I'm with everybody on a taller building, but it seems as if great american is more meant to even out the skyline, not dominate it.  To me the stage looks set for a true beacon in the middle.  the largesse of the building could make up for the height.  Even if it is thick and not so tall, GA will be the massive glass building cincinnati's skyline needs.  Espescially on 3rd street aka Concrete City...

... I heard on the radio today that they are making the design of the building taller and narrower to make the building appear taller... and the crown is also staying in the design... woo hoo ... good news!

^What radio station?

It was just on the news on WLW.  They are adding floors to make it an even 40 stories, and apparantely leaving the crown on top, even though there has been some opposition to the crown.

good, im glad it will be narrower. 

i just heard it to... on the nation's station

So they are making the building taller and narrower to make it appear taller.  This need clarification that I am sure we will get.

 

Maybe we will be +700' now!

i just heard it to... on the nation's station

 

I'm getting that upset feeling in my stomach again...oy.

We've already known that it's going to be 40 stories.  We need to find something in writing!

Doesn't say this on their webcast.

 

http://www.700wlw.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=&article=3248049

"Taller" seems easy.  But wouldn't "narrower" require a major redesign?  NOTE: I've never designed a skyscraper.

Without looking at the drawings, I believe only the original top floor (38th) was smaller than the others.  I don't know whether they are going to add two 'small' floors, or add the same size as all the others.

 

I originally said it would be 39 floors, but I think I counted the main lobby as the two floors instead of one.

Some Changes for Queen City Square Building

Controversial crown will stay.

By 700WLW News

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

 

(Cincinnati) -- There have been a few changes on the Great American Building at Queen City Square.  Those alterations were submitted to the Urban Design Review Board, Wednesday morning.  The 40-story building, at 3rd and Sycamore, could be open by 2011, if everything goes smoothly.  Among the changes: more parking.  A total of 2,400 spaces.  And the plans would lower the elevation of part of the exterior on the north and south faces, to make the building seem even taller.

 

 

http://www.700wlw.com/cc-common/mediaplayer/player.html?redir=yes&mps=wlw_news.php&mid=http://a1802.v302656.c30265.g.vm.akamaistream.net/7/1802/30265/v0001/cchannel.download.akamai.com/30265/1209/richmedia/QCSquareChanges.wmv?CCOMRRMID=11202444&CPROG=RICHMEDIA&MARKET=CINCINNATI-OH&NG_FORMAT=newstalk&NG_ID=wlw700am&OR_NEWSFORMAT=News/Talk&OWNER=1209&SERVER_NAME=www.700wlw.com&SITE_ID=1209&STATION_ID=WLW-AM&TRACK=Queen_City_Square_update

Ten years. . .wow! Bunch of procrastinators.

^ LOL

Glad to see the Queen will keep her crown.

Agreed. I'm glad the architect/designer is steadfast in his design of the building

So in other words, it isn't going to be taller, and it was already 40 floors, so no more floors would be added. All they're doing is lowering....what? I'm not sure I quite get this.

 

And I agree with Rando. Have that queezy feeling going on here...

37 floors at 12 feet a floor = 444

40 floors at 11 feet a floor = 440

^---???

37 floors at 12 feet a floor = 444

40 floors at 11 feet a floor = 440

 

I was just indicating that a change in one foot a floor could allow a different number of floors with the same overall height

The number of floors are not changing. It has been 40 since they announced the construction. According to the article, they are changing the appearance of the north and south side exterior to make it "appear" taller which means that it's not changing height at all. It will remain at 660'.

 

After looking at the rendering the only thing I can conclude from the statement is the first setback on the front and back side is going to be lowered several floors. But that would be silly, because it would still be wide. Guess we'll just have to wait for the new rendering...

Office tower revises sought

More welcoming feel is suggested

BY KEITH T. REED | [email protected]

 

Cincinnati's Urban Design Review Board Wednesday asked the architect of a planned 40-story downtown office tower to consider how to make it more welcoming to pedestrians.

 

In an hour-long presentation at City Hall, architect Gyo Obata showed off the latest revisions to the plans for the Great American Insurance Building at Queen City Square, a structure being developed by Western & Southern Financial Group. It would be Cincinnati's tallest building, rising 660 feet. The revisions offered by Western & Southern were mostly minor tweaks to the developers' last design board presentation in November 2003.

 

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080214/BIZ01/802140336/1076

"If you think about the great downtowns, they're always active and always busy," city architect Michael R. Moore said after the meeting. "That's an emphasis you're going to see more and more of going forward."

 

It's amazing how long it takes for city leaders to figure this one out.

Figuring it out is one thing...it is the enforcment/emphasis on it that is the difficult part that takes longer.  When you are in any city that just simply wants to be "business friendly" you are often times unwilling to stand up and say...we can do better.  Well Cincinnati is finally getting that backbone and telling developers/investors that Cincinnati can do better.  Thank goodness.

"If you think about the great downtowns, they're always active and always busy," city architect Michael R. Moore said after the meeting. "That's an emphasis you're going to see more and more of going forward."

 

It's amazing how long it takes for city leaders to figure this one out.

 

michael moore is one of the best minds in city hall

ok i'm a lil corn-fused, educate me fellas.  we all agree matter cannot be created nor destroyed.  so how are they gonna trim the building AND maintain the square footage?

 

oh, and i thought it was hack politics when they said last year they were looking to make it taller, and they ended up shrinking it by 4%.  i hope this ain't more of the same...

ok i'm a lil corn-fused, educate me fellas.  we all agree matter cannot be created nor destroyed.  so how are they gonna trim the building AND maintain the square footage?

