What do you think of the latest rendering of Penn Centre? The plans, designed by Browning Day Mullins Dierdorf, call for a 240-room Le Meridien hotel, 150-room aloft hotel, 64 condos and up to six restaurants. Construction is slated to begin in January.
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Right before Gary Cooper blew it up.
Also the design could be alittle more inspired with some more angles, and more metal, especially on the aloft hotel part as thats what there branding is about, I just hope in this design that they included enough parking as parking is definatly an issue downtown for hotels during events.
I'm still surprised that the city is not going to have any parking constructed for the convention center as part of that expansion as that is where alot of cars come from especially for some of the more local type conventions that people drive in for.
Having been to west coast cities such as Seattle and Vancouver, I really think this building would fit in with the general class of Condos/Hotels there, and that's what I like most about it being built in Indianapolis.
Let's just get some projects off the ground for once. I'm tired of reading follow up blogs talking about what could have been.
I keep hearing world-class architecture thrown about, but I'm not sure those using the phrase could define it.
This is a very competent building. The architects did a right-proper job of finding a good balance between the historic demands of the Wholesale District and creating a contemporary structure.
Persons bold enough to compare this to the JW need to take an architecture appreciation course.
What's the official height of these two towers?
downtown hotel market that they've let happen with the housing market?
Over develop. Over develop. Over develop. Do we really need this? Is this
benefiting our city in any way other than having a new structure on the
landscape. I'm not convinced. Downtown green space may not be a revenue
cash cow, but it certainly would be welcome. Can anyone give me a tree
that's more than 5 years old and over 15 feet tall?
I'd also be interested to see all y'all's taste in architecture. Personally, I think the Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle is one of the prettiest buildings ever built:
http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=171290
The best we could do at that time was Chase Tower. I wish Indy could come up with something that's not only innovative, but will be aesthetically pleasing to a large number of people. The WashMu Tower did just that....
It’s not great architecture. After a year or two it will fit right in.
LOVE the Fountainhead remark. Looks Just like it.
Really, there is only so much one can do with a building of this size. They all start looking alike. Rows after rows after floor after floor of windows. Some fancy stuff at the top and bottom. And BAM you got a tall building/tower.
I think the bigger problem is cities like New York and Chicago. There Great Buildings where built over time. A 100 years or more. Lots of Architectural styles. Giving Texture and relief to the rows of building. Here in Indianapolis MOST if not all of the bigger buildings where/are being built at the same time. In roughly the same architecture style. Giving them all the same detailed - Prefabricate panel look to them.
Angles, Case in point. City Center or what ever it’s called today. Most of the building is on an angle. With the cost of land so high. Who would build like this today in downtown? NO ONE. Too much wasted land. They could put 3 penn centre on this block.
The other is cost. WE ARE NOT NEW YORK OR CHICAGO AND NEVER WELL BE. So the powers that be are not going to spend 25%- 50% more for cutting edge architecture. ANT GONNA HAPPEN.
It’s sad to say. But THIS IS as good as it gets, HERE in Indiana.
I've seen the color renderings of street level; the design is much less confused about whether it's horizontal or vertical now. The Penn St. elevation is MUCH better than before but there is still a parking face above the second floor.
A lot of people freak out about the renderings displayed on this website. It's very hard to express the detail of a building on a scaled down picture for this blog. If the naysayers in this blog were really so passionate about the quality of architecture in this city, maybe these people should attend the IHPC meetings.
A lot of what is 'designed' in this city has nothing to do with the architects, it has to do with the restrictions put upon them by the city and developers.
You should have no problem finding plenty of trees older than 5 and taller than 15 ft. tall in the downtown area. Try Military Park or Veterans Memorial Plaza.
To Bob: Who's to say that this is as good as it gets for Indy and Indiana? While there is certainly no plethora of architecturally significant buildings in Indy, there ARE some....(did you know that at one point in time the Scottish Rite Cathedral was considered to be one of the most beautiful buildings in the world?... its true!) and I expect that there will be more to come! The city, afterall, isn't going anywhere anytime soon.....
To Sophia: If you're sad, I think it may be for the wrong reasons. First of all, the office vacancy rate has been higher in the past. I think they just announced, actually, that the past quarter saw a drop from the same period last year (slight as it may have been). I believe the downtown market is gearing up for an upswing within the next few years, especially with the completion of some of the current projects. Secondly, I truly believe that there IS a market for high-rise condos in downtown. Most of the high-rise apartment buildings in Indy have very good occupancy rates, I don't see why condos wouldn't be the same. If you are basing this opinion on the failure of the past project proposed for the Market Square site, that was due to a very atypical financing requirement, not necessarily a lack of interest in high-rise condos.
towers actually get off the ground, Indy will be saturated
with mixed-use towers with no one interested in leasing
space in them.
capacity at peak times. That's the time to push for more development,
not in order to satisfy the need for a false sense of economic growth.
Hotels are generally full, I'll admit. But, that's a fragile market. Unbridled
developers will always over develop unless wise city planners step in and
study what's best for real, long-term economic development. It's time they
do that.
Unfortunately, in Indianapolis, wise city planners offer recommendations, not actualy decisions. On the flashy, major developments, those decisions are often made by those on the top floor of the CCB well before they ever get to the hands of teh planners.