Overall, they did a pretty decent job on the interior but I sure wish they had spent a few extra bucks to not use white vinyl replacement windows. Dark window frames would do so much for the exterior of this building. 

Not sure if this is the right place, but with the Shriners Hospital reportedly closing and relocating to Dayton hopefully means we can see a new large mixed use development similar to the old Deaconess hospital with new residential/retail/hotels, office 

Edited March 13, 20196 yr by troeros

1 hour ago, troeros said:

Not sure if this is the right place, but with the Shriners Hospital reportedly closing and relocating to Dayton hopefully means we can see a new large mixed use development similar to the old Deaconess hospital with new residential/retail/hotels, office 

I would think that either Cincinnati Children’s and UC Medical Center will redevelop it Into more bed space or offices.

A couple interesting notes from the latest CUFNA newsletter. Unfortunately I don't have copies of any of the images mentioned:

 

Quote

Beth McGrew and John Seibert of UC, presented preliminary drawings and plans relative to the demolition of the old Tri-Health building located at the corner of MLK and Clifton Avenue to be replaced with a new UC Sculpture studio. Their presentation also included the vacant Church building located at the corner of Probasco Street and Clifton Avenue, with an emphasis on “restoring” versus renovating this historic building. Additional discussion took place regarding UCs goals and ideas for reducing the large amount of college student cars travelling through and parking on off-campus streets. 

 

And for The District:

Quote

Mark Becher, Trintas and associates provided a hand-out of street and lane closures, obtaining permits with the City, retail merchant prospects, and an extensive slide presentation devoted to ground level plans (including traffic calming and pedestrian safety). Some discussion also occurred regarding the hospital cornerstone and other ornamental items. 

 

I'm confused about the church situation, with the emphasis on "restoring". So does that mean there will be a sculpture studio in a restored church sanctuary? That just doesn't make sense to me.

Not sure how up to date this rendering is, but it shows a proposed development across the street from cross roads clifton (where those giant lots are)

 

Project is named, "Block 1'

 

https://www.newrepublicarchitecture.com/block-one

They're proposing a skywalk over Calhoun Street? Really?

I would not get too worked up about this proposal. I like Graham and his work, but this was another proposal that is a couple years old. I cant tell you how many local firms have worked with numerous developers on this site. So much potential but i am not holding my breath on anything happening. 

I would like to see a mid rise like what was proposed a couple years ago go in that space. 

Hideous. 

35 minutes ago, savadams13 said:

I would not get too worked up about this proposal. I like Graham and his work, but this was another proposal that is a couple years old. I cant tell you how many local firms have worked with numerous developers on this site. So much potential but i am not holding my breath on anything happening. 

 

Yeah, it looks like this predates Crossroads renovating Old St. George. One of the graphics lists it as an amenity space for the hotel.

Does anyone know what the hold up is with this site?  It would seem cheaper to build on an already vacant site as compared to the demolition of the old hospital they are doing for The District.  With all the new apartment buildings that have gone up around campus, It is very surprising this land has stayed empty for so long.

It's my understanding that the lot is challenging due to the elevation change and rocky terrain. I think CHURC or whoever exactly owns the lots is holding out for a more upscale developer who would invest in partially underground parking, as opposed to the simpler option of a surface lot. They've spoken of trying to target a hotel and/or YP housing as opposed to more student housing.

That rendering is straight up offensive.

Update on "The District" and "The Deacon"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 by Chad McCann

4 hours ago, Cincy_Travels said:

Update on "The District" and "The Deacon"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 by Chad McCann

Pretty excited for how much density this will create. Does anyone know how they are going to take down the main part of the hospital?

What is up with the arbitrary, tacked-on orange frames? Do they highlight where the "premium members" of The District reside?

Just another way architects can pretend like there is any depth to the facade while the framing still runs completely flat and two-dimensional. 

The density is great, but I HATE the combinations of facade materials.  Brick for 5 stories, then siding for 3, but all siding over here in front of the garage.  Just pick a material a go with it.

^ They are not the final finish material.  But replace "architects" in your above sentence with "developers" and you are spot on.

Hahaha you all crack me up. This is developer driven architecture. Architects get very little leeway with design in this segment, its all low budget dollars on exterior. We just have to try and design something that is aesthetically pleasing, that keeps the client happy.  luckily, they are using any brick on the building. The new thing is EIFS panels made to look like brick, or just EIFS panels in colors and shades of brick. I have worked on a number of these projects and architects have the best of intentions but the bank lendor gets involved and wants the exterior VE'd so that cost are brought down and the project meet there idea of R.O.I. Since the city doesn't push for higher quality building materials, developers do as they wish. 

2 minutes ago, savadams13 said:

The new thing is EIFS panels made to look like brick, or just EIFS panels in colors and shades of brick.

I've had the awful experience of having to spec "wood-look EIFS" on a project. Never again...

Just now, Largue said:

I've had the awful experience of having to spec "wood-look EIFS" on a project. Never again...

We spec'd out Nichiha wood look panels, they came in cheaper than EIFS panels, but the contractor didnt want to hassle with the install so he jacked up his subcontractor install pricing. We got EIFS panels in shades of brown instead...

A bunch of documents are up on the city website related to this project: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/planning-projects-studies/the-district-at-clifton-heights-zone-change/

 

I can't tell if there's much that's changed. Here's the latest renderings: https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/assets/File/The District - Appendix N.pdf

 

It looks like maybe the residential development near the along Fairview grew a bit. I remember them looking more like townhouses previously.

The rumors re: Stagerlee's moving to Highland Ave. at McMillan are false.  Looks like we're just getting a new corner store. 

Updates of three UC Projects in the Clifton/Riddle/Probasco area.

https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2019/04/n20828709.html?fbclid=IwAR2Lh6dEGysRgL1SGLd3QrJNT-hP-T7lRr8irqqtQoBtKEzWA0EDNfTidFQ

 

30 minutes ago, SleepyLeroy said:

Updates of three UC Projects in the Clifton/Riddle/Probasco area.

https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2019/04/n20828709.html?fbclid=IwAR2Lh6dEGysRgL1SGLd3QrJNT-hP-T7lRr8irqqtQoBtKEzWA0EDNfTidFQ

 

 

Most curious about the Clifton Court Hall. Who will be working on this project? what it will look like since it will have a prominent site on campus? Shame UC couldnt provide even a rendering of the building. 

25 minutes ago, savadams13 said:

Most curious about the Clifton Court Hall. Who will be working on this project? what it will look like since it will have a prominent site on campus? Shame UC couldnt provide even a rendering of the building. 

 

Agreed. Very curious about the design. The article says that design will begin this fall and take about a year. 180,000 sq ft, $86 million, 24 classrooms, and 230 offices... that means it's going to be a pretty big and substantial building. Definitely curious to see which architects they go with and what kind of form the building takes. Just as a point of comparison to the new Lindner College of Business building (225,000 sq ft, $120 million), this new one will be 80% the size with 70% the budget. 

21 minutes ago, jwulsin said:

 

Agreed. Very curious about the design. The article says that design will begin this fall and take about a year. 180,000 sq ft, $86 million, 24 classrooms, and 230 offices... that means it's going to be a pretty big and substantial building. Definitely curious to see which architects they go with and what kind of form the building takes. Just as a point of comparison to the new Lindner College of Business building (225,000 sq ft, $120 million), this new one will be 80% the size with 70% the budget. 

It must be a pretty tall building seeing the size of that lot is not that large.

7 hours ago, jwulsin said:

 

Agreed. Very curious about the design. The article says that design will begin this fall and take about a year. 180,000 sq ft, $86 million, 24 classrooms, and 230 offices... that means it's going to be a pretty big and substantial building. Definitely curious to see which architects they go with and what kind of form the building takes. Just as a point of comparison to the new Lindner College of Business building (225,000 sq ft, $120 million), this new one will be 80% the size with 70% the budget. 

 

Speaking of which I am extremely disappointed with the new business school design. I walk by it weekly and just think wow looks like a prison in the middle of the campus...

13 hours ago, savadams13 said:

I walk by it weekly and just think wow looks like a prison in the middle of the campus...

 

Just prepping them for an office job in Blue Ash

 

15 hours ago, savadams13 said:

Speaking of which I am extremely disappointed with the new business school design. I walk by it weekly and just think wow looks like a prison in the middle of the campus...

I agree that it looks rather monolithic and imposing (typologically associated with jails). I have only seen renderings though, so it likely looks different IRL. Does anyone have any photos of the construction progress? Henning Larsen is an internationally renowned architecture firm and this is their first US project, so we should have high expectations for the design quality.

Update: Did a little digging and found this image

Edited April 25, 20196 yr by Largue

Here's a photo from outside my office just this morning 

When you look at it from an aerial view, it blends in with Sigma Sigma commons with the green roofs and non perpendicular angles.   Seems like the architect focused more on that aspect than the ground level view.

It's just another dud along with Marion Spencer Hall.  They're like the complete opposite of a Mexican grocery store.  

Loving it. That massing is unique and negotiates its adjacent buildings and Sigma Sigma Commons well. The interior is pretty phenomenal. Soaring spaces, intimate spaces, a ridiculously cantilevered stair in the central atrium, exceptional courtyard. I wish the paneling on the outside of the building was a lighter, warmer grey or white. The rooftop vegetation is precedent setting. There shouldn't be another building built on campus that can't create rooftop ecosystems like this one. It should be a sustainability priority. I like how the building creates a quad between ERC and CRC. I could go on. 

New 5-floor apartment next to Topper's is almost complete. 

 

My god that’s hideous. 

Is that a cornice of vinyl siding?

 

It’s a brand new building it’s not like a historic cornice was damaged from years of neglect and then cheaply repaired to keep the building habitable...

Edited May 21, 20196 yr by thebillshark

The thing that is really weird about it is how low the arch is over the commercial entrance. 

It's like the new construction you see in Queens.  I bet there's a bank of gas meters right by the front door too. 

They were so close to being unnoticeable, forgettable, and meh, but then they slap on a poorly proportioned vinyl cornice and transform into annoying, cheap, and distracting. While I doubt this is in a historic district this is almost exactly what the Cincinnati Historic Guidelines ask for: Base, Middle, Top. Ordered windows. Conservative materials. This building is an example of why those guidelines are dangerous: this building could pass and HCB hearing and get built in OTR. 

It would never make it through a hearing/review.  Vinyl cornices aren't a thing, nor is that huge arch on the first floor.  The review board would deny it instantly for those two things alone. 

So many issue with this building.

1) What is that blank brick wall on the corner, and why does it extend past the 'cornice'?

2) Why is the cornice vinyl?

3) Why is the center part of the cornice raised? It looks like a terrible alteration and new facade covering an old Mission Revival building or something.

4)  The low archway and very deeply recessed commercial space

 

Just wow. This is beyond terrible. 

 

The left brick wall is the elevator shaft I believe.

I believe if i remember correctly that the weird growth is the elevator shaft and the hall passes those front windows in route to the 'front' and 'rear' apts. The windows are in the hall, the front apt i believe may have no windows in the living room and maybe a small one to the side in a back room. It has been a bit but that part stuck in my head. 

 

Well i was half right. The units are side by side and those on the Elevator side are the windowless living room units. http://www.studenthousingmgmt.com/cincinnati/?p=836

 

It reminds me of the many Italianate buildings in CUF that have fallen into disrepair over the years and had their fronts and cornices covered by awful vinyl siding.

The thing it does well is granularity. Since it only has the frontage footage similar to a traditional historic building it’s quirks are localized and remain quirks instead of defining the whole block. The massing is good from the angle of the photo with the two historic buildings to the right. 

 

23 minutes ago, SleepyLeroy said:

Well i was half right. The units are side by side and those on the Elevator side are the windowless living room units. http://www.studenthousingmgmt.com/cincinnati/?p=836

 

 

Yes that layout would seem claustrophobic to me. 

Edited May 21, 20196 yr by thebillshark

neo-brutalism    

neo-brutalism? Did you google image search that term before associating it with this building that is obviously neo-cheap-domestic-cluster-fism