Commissioners view building designs
The Cleveland Plain Dealer|Tom Breckenridge, Staff Reporter |August 24, 2006
If early renderings are any indication, Cuyahoga County's new administration building will be a glassy, multistory affair symbolic of commissioners' desires to project an eco-friendly, transparent image....... The wings meet a glassy, 10-story office building, highlighted by corner atriums. Plans showed roof-top gardens and wind turbines atop the office building.
If early renderings are any indication, Cuyahoga County's new administration building will be a glassy, multistory affair symbolic of commissioners' desires to project an eco-friendly, transparent image....... The wings meet a glassy, 10-story office building, highlighted by corner atriums. Plans showed roof-top gardens and wind turbines atop the office building.
If early renderings are any indication, Cuyahoga County's new administration building will be a glassy, multistory affair symbolic of commissioners' desires to project an eco-friendly, transparent image.
Three of six architectural teams that are finalists to land the multimillion-dollar design contract detailed their visions Wednesday afternoon. Three other teams will present today, with commissioners expected to choose a design soon for the complex planned at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.
Commissioners spent $22 million to acquire the historic Ameritrust property last year, including the iconic rotunda building and a 28-story tower. Commissioners said the tower would come down, despite its design by renowned Modern architect …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]If early renderings are any indication, Cuyahoga County's new administration building will be a glassy, multistory affair symbolic of commissioners' desires to project an eco-friendly, transparent image.
Three of six architectural teams that are finalists to land the multimillion-dollar design contract detailed their visions Wednesday afternoon. Three other teams will present today, with commissioners expected to choose a design soon for the complex planned at East Ninth Street and Euclid Avenue.
Commissioners spent $22 million to acquire the historic Ameritrust property last year, including the iconic rotunda building and a 28-story tower. Commissioners said the tower would come down, despite its design by renowned Modern architect Marcel Breuer.
County officials estimate the project could take four years to complete.
Commissioners want a cost-effective but distinctive design for the 390,000-square-foot complex. The project will sit between landmarks that bookend East Ninth Street downtown, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and Jacobs Field.
With some 2,000 employees, the new county complex will also serve as an economic engine.
Commissioners seemed particularly interested in the energy-efficiency of designs. None of the plans included short-term parking for visitors, something Commissioner Jimmy Dimora has repeatedly asked for. "I guess nobody got the memo," an exasperated Dimora said.
The architectural teams were:
Westlake Reed Leskosky, of Cleveland, and Pelli Clarke Pelli, of New Haven, Conn. They presented a U-shaped design, with multistory wings reaching back from the rotunda, separated by an arcade.
The wings meet a glassy, 10-story office building, highlighted by corner atriums. Plans showed roof-top gardens and wind turbines atop the office building.
Perkins + Will, of Chicago, Ill. They showed a wedge-shaped, 15-story building that peaked to the north, with wind turbines atop. Plans showed a top-to-bottom atrium, allowing sunlight to penetrate the building's core.
The office building is separated from the rotunda building by a diagonal arcade.
Kohn Pedersen Fox, of New York, and Robert P. Madison International, of Cleveland. Designs showed a reverse J-shape, with the top of the J looming 10-stories over Euclid Avenue. The building rises to a 15-story peak at Prospect Avenue, curling around an atrium.