Well without the bulkhead and signage I think it would be around the same height as the hotel portion on this project, so in that aspect it gives us a good idea of the height, but it’s just much wider/takes up more of the lot, otherwise it wasn’t designed by ODA so we can’t gather much else from it.
But when it comes to blank walls, a lot of people seem to think those are done on purpose when they are really (most of the time) just party walls that will eventually be abutted by another building. That or it is where the core is located and cost saving measures are used so they don’t have to use false windows and just put up said blank walls instead, which I find very rare when not a party wall.
It’s not “impossible” to think that the connecting core will also be clad in glass though. But as it pertains to Hudson’s comment, I’d find it extremely unbelievable to think that concrete would be used on all these undulating faces on the top portion, though more unbelievable things have happened, like this design. lol
This is a site where a thrill ride would make perfect sense. Personally I’m not a fan of the glass elevators on One Vanderbilt (I think they detract from the crown), but an attraction like that would be a good fit for a building this strange-looking to begin with. I could easily imagine a glass slide wrapping around the “spiral” at the top. Great location to attract tourists as well.
I believe there is supposed to be some sort of “ride” in the building, there is a queueing area that is separate from the observation lobby on the ground floor that is somewhere on top of the hotel portion in the mid jagged section before the core extension.
Lol, that’s interesting that the overall building got 53’ shorter, added a single floor and cut 525 hotel rooms, I’d assume both that the height cut was taken from the building mass and not the weird top thing, and that all the rooms were made bigger because that’s the only way that math would add up.
It looks like the game for observation decks is really heating up.
ESB got a full reno a couple years ago, Top Of the Rock is getting a reno, The Edge opened recently as well as city climb, 1 Vandy is a whole experience, 418 11th Ave plans for ice skating at the top, and then there’s this
