in red, then show how that district could be expanded to include these facades (the purple outline is the expanded district, with the facades in question outlined in yellow):





No matter how nice you made new facades, they wouldn't really build on the success of the existing Market Square historic district in the same way restoring these facades would.

[stevo6]

This being in a designated historic district means the project will have to go before the Historic Review Commission for approval. This would be a good forum for you to make your point, Brian.
I still disagree with you however. I think that if you want to keep the facades, you have to change the way people view them, lest they be perceived as "same old=same old". There is an example in Philadelphia, near the Liberty Bell, of a tower done in the 70s that uses a preserved Egyptian styled facade as its entry portal. It is free standing and the windows have been removed. One passes behind this semi-transparant "fig leaf" to enter the building. I think something like this happens at Lloyds of London also. I think you need to make a fundamental change like that to mark the new project and attract attention. Its not about scale; that aspect of the design should take its clues from the street. Its about change and energy.

[stevo6]

Here it is...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Xwz_Mk9htl...0/DSC_1026.JPG

The Penn Mutual Building

[BrianTH]

They have been renovating facades in Market Square and along Forbes in a conventional way, and it has generated a lot of "energy" without doing anything too radical. That said, we discussed doing something similar with the corner building (turning it into a more open structure that would provide a cool feature to the Tower's front entry plaza.

[PGHPA611]

With the PNC purchase of RBC will Jim Rohr increase the new PNC Tower to 648 feet and 46 stories.
Jim Rohr has been an amazing corporate citizen of Pittsburgh, lets encourage him to build an ICONIC Building which will represent PNC in its full glory for decades to come. Mr Rohr you accomplished the impossible by bringing The Fairmont to Pittsburgh, for this we are eternally in your debt. Please consider making your world headquarters the third tallest building in Pittsburgh. At 600 feet you are to close to pass this opportunity up.

[PreservationPioneer]

Originally Posted by PGHPA611

With the PNC purchase of RBC will Jim Rohr increase the new PNC Tower to 648 feet and 46 stories.
Jim Rohr has been an amazing corporate citizen of Pittsburgh, lets encourage him to build an ICONIC Building which will represent PNC in its full glory for decades to come. Mr Rohr you accomplished the impossible by bringing The Fairmont to Pittsburgh, for this we are eternally in your debt. Please consider making your world headquarters the third tallest building in Pittsburgh. At 600 feet you are to close to pass this opportunity up.

Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.