 

oh, and i thought it was hack politics when they said last year they were looking to make it taller, and they ended up shrinking it by 4%.  i hope this ain't more of the same...

 

I have been diligently working on this one and the matter of it is...unless they add some height, it will lose some sq footage.

I might be interpreting it incorrectly, but I read this to mean Obata made the slimming changes prior to submission to the review board while the changes described in the first paragraph below occured after that submission:

 

Notable changes included moving the building's main entrance and lobby from Fourth Street to Third Street, facing the riverfront, and the addition of a promenade, retail stores and "winter garden" that would extend inside the building along Sycamore Street. The promenade and stores would connect the Third and Fourth street entrances.

 

Obata noted that since original plans for the building were drawn, its façade had been modified to give it a slimmer, taller feel.

I've always thought it was 37 floors... most publications have stated 37

 

The number of floors are not changing. It has been 40 since they announced the construction. According to the article, they are changing the appearance of the north and south side exterior to make it "appear" taller which means that it's not changing height at all. It will remain at 660'.

 

After looking at the rendering the only thing I can conclude from the statement is the first setback on the front and back side is going to be lowered several floors. But that would be silly, because it would still be wide. Guess we'll just have to wait for the new rendering...

I've always thought it was 37 floors... most publications have stated 37

 

The number of floors are not changing. It has been 40 since they announced the construction. According to the article, they are changing the appearance of the north and south side exterior to make it "appear" taller which means that it's not changing height at all. It will remain at 660'.

 

After looking at the rendering the only thing I can conclude from the statement is the first setback on the front and back side is going to be lowered several floors. But that would be silly, because it would still be wide. Guess we'll just have to wait for the new rendering...

 

Earlier concepts were at 37 floors. It was bumped up to 40 floors when the press release was issued last November, although the overall height had actually shrunk from 689ft  (if I remember correctly) to 660ft.

I might be interpreting it incorrectly, but I read this to mean Obata made the slimming changes prior to submission to the review board while the changes described in the first paragraph below occured after that submission:

 

Notable changes included moving the building's main entrance and lobby from Fourth Street to Third Street, facing the riverfront, and the addition of a promenade, retail stores and "winter garden" that would extend inside the building along Sycamore Street. The promenade and stores would connect the Third and Fourth street entrances.

 

Obata noted that since original plans for the building were drawn, its façade had been modified to give it a slimmer, taller feel.

 

It's obvious the facade would have been changed from the original design to what is currently on 303 Broadway, but I have no idea if this is what they are talking about or if there's something else that's been changed since 303.

 

I'm pretty sure it mentions in the article this was all changed due to recommendations by the design review board, not beforehand. But I'm too lazy to go look for it now.  :roll:

i dont know if anybody  has noticed yet...i keep forgetting to look myself.  but i drove past a work truck yesterday at 303 with the Key Bank logo ready to hoist.

i dont know if anybody  has noticed yet...i keep forgetting to look myself.  but i drove past a work truck yesterday at 303 with the Key Bank logo ready to hoist.

 

Don't remind us  ;)

Rob Alpern said:

 

"Neither the height nor the basic shape and size of the building has changed.  The architect merely made the center element narrower on the north and south facades, thus making the building appear taller and slimmer, despite no real change."

 He made no comment about any possible observation deck.

 

 

seems to me like that would make no difference at all.

^---I highly doubt there will be an observation deck. You can't take everything from Carew.

what if they made the crowd 640 feet and the building 20 feet?

what if they made the crowd 640 feet and the building 20 feet?

 

 

That would be some tall people!

 

Sorry I couldn't resist! :-D

Extremely conservative W&S (~20 years in deciding to begin construction) will probably not make the bold decision to add an observation deck.

>keep her crown.

 

Plus, you can keep your weed in there. 

Once they start construction in mid spring to early summer. I'm hoping they will have a new website just for the tower itself.

Once they start construction in mid spring to early summer. I'm hoping they will have a new website just for the tower itself.

 

 

The official site is queencitysquare.com. They will not split the tower into a separate site because the two are part of the same development. No need for them to waste money or domain space, but I am sure you will see a rework of the website.

ok, since there is no new news on QCS, I got a little creative and decided to give her a makeover as to what i think could be a possible revision to the tower. I must say, I really like my revision. It sure makes QCS look much slimmer which is why I think this is a big possibility. I also feel it makes the crown look MUCH better and more like part of the structure. It's just a quick hack job. I tried to keep the base similar to 303 Broadway which is why I didn't slim it all the way down. Let me know what you guys think.

 

 

The current proposal...

 

 

My revision...

exactly as it should be, lets get it built!

You should email the designer and tell him to build it like that.  :-D

Anybody notice this thread turned 4 years old yesterday?

 

The first pic didn't show up for me so here it is

 

I couldn't see the original but I found it on CincyImages, so if you're having the same problem click here: http://www.pbase.com/cincyimages/image/42494457

 

 

Anyway, the revision is beautiful and I like it a lot better.  I think you should e-mail the designer too.  Unfortunately I don't think it'd go anywhere because your revision reduces the square footage considerably. 

 

Anyway, I'll love it no matter what the tower is shaped like, as long as that beautiful and iconic crown stays.

i agree.  a slender queen city square is a better proportioned queen city square.  this is right on with the point i was trying to make a few pages ago concerning the crown and its scale relative to the mass of the building.  too bad it doesnt matter.

Does anyone in Cinci City Council actually visit UO? Maybe they will see my revision and say "whoa!" ;-)