May 12, 201213 yr Love the tower, but that auditorium doesn't strike me as all that interesting. For a building that small, it would have been worth investing in more expensive cladding. Silver metal panels look generic and cheap to me.
May 13, 201213 yr Believe it or not, that is actually a very unique material application for OKC, where even all of our public facilities are all brick, generally. I agree that it could have been made more significant, I legitimately think Pickard Chilton just had no idea what the hell to do with the auditorium. Damn client wants one, throw it in somewhere kind of a deal. However I think of it as a complimentary tactile element, yet is distinctive on the urban corner to stand alone. I think they wanted to avoid the appearance of a corporate complex with all matching structures.
May 14, 201213 yr ^ But that's the problem. The auditorium only reinforces the corporate look. The rest of the building is gorgeous with all the glass and those cool extruded mullions. The auditorium feels like a leftover. Metal panel comes in a ton of different colors shapes and textures. I've specified quite a few. I worked a on a project that had color changing metal...it's at least something different than the standard silver. I'm wondering if it was cost...though there's plenty of other cheap alternatives. PC does top of line architecture......especially here in Chicago. So this is a bit surprising to me.
May 14, 201213 yr I doubt it was cost. The project came in remarkably under budget, which actually screwed us up a little bit because we had leveraged a tax increment financing district with just the tower as its premises but for the purpose of funding the downtown-wide streetscape proram (Project 180). I forget how much Devon Tower came under budget, but I think it was a third of the overall $750 million price tag we were originally working off of. 4 streets (out of around 15) ended up having to be cut from P180 for the time being.
August 1, 201212 yr While I've finished the move and gotten settled down in Lakewood, a political brouhaha for the ages was boiling back home that I had to go throw myself into, since it was an issue I have been following closely for a long time involving an at-grade boulevard replacing the elevated I-40 viaduct that was promised to be our "Champs d'Elysees" in OKC. ODOT (Oklahoma's DOT) ended up instead proposing just 5 blocks at ground-level and the rest of its entirety up on an earthen ramp, so our urban community has been outraged. In addition to that, we're just really tired of having to give up entire Tuesday mornings every other week to battle with City Hall on another issue - so we have really amassed some troops to give them a good beating this time. We're tired of trying to save historic buildings, or trying to prevent all of our money going to a convention center, or having to scramble to defend transit at the 11th hour, etc. When ODOT and City Hall in concert promised Champs d'Elysees and instead unveiled earthen ramp, that has been the last straw. It doesn't matter that the project will cost $100 million no matter what, and at $120 per cubic square foot, elevated urban freeways don't come cheap. They are very expensive mistakes to make. Today we had our first big showdown at City Hall, with the local press all over it. I myself was interviewed by News9 (metro's main news outlet) and also featured on Channel 4 and Channel 5, though 4 chose the much-more eloquent councilman Ed Shadid (a true urbanist) for their interviewee. Here are the renderings (drafted by a talented young architect named Andrew Stewart, who's also a part of our group) of our alternate proposal to the earthen ramp. Market Circle, on downtown's western side, integrating a tricky convergence of several major avenues This is a masterplan for the historic Farmer's Market area that we're trying to protect from being cut off from the rest of downtown by this elevated urban freeway plan. Here you see the historic mission-style market with a green for an outdoor farmer's market. Thunder Circle, anchoring the Boulevard in front of the renovated Chesapeake Arena/"Thunderdome," the new convention center (the tower is a $40 million convention hotel the city is finding a way to subsidize) and downtown central park both approved by voters, and you can also see the edge of the fabulously renovated Myriad Gardens in the first site overview
August 2, 201212 yr Wow this is really great. When Detroit implemented something similar to this it was an extreme success. It also reminds me a bit of the circle in Indianapolis which is a great public space.
August 3, 201212 yr Andre, what is in Detroit that is similar? So far we're sending delegations to Ben Franklin Pkwy in Philly, the Park East project in Milwaukee, and I've been tasked to do reconnaissance in Indy and Carmel. I think here we also have a similar narrative to the Shoreway redesign in Cleveland...which I understand there are issues. On a side note, I will be on a local talk radio station next week to talk urban design and the boulevard controversy. I'm pumped.
August 3, 201212 yr Way to go! Looks like a great improvement - boulevards should replace urban elevated highways whenever possible.
August 3, 201212 yr Wow this is really great. When Detroit implemented something similar to this it was an extreme success. It also reminds me a bit of the circle in Indianapolis which is a great public space. I don't think its fair to extreme successes to call anything in Detroit an extreme success.
