505 State Street , The Alloy Block, Downtown
An urban context precedent illustrating how a slender high-rise tower integrates with and towers over traditional mid-rise downtown streetscapes.
- What we like about this project
- The extreme slenderness ratio of the primary dark tower accentuates its verticality against the softer colored sky.
Materials
- glass
- metal
- concrete
- masonry
Visual identifiers
- vertical-fins
- slender-skyscraper
- urban-intersection
- alloy-block
Style tags
- contemporary
- high-rise
- urban
Visual tags
- urban-infill
- high-rise
- density
- street-wall
- contemporary-skyscraper
- Geometry
- A tall, slender tower with vertical fin articulation rises sharply above the street intersection, framed by lower historic masonry buildings on the left and a contemporary multi-family residential tower in the midground.
- Facade system
- Unitized glass curtain wall with vertical metal fins or mullions.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete core and frame construction designed for high-rise slenderness.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scale foreground sidewalk comparing against high-rise urban density spanning dozens of stories.
- Lighting
- Early morning or late afternoon golden hour light casting soft gradients across the sky and catching the vertical edges of the tower facade.
- Atmosphere
- Busy, vibrant city twilight atmosphere with glowing ambient light reflecting off tower glazing.
- Environmental context
- Dense downtown streetscape with active pedestrian sidewalks, crosswalks, bollards, and urban infrastructure.
- Spatial experience
- The urban composition establishes a dramatic shift in scale between traditional street-wall heights and high-density vertical development at a major intersection.
- Composition rhythm
- Steady vertical rhythm of facade fins contrasting against the horizontal sweep of the street intersection.
- Style reading
- Contemporary urban skyscraper architecture
- Program
- Mixed-use residential tower
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- glass, metal, concrete, masonry
- Visual identifiers
- vertical-fins, slender-skyscraper, urban-intersection, alloy-block
- Style tags
- contemporary, high-rise, urban
- Visual tags
- urban-infill, high-rise, density, street-wall, contemporary-skyscraper
- Geometry
- A tall, slender tower with vertical fin articulation rises sharply above the street intersection, framed by lower historic masonry buildings on the left and a contemporary multi-family residential tower in the midground.
- Facade system
- Unitized glass curtain wall with vertical metal fins or mullions.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete core and frame construction designed for high-rise slenderness.
- Spatial scale
- Human-scale foreground sidewalk comparing against high-rise urban density spanning dozens of stories.
- Lighting
- Early morning or late afternoon golden hour light casting soft gradients across the sky and catching the vertical edges of the tower facade.
- Atmosphere
- Busy, vibrant city twilight atmosphere with glowing ambient light reflecting off tower glazing.
- Environmental context
- Dense downtown streetscape with active pedestrian sidewalks, crosswalks, bollards, and urban infrastructure.
- Spatial experience
- The urban composition establishes a dramatic shift in scale between traditional street-wall heights and high-density vertical development at a major intersection.
- Composition rhythm
- Steady vertical rhythm of facade fins contrasting against the horizontal sweep of the street intersection.
- Style reading
- Contemporary urban skyscraper architecture
- Program
- Mixed-use residential tower
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture