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Thanks to Sarah Dolk's Duke City Fix
blog, we have what we have all been waiting to see.
This is an arena and site plan I can get on board with! A beautiful hotel tower (looks to be near 30 stories) and plentiful public space with a water feature and outdoor public seating.
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A rather hard-to-envision rendering of public space on the west side of the train tracks with the arena in the background.
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Here, they show a parking garage built behind condos along Broadway Blvd. This is the only viable solution, I believe, as it provides the necessary parking along with residential development as a buffer to the East Downtown nabe. The only problem I see is a rendering with 3-story tall condos and zero retail space lining Broadway. Weak.
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Finally, the arena is shown with un upper level, but still with only 12,000 seats. Overall, I think this is a terrific plan given the tight space in the area. The hotel tower might be one of the most attractive hotel towers I have seen in most cities doing similar projects. It looks very similar to the W Hotel here in Dallas. Could we be getting a W? The frequently asked questions section does reveal that everything is still being studied and things can change, including arena size. And with that statement, I am satisfied for now.
6 comments:
Are all the diagrams/sketches from SPMC?
SMPC*
SMPC - you're kidding right?
try HOK.
It appears that HOK is overseeing the design while SMPC is a part of the design team. This is typical of large, international, architectural firms. They often contract local firms to infuse a local flavor into the design.
Other Anonymous...
I know SMPC is not big enough to handle the entire project.
I was simply asking about the origin of the diagrams.
Of course it is not unreasonable for them to design the overall concept and send the CDs out to consultants.
I noticed that the horse shoe shaped upper level leaves room for expansion!
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