August 9, 201212 yr Andre, what is in Detroit that is similar? So far we're sending delegations to Ben Franklin Pkwy in Philly, the Park East project in Milwaukee, and I've been tasked to do reconnaissance in Indy and Carmel. I think here we also have a similar narrative to the Shoreway redesign in Cleveland...which I understand there are issues. On a side note, I will be on a local talk radio station next week to talk urban design and the boulevard controversy. I'm pumped. I believe that NorthAndre is referring to the Campus Martius project in the center of Detroit. A quick glance of a map of Detroit will reveal that the city is laid out with several larges "spokes" that come together at a hub. At the center of that hub Campus Martius was recently reconfigured and created a public space out of the large expanse of pavement that was previously somewhat prohibitive to pedestrian traffic. Traffic is still maintained but it circulates around a "roundabout" of sorts that is actually in the shape of a diamond. It has created a great public space that also allows vehicular traffic flow. For once, Detroit seems to have done something right. Check out Google Earth images from the last several years to see "before and after" photos.
August 11, 201212 yr eurokie you can look at the cleveland shoreway plans online, but definately include a visit to campus martius in detroit if you can fit it in. they did do it well and andre is right on - i too would call it an extreme success. actually come to think of it if you did come to cleveland you may be interested to check out the rural/farming/exurban/amish towns, many of which are based around traffic circles, a legacy of originally being part of the connecticut western reserve. the city of cle has university circle neighborhood as well. or you could just google earth all this i suppose - ha! i think for what okc is doing there indy is your one must visit.
November 5, 201212 yr I am totally shocked at the negative comments concerning the Devon Tower. This building and its placement, the quality of materials used, the artistic conception, are beyond first-class. This is a world-class building and campus, by anyone's standard. They thought of literally everything. The massive, burnished aluminum legs that support the building "float" in a circular moat (lit from below at night) which continues inside the building. Amazing. Nothing was left to chance. This is one of the most phenomenal skyscrapers I've ever seen, and I used to live in Manhattan, and before that, Cleveland. All of the muscular vulgarity of Dallas's big buildings is conspicuously missing in this masterpiece. You have to see this thing in the flesh. The 49th & 50th fl. restaurants opened last week, and are booked past Xmas, I think. If you're an architecture buff, and have some pocket change, fly here to have a look-see. You won't be disappointed. It can be seen from 30 miles away. Utterly magnificent, on all levels, especially aesthetic. This is, and will be, a game-changer for this city. There can be no turning back now. Every company that does something in this town, from here on out, will have Devon to answer to. And if they don't, the screams will go up. Matching the aesthetic, by any company wishing to erect a headquarters here, will be difficult and very costly!
November 5, 201212 yr I stand by my critique. The park looks nice but the building siting is horrendous. This remark is absolutely upside down! The building "siting", as you wrote, is actually beyond fabulous. Either you have not seen it, or you have lost your eyesight!
November 5, 201212 yr I was in OKC recently and I agree, the building looks better in person. The site is nicely integrated with the park across the street. My only complaint would be that it is SO dominant on the current skyline. Hopefully future towers will balance that out.
November 6, 201212 yr any recent shots of auditorium progress? is it done yet? not looking good in that photo above from may.
November 6, 201212 yr any recent shots of auditorium progress? is it done yet? not looking good in that photo above from may. Everything finished, and up and running. Auditorium is similar to NYTimes auditorium, with glass walls on both ends. It looks good, and a nice trapezoidal foil to the round atrium and the angular tower and the 6-story, block-long garden wing. A stunning achievement, to be guilty of understatement!
November 6, 201212 yr Would LOVE to see some pictures of this... “All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” -Friedrich Nietzsche
November 6, 201212 yr Would LOVE to see some pictures of this... I have taken about 45 pics. Will try to figure out how to upload them. One set from July, 2011, the other from nearly completed campus, inside and out, May, 2012. I was told that one of two light sculptures in the Nebu restaurant (this one over the sushi bar) was incorrectly installed and it crashed to the ground. Its replacement cost was a mere $250,000!! That gives you some idea of the super high-end nature of the design and the furnishings. Behind the massive reception desk is a huge wall, covered with wood from a single tree in Thailand. The patterns of wood are identical, and match each other perfectly, since they originate from one source. Astonishing to behold. You jaw drops to the floor in awe. Suprised that the employees get any work done, such are the distractions of their exquisite surroundings. Devon and their architects got this one right, down to the very last nail!
November 7, 201212 yr its a nice silly tower. silly as in ridiculous, but why not? what better reason to do it than as a stunt? good to see america thinking tall again. and yeah its sleek and bland, but it will certainly be impressive on the skyline and for lord knows for how many miles around. they sure better have public restaurant/bar/observation floors at the top! yes!?!? Indeed they do have restaurants on the ground floor and on the top two floors, both open to the public. Most corporate cafeterias are just that: only for the corporation and no one else. Very few private corporations would allow this kind of public access to its facilities. As far as being silly or ridiculous, make no mistake: this is a serious, major piece of architecture. The elegance, both inside and outside, is absolutely astonishing. Nothing silly about it!
