Thornton
An architectural precedent by Bureau Proberts demonstrating a bold structural transition from a heavy, tiered stone podium to a lightweight, cantilevered glazed upper volume supported by expressive pilotis.
- What we like about this project
- Massive angled white columns pierce the open terrace space, visually propping up the floating glazed block.
Materials
- stone
- glass
- painted-steel
- concrete
Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-tower
- angled-pilotis
- stone-podium
- unitized-glazing
Style tags
- contemporary
- expressionist
- high-tech
Visual tags
- cantilever
- mixed-use
- podium-tower
- urban-infill
- high-rise
- Geometry
- Stacked composition consisting of a heavy stepped stone podium at the base, an open intermediate terrace supported by angled pilotis, and a cantilevered multi-story glass volume above.
- Facade system
- Unitized glