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Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Erection on Denny

posted by on January 24 at 16:20 PM

Thoryk Architecture has submitted an initial set of designs for 1200 Stewart—the twin skyscrapers proposed for the intersection of Denny Way and Stewart Street. At 400 feet – including three floors of commercial units, a hotel, and residential units (likely luxury condos) – the towers will be among the developments going up on Denny that, in effect, expand the area we think of as downtown.

1200_surroundings.jpg

The above design shows the relationship to the surrounding neighborhood. However, in another design preferred by the design review board and the developer, Lexas Companies, the two towers would be aligned with Denny, like this…

1200_design_proposal.jpg

It won’t actually be Grimace-colored.

Paul Thoryk, president of San Diego-based Thoryk Architecture, says, “I want a lot more breathing room with the building on Stewart.” He’s referring to the proximity to the Stewart | Minor | Tower (with the lines in there like that), which is represented by that big yellow shaft. He was also considering views looking west: “I wanted to create a narrower vision for the people from Capitol Hill.”

1200_stewart_cross_section.jpg

“He is being generous here,” Thoryk says of Eric Midby at Lexas. “If he just wanted to make money, he would have three big boxes. He wouldn’t have hired me.” Indeed, Thoryk’s buildings don’t suck. You can check out the final renderings for another Seattle building designed by his hand, the Escala. Thoryk says, “He is very sensitive to the environment, esthetics, and wants a very well-done building and to please the community. We want to make it a neighborhood-friendly environment.” See pictures of what’s at the site currently and read my praises of the proposal (and my bitching about the massive underground parking garage) over here.

And, yes, the title of this post is in response to Christopher’s The Demolition in Georgetown.

RSS icon Comments

1

Purdy.

Posted by Mr. Poe | January 24, 2008 4:24 PM
2

b-b-b-ut, that's the Elephant Car Wash block!! you can't tear that down!!!

Posted by michael strangeways | January 24, 2008 4:39 PM
3

No worries, Mr. Strangeways. The Elephant is on 6th and Denny, not Stewart.

Posted by Dominic Holden | January 24, 2008 4:45 PM
4

Too short. Needs to be 100 stories with the top 10 stories for executive condos and the next lower 50 stories for inexpensive residential rental apartments.

But with no extra parking beyond the current spec.

Posted by Will in Seattle | January 24, 2008 4:49 PM
5

Will,

Enough with the 100-story apartment building blather already - name me ONE fucking building at that even half of that height that has cheap rent that is not directly subsidized by government.

You do know that building taller buildings costs more, right?

Can't do it, can you?

Posted by Mr. X | January 24, 2008 4:54 PM
6

It took me a while to figure out "Grimus"... I think you mean Grimace.

-owner of McDonaldland sheets as a child

Posted by leek | January 24, 2008 5:03 PM
7

Thanks, leek. That's what I get for making a typo when I searched for the purple guy on Google Images, which directed me to the "grimus mcdonalds" spelling. And since we're on the subject, and I went back to check my search history, I strongly advise you not to type "grimus mcdonalds"into Google Images.

Posted by Dominic Holden | January 24, 2008 5:12 PM
8

Will in Seattle is the biggest shithead in the universe, and this 100-story business is a big part of the reason why.

Not only can he not name any 100-story buildings with affordable units, he can't name any at all. There are only three of them in the entire world, and they are far from affordable. He also has no understanding of engineering, or geology, or even the need for engineering or geology. A few months ago he was advocating for 100 stories on the slope of Capitol Hill, the same slope that can't hold a ONE story building from sliding down it.

He's a prong, and a prat, and a twat, and you should ignore him. I should too, but every so often I just cannot bear it any longer. His ideas are all on the intellectual level of "dogs should smoke more pot".

Posted by Fnarf | January 24, 2008 5:13 PM
9

Even weirder--I just went to search for "McDonaldland sheets" to see, yknow, how exciting and sought-after they are these days, and my post of ten minutes ago was THE #1 RESULT ON GOOGLE.

The interwebs are scary these days.


Posted by leek | January 24, 2008 5:13 PM
10

A miracle needs to happen for this development to move forward given the downturn in the housing market. Also, “Thoryk’s buildings don’t suck” is faint praise at best. If his designs had merit you would see peer awards such as AIA honors listed on Thork’s website instead of developer driven awards, i.e., Gold Nugget—-hardly a ringing endorsement of good design. Escala is an embarrassment in the design community here. Gooey pretentiousness.

Posted by Polka Party | January 24, 2008 5:14 PM
11

Oh Fnarf, dogs SHOULD smoke more pot. Get with the program.

Posted by NaFun | January 24, 2008 5:21 PM
12

I think if the work better if the grey and purple floors traded colors on that bottom one.

Posted by Mike of Renton | January 24, 2008 5:21 PM
13

Not getting the anger at Will in Seattle.

The point might be this:

why have a height limit at all for the biggest downtown we've got for about 800 miles in any direction?

(Except Vancouver BC).

If the owner doesn't build 100 stories -- so what?


Posted by unPC | January 24, 2008 5:48 PM
14

Our downtown is MUCH bigger, and MUCH higher, than Vancouver's. All those iconic blue-green glass towers there are 20 stories or so. Vancouver doesn't have any FIFTY story buildings (though two are under construction, neither of which will come anywhere near Columbia Center or the other largest buildings in Seattle).

If Will was advocating tall buildings in general, I would never have attacked him. It's the repeated onslaught of idiocy that drives me to it -- the "100 stories", the stupidity about how much tall buildings cost and what purposes they are likely to be put to, the 20-watt ignorance about geology, and the great globs of undigested Corbusier-inspired "cities in the park" suet that he disgorges every time the subject comes up. He thinks he has an idea, but it's an old, old idea, and it is beyond a doubt THE MOST DISCREDITED IDEA in the history of city planning. He might as well be demanding public housing with no plumbing or windows and three-foot ceilings.

