July 25, 201311 yr Did this project not have to go through vetting by the urban design review board? It just strikes me as unbelievable that a major new building can be actively under construction, and outside of a secretive small group, no one has a clue what this building is going to look like. We don't know if retail will cover the Race Street side and the 5th Street side, we have no clue about where the main entrance will be, what the massing materials will be, how the garage entrances will look, etc. Mercer Commons, The Banks, Queen City Square, etc all released renderings, received feedback from the UDRB, and I believe all made slight design changes as a result. Without being subject to any of this, my faith that the Dunnhumby building will come out well is pretty low. This is an incredibly important piece of real estate in the heart of downtown, and I really hope that we aren't pissing away our chance to do something that will be beneficial to the urban landscape long term. I think this company is too young to really know what they want and are capable of building, and I'm increasingly thinking it was a mistake to let them build on such a prominent lot. What should host a building of considerable height and density, has already been reduced to a short, low density, no residential development.
July 25, 201311 yr jmicha, I can sum up your post as follows. "I haven't seen it, have no clue what it looks like, but someone who has seen it, who I won't name, told me everyone will like it." Sure. Maybe it will be "middle ground," maybe it won't. We'll see. But I don't think we don't need anymore hype built around this project. All you have to say is, "I haven't seen the renderings, so I don't know what it will look like."
July 25, 201311 yr ^Except you came bursting on in here insisting people are going to be disappointed because it's "a turd of a building" as you put it. I never claimed I have any clue what it looks like or that it will be amazing or that it's going to satisfy us. I'm just saying that your reasoning and your demeanor when you came in here acting as if YOU knew exactly what was going on was inappropriate. As for the person, I don't know her name. She was someone from 3CDC who gave one of my classes a lecture and I talked to her afterwards about various things. Read your last sentence again. You may find it applies very much to yourself.
July 25, 201311 yr Let's keep this thread as civil as possible. I highly recommend only posted news/photos/other objective things about this project. This conversation isn't really going anywhere at this point, so let's avoid personal attacks. Dunnhumby posted this video on twitter less than an hour ago of the construction.
July 25, 201311 yr Dunnhumby has set up a Flickr page for the construction photos. They also have an email listserv you can sign up for, but I can't seem to find out where to sign up. I only found one web version of the email... anyone able to find the place to sign up for construction updates? EDIT: It appears the email updates are through 3CDC and you can get them by clicking here
July 26, 201311 yr Let's keep this thread as civil as possible. I highly recommend only posted news/photos/other objective things about this project. This conversation isn't really going anywhere at this point, so let's avoid personal attacks. Dunnhumby posted this video on twitter less than an hour ago of the construction. It is NOT OKAY to shoot video in portrait orientation. Turn the phone horizontally, people. It's not that hard.
July 26, 201311 yr haha. Someone needs to post a PSA during the Super Bowl next year to tell everyone how to shoot videos properly. Also, tell people how to park at a meter... (be right back... going to the Pet Peeves thread). To be fair though, I don't think dunnhumby took the video. I believe it was taken by a contractor/subcontractor. So don't hold it against dunnhumby at least.
August 16, 201311 yr Finally... some design news: http://cincinnati.com/blogs/developingnow/2013/08/16/dunnhumby-centre-design-to-be-unveiled/ But you have to wait until Tuesday :P
August 20, 201311 yr I can also tell that once the design is released, everyone will hate it and we haven't even seen anything yet.
August 20, 201311 yr I can also tell that once the design is released, everyone will hate it and we haven't even seen anything yet. lol
August 20, 201311 yr It will be a modern glass box with some kind of wavy feature too break up the massing a little. The architecture buffs will decry it, while most people will think that its real progress over a parking lot. It's only 9 stories. There's no real incentive to design something totally outrageous (and budget blowing) that will barely be visible from the highway. We're not getting a 43-story banger like PNC in Pittsburgh is building. Like others have said...temper your expectations a bit.
August 20, 201311 yr It's a dark colored prefab concrete with glass. The windows are all staggered to give it an uneven "data like" feel. It looks ok.
