New RBC Tower Design

I love it! It’s a much improved design. It has more character, it’s more attractive and the changed to the balconies are exactly what was needed.
When you compare the new design to the old design it’s like day and night.

I second that. I think it is more interesting on top. And the balconies have much cleaner looking lines.
It will be great to see this going up.

I don’t like either. Both are boring designs that lack any sort of significance. I hate the little hat on the top of the building. It’s obviously about making the building taller than the others downtown.

I think it’s great! We need something defining like that downtown. Now, if we can only get that Nashville-inspired building from the previous post.
Thanks for taking the time to find and upload these renderings, they are really nice to be able to see.

I have mixed feelings, although I like the overall design. The spire looks a bit small for a tower of this size and shape. Not bad, just strange-looking. I must give Highwoods Properties credit, though. They are trying to please everyone Hopefully, it will turn out to be the best-looking high-rise for DT Raleigh when delivered.

I don’t love it, but I think it’s an improvement over the previous design. It reminds me of the Little Engine That Could. Also, that blue might get old after a while.

I love the new building look. One thing that always aggrivates me is that the newest building built downtown, the Progress Energy building, is never in the shots. I think back to the “money shot” and wonder if Raleigh will have more than just that one view. I often visit http://www.raleighskyline.com to get different views of the city.
I know that the main focus is the convention center and Site1/4 area in downtown for now, but I think that the city could become nice to look at from all points of view with the right planning. Then we can work on developing more tall buildings, so everyone eventually will see something that they like.

As I continue to think about the design, the more I dislike it. I’d rather see the building have a more interesting massing with articulation that is scale appropriate. That is to say that the massing from a distance is as interesting at the details that are only viewed up arrival to the site. This design is just too flat and uninteresting. I am sure that they are challenged by the small site and need to get as much space as possible but I am sure that they can come up with something better than this.

we should be glad that we’re getting a tower of this height at all. When we become a city of 20-30 story towers downtown, maybe it would then be more appropriate to critique every nuance of a building, IMO.

I agree with andrew

I don’t think we should capitulate in order to fulfill the specific dream to have a bigger skyline. I’d rather have a quality downtown that lives like a city than have a city of ubiquitous towers that breathe no life into it. Additionally, I think the residents of Raleigh ought to demand excellence in design for something that is going to be there for decades. Let’s face it, had the city and citizens of Raleigh been stronger in the past, we wouldn’t be looking at that horrible “hair curler” hotel on Hillsborough St. What’s so wrong with demanding excellence, especially in a city with money, growth, intelligence and a prominent design school?
I think we can have both size and quality. I don’t think Raleigh has to compromise.

I suggest focusing more on what goes on at ground level, as this is a vastly more critical element of the city experience.

andrew noted, “we should be glad that we’re getting a tower of this height at all. When we become a city of 20-30 story towers downtown, maybe it would then be more appropriate to critique every nuance of a building, IMO.”
I am told by Dan Douglas of Raleigh’s Urban Design Center that we are well beyond that point in Raleigh. Two years ago he was urging the Planning Commission to understand that we can now be “pickers and choosers” — the demand is there, the developers are beating down the door, and we should be raising the bar for high-quality urban design — just as our peer cities are doing.

Let’s not get carried away. If we wanted to please every single person. There would be no towers at all… Everyone can find something wrong with anything, if they look hard enough…
It does make me proud that the people of Raleigh do care enough to argue for and against their likes and dislikes. That kind of support for our city is what will ensure that whatever comes here, will be worth having.

Much improved!!

I think it lacks character and already appears dated. Looks like something from Atlanta.

I hate the addition of the point on the top. I hate the trend of adding pointless points to buildings. Look at the Holiday Inn on Hillsborough St (formerly the brownstone). They updated it by adding two fake points, containing two fake windows as a facade. it’s a trend with houses as well; just look at the real estate section and notice how many home designs contain rooflines with 5 peaks on the front, most of them serving no function or structural purpose. Why don’t they add a big corinthian column to the top of the point and make the centrua tower look REALLY tall.

I agree with John’s comment about what goes on at ground level. A real urban environment is all about human scale and activity. A successful tower will not only do justice at ground level, it will be appropriate as an addition to the skyline. take a look how the new design pays absolutely no attention to where it steps back and becomes condos. My guess is that the pool deck is there. Also, as best as I can tell from the rendering, the North, West and East faces are completely flat. I want to see how the designers are addressing that issue.

While I do not believe that we are beggars, I do not agree that we can be choosers, either. Sure, we want to address the ground-level experience, but this is nearly unrelated to the height and overall design of the tower. We can have a dysfunctional low-rise, just as much as we can have a dysfunctional skyscraper. I will take the latter because at least it adds to the skyline (= image).
That having been said, and taking in consideration what little I’ve seen of the ground floor design, I don’t think that we have reasons to worry. An RBC Centura branch may not add a retail destination, but it adds significantly to the pedestrian activity. Anyone familiar with the future site of Highwoods/RBC Centura Tower should know that there is already a great amount of pedestrian activity, even with a small parking lot in place. Imagine how much more activity we will see there after the new high-rise is built. If the rumors for another street-level TV studio are real, we can rest assured that the urban feel in that section will be strengthened significantly.
Back to the discussion about the design of the tower… We can all find reasons why this is, or isn’t, a good design. However, keep in mind that this is not the final one. Having seen the second incarnation – the one discussed here is the third – I was very impressed to see how much difference the details made. It was a great design then, and I am sure it will look fantastic if the latest design gets enough support to move into a more detailed version. Unfortunately, Raleigh is not ready for impressive towers and we need a transitional phase before we can demand designs that stand out as gems of modern architecture. Not to mention, we need corporate presence that has the money to justify extraordinary designs. Of course, this is my opinion. I surely hope to be proven wrong

I like the idea of the new design and I think it will be refined with upcoming designs. One wish I have for the spire (sp?) would be for it to tie in with RBC’s brand, which I think is superb. I think all it needs is a bit of color at the base to lead the building into the spire element.
See:
http://www.wilsoncreativeservices.com/Raleigh/spirelarge.jpg

That’s a great idea! How about either a metal globe that is lit neatly at night. Or just a 25 foot tall gold lion. That would be pretty cool, actually.

Is a full fledged zoo out of the realm of possibility

Surfing the web, I came across the hypothetical version of the same building that someone did: http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?act=Attach&type;=post&id;=2265
With two spires, it looks more symetrical and almost European-looking in a way.

I like the changes to the spire posted by Ernest; the yellow adds a great color, shaking up what is otherwise a still-bland palette in downtown.
I also must disagree with John (not me, the other one!) about Raleigh’s unreadiness for new towers. I say if not now, when? Now, with the high levels of investment pouring into downtown, is the perfect time for a daring architectural feat, something to bring attention to downtown Raleigh. Check out what types of buildings companies are constructing in Dubai, Shanghai, New York; while we definitely aren’t ready for those types yet, we are perfectly prime for an edgy building, something to make Raleigh’s skyline memorable. That being said, I don’t consider another boxy skyscraper any more memorable than the 20 other ones that currently make up our downtown.

oops, read the names wrong! i meant to address Lew and Ernest, respectively.