And it's not just urban planning. It's an thick, rich stew of vomit that percolates up out of his keyboard. You know he's quite the fellow with the ladies, too.

Posted by Fnarf | January 24, 2008 6:07 PM
15

leek, architectural awards are great, but the AIA has a fairly narrow aesthetic that they prefer...think Architectural Record. Many of the best and most loved (by the general public) new buildings are hated by a large percentage of the architectural community...especially buildings that attempt the once-typical method of basing new designs on beloved older styles.

And yes, a 100-story building would be rediculously expensive. It only works when you can rent/sell for an equally huge amount.

Posted by mhays | January 24, 2008 6:50 PM
16

leek, architectural awards are great, but the AIA has a fairly narrow aesthetic that they prefer...think Architectural Record. Many of the best and most loved (by the general public) new buildings are hated by a large percentage of the architectural community...especially buildings that attempt the once-typical method of basing new designs on beloved older styles.

And yes, a 100-story building would be rediculously expensive. It only works when you can rent/sell for an equally huge amount.

Posted by mhays | January 24, 2008 6:51 PM
17

my bad, Dominic....I realized the same thing tonite as I stood on the corner of Denny and DEXTER waiting for the #8...

Posted by michael strangeways | January 24, 2008 7:04 PM
18

@14

why should there be a specific height limit in the Denny triangle at all?
This is the biggest downtown we've got for about 800 miles.

If a developer wants to put up 50 stories/500 feet, why shouldn't she have the legal right to do so?

60 stories?

or more?

Posted by unPC | January 24, 2008 7:33 PM
19

please, thoryk's projects are fucking banal pieces of shit.

arch record publishes crappy US projects and the occasional stellar project overseas.

Posted by holz | January 24, 2008 7:38 PM
20

Density = good. And density that happens to include decent design is even better, and the thing we should be pushing for.

Tho' I'm troubled that two of the designs for highrises on his page look like he has a fetish for giant Transformer-like jukeboxes.

And WTF with 100 story buildings? Not remotely possible in an affordable way. Especially in Seattle with the kill-us-all-one-day fault system we've got here...

Posted by el ganador | January 24, 2008 7:39 PM
21

Those towers look like Sharper Image room air ionizers.

Preposterous and unimaginative crap.

Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | January 24, 2008 9:05 PM
22

And it's not just urban planning. It's an thick, rich stew of vomit that percolates up out of his keyboard.

This is why Fnarf continues to be my hero.

Posted by Donolectic | January 24, 2008 9:48 PM
23

This kind of shit belongs in Bellevue. Looks to me as if the plans were plagiarized from some Freeman Kemper spoogefest.

Posted by Karlheinz Arschbomber | January 24, 2008 11:45 PM
24

why are people saying Seattle is the biggest downtown within 800 miles? Vancouver's downtown is much larger. The typical downtown condo tower height is about 23 stories. The overall strategy is just very different - after all, 70,000 people live in downtown Vancouver.

Posted by ryan | January 24, 2008 11:55 PM
25

On the other hand, the night effect, lit windows and those louvers, could be quite stunning. A 3-D flyaround while the sun rose and set would be a compelling sales tool. It'd also make a great setting for that once-in-a-lifetime killer earthquake video - maybe that should be a DPD requirement - "give me quake video of your new, tall, building being struck by a 9.6 scale earthquake - where do the pieces fall?"

Posted by chas Redmond | January 25, 2008 12:03 AM
26

yay! more density where it belongs!

Posted by Cale | January 25, 2008 8:18 AM
27

Ryan, while it's true that more people live in downtown Vancouver than Seattle, Seattle has MUCH taller buildings and MUCH more office space than Vancouver. Really, it's not even close. I'm not talking about "livability" or charm; I'm talking about total height and density. I'm also not talking about the desireability of this particular building, which doesn't bother me at all. I'm just talking about a particular individual who posts on Slog.

The average condo tower in Vancouver may be 23 stories, but the average downtown building certainly isn't. And 23 stories isn't very tall. Vancouver doesn't have a single (completed) 50-story building; we have five. Vancouver's current tallest building, One Wall Centre, would be tied for 17th in Seattle, at 150 meters.

Posted by Fnarf | January 25, 2008 9:52 AM
28

i looked up office space stats. Seattle "downtown" which also encompasses slu is 38 million sq feet with a 10-13% vacancy rate. Downtown vancouver is 38.8 million sq feet with a 3% vacancy rate. That doesn't sound like that much more space.

Part of the reason for the low vancouver vacancy rate is a high living space and lack of office building areas.

Personally i find downtown seattle very small and undesirable. Too few streets and not enough things to do. Getting rid of both i5 and the viaduct would help heal the city.

Posted by Ryan | January 25, 2008 7:37 PM
29
Posted by Jubilation T. Cornball | January 25, 2008 9:59 PM
30

Fnarf, those office space numbers are comparing different things. The Vancouver number is for a much larger geographic area. Also, local brokerages count office space numbers very differently, particularly in terms of what they exclude. For example, generally, government-owned buildings aren't included. Unfortunately there really isn't an authority on office space comparisons between cities, odd as that may sound. Also, Downtown Seattle is building lots of offices and Vancouver isn't.

I agree that Vancouver's downtown is ahead of ours in many ways, particularly residents, sidewalk activity, and "neighborhood" retail. But we're moving in the right direction. In fact, rental apartment projects have started to break ground lately after a long slowdown.

Posted by mhays | January 26, 2008 2:12 PM

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