August 20, 201311 yr Enquirer's Cindi Andrews is tweeting from the meeting but no pictures yet. "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
August 20, 201311 yr Take a peek inside dunnhumby's new digs Here’s your first look at preliminary plans for the new dunnhumby centre at Fifth and Race streets Downtown. DunnhumbyUSA and 3CDC are making the first public presentation of the exterior renderings for the nine-story building to the city’s Urban Design Review Board, which began meeting at 2 this afternoon. Groundbreaking on dunnhumby centre was held in January, and construction is expected to be finished by January 2015. Cont "It's just fate, as usual, keeping its bargain and screwing us in the fine print..." - John Crichton
August 20, 201311 yr "I love it!" "I hate it!" "Anti-urban!" "Too dense!" "Too much glass!" "Not transparent enough!" Let it begin...
August 20, 201311 yr Meh. It looks like a grey version of Ohio State's Student Academic Services Building. "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 20, 201311 yr or the Architecture building at OSU down the road. Definite similarities to the Academic Services Building.
August 20, 201311 yr Knowlton's color, SAS' sass! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 20, 201311 yr Finally renderings are out. Now most of the speculation (outside appearance, size, residential component, grocery store, etc) is finally over. We can get to analyzing the progress of the construction.
August 20, 201311 yr My expectations were low so I'm impressed. It's certainly more interesting than a glass box. And a facade that reflects what is happening on the interior I can always get behind. Hard to tell what's going on up on the roof but it looks like somewhere I would like to hang out. If only it had residential up there....
August 20, 201311 yr Looks fine to me. Not exciting, not offensive. Like ucgrady said, my expectations were pretty low so I'm happy with it.
August 20, 201311 yr I do like how the corners slowly jut outward as it gets to the top. You can't do much with an office building like this without it costing way too much. Besides, making judgments based on renders is nothing until actually seeing it in person.
August 20, 201311 yr meh...better than a surface lot. kind of looks like a modern take on something from the 1960's.
August 20, 201311 yr Has those weirdly staggered panels between windows. See also Mercer Commons garage. There are two brand new buildings in Chicago that have something similar going on. Its good to see that area filled in, shame residential didn't work out.
August 20, 201311 yr Hard to tell from the photos, not that detailed........but more of a mid town building not suburban. Typical Suburban, 80's 90's, late 90's 2000's Mid Town
August 20, 201311 yr meh...better than a surface lot. kind of looks like a modern take on something from the 1960's. I think you might accurate with this take, http://www.urbancincy.com/2013/08/dunnhumbyusa-constructs-transformative-building-at-fifth-and-race/
August 20, 201311 yr It looks like my senior architecture thesis project, which was crap (sadly). It follows the current trend of arranging the windows randomly to try to...look trendy I suppose? The recessed first floor is the kind of thing that sounds good on paper (let's build an arcade which will draw people in) but ends up being kind of a foreboding no-man's land that's only useful on rainy days.
August 20, 201311 yr This will blend in perfectly with the adjacent Millennium Hotel, it's a very unobtrusive design. Mediocrity at its finest.
August 20, 201311 yr I was thinking suburban Amsterdam hospital but that works too. At least Robbie the Obese Robot has color! "You don't just walk into a bar and mix it up by calling a girl fat" - buildingcincinnati speaking about new forumers
August 20, 201311 yr Without question, it was overhyped...but I'm not mad at the design. It will fill out the block nicely. It's not cheap architecture and its not too flashy. It's not faux historic and it's not trying too hard. Most importantly, my fears of the parking levels being too pronounced have been quelled.
August 21, 201311 yr It isn't earth chattering architecture, but there really isn't much wrong with it. It is the type of design that has a chance of looking much better in real life than the rendering, because I dint think it will look cheap and there are not any faux elements to it. Most importantly, it will fit in nicely with the CBD.
August 21, 201311 yr I've been told the renderings are what it will look like even with the parking garage. The garage design will have glass in it. It will also have screening and vents to allow for airflow
Create an account or sign in to comment