November 8, 201212 yr I was in OKC recently and I agree, the building looks better in person. The site is nicely integrated with the park across the street. My only complaint would be that it is SO dominant on the current skyline. Hopefully future towers will balance that out. Well, the first monster building in Dallas probably gave a similar lopsided impression. Then 4 or 5 more towers of equal or greater height balanced out the downtown. The same thing could occur in OKC, but I am not predicting anything. The Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building made midtown Manhattan a bit lopsided for several decades. Did anyone complain about it? I don't think so. Yes, the Devon tower is huge. But it is also beautiful, which is much more important than its sheer size. Furthermore, this is not a tall building by present-day world standards. There are buildings that are 4 or 5 times as tall as this one.
November 8, 201212 yr Love the tower, but that auditorium doesn't strike me as all that interesting. For a building that small, it would have been worth investing in more expensive cladding. Silver metal panels look generic and cheap to me. In the flesh, the building and its cladding do not look cheap (there is absolutely nothing about this building that looks cheap!). Strange, odd shape, but every bit as first-class as the rest of the complex. The glass wall in front of the stage is spectacular. Faces the green lawn, the garden, the atrium and the massive circular legs that the tower sits on. The naysayers who make odd comments about this project, once they see it, they will drastically alter their viewpoints. And if they don't, they are aesthetic Neanderthals. Like hearing a lecture or concert outdoors, even in January.
December 18, 20231 yr OKC could get apartment skyscraper twice as tall as Devon tower in developer's Bricktown plan California developer Scot Matteson is dreaming big – very big – and is revising long-range plans for towers he wants to build in Lower Bricktown. His full vision, if realized, would include a 134-story apartment tower that would be twice the size of the 50-story Devon Energy Center. Matteson said he is serious about his vision but knows the new plans might leave some people incredulous. "I'm used to being told you can't do things," Matteson told The Oklahoman. "But I'm used to getting it done." At 1,750 feet high, the tower, if fully built, would be a close second to the country’s tallest building, the 1,776-foot-high One World Trade Center in New York City. The timing of the expansion decision, less than a week after Tuesday’s vote to build a new arena, is no coincidence. More below: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2023/12/18/developer-to-build-2nd-tallest-building-in-the-us-for-okc-apartments/71937684007/ "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
December 18, 20231 yr I think the word "Dream" being displayed on the tower LED screen pretty appropriate.
December 19, 20231 yr 13 hours ago, VintageLife said: It looks so bad. OKC is very, very excited about their new arena. A clear state of arousal in the sooner state that will probably not come to fruition.
January 24, 20241 yr https://www.archpaper.com/2024/01/ao-developers-revise-speculative-oklahoma-city-supertall-tallest-building-us/ upping the height - 1,907
January 24, 20241 yr The year of Oklahoma's statehood (1907). HA! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
January 24, 20241 yr So more than 1,000' taller than the next tallest building. Is there any chance this actually gets built? Seems to be a great example of Burnham's "make no little plans" maxim, but it just comes across as ridiculously ambitious.
January 25, 20241 yr if there is actually any chance for it to be built they probably should talk to fort worth first before approving it.
June 11, 20241 yr The tallest skyscraper in the US has just been approved for ‘unlimited’ height Hannah Frishberg Mon, June 10, 2024 at 9:23 AM PDT·2 min read This surprisingly located supertall just cleared a crucial hurdle. In Oklahoma City — where plans are underway for what would be, at 1,907 feet high, the tallest building in the US — developer Matteson Capital has now received the green light to build a tower without any height restrictions, according to Dezeen. Last Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Council approved a new zoning application for the controversial Legends Tower removing height restrictions that were part of the original plan, which called for it to be built to 1,750 feet high. That height would have made it the nation’s second tallest building after Manhattan’s One World Trade, which — as a nod to America — rises to 1,776 feet. MORE
June 12, 20241 yr They're leaving out a potential key part of the height equation. The FAA. I'm not going to pretend to know what their own regulations are, but the airport isn't all that far from Downtown, and at this height they may have a blanket "you can't build that high" restriction. I'd be curious. I do know there's no such thing in the US as "unlimited height" as anything over 2,000 feet requires FAA approval, and they've only ever given it out a handful of times for some radio towers in the middle of nowhere. This building just skirts that height, likely on purpose. Or, they don't care at all because they know they'll never actually build it and submit for the proper approvals. A much more likely scenario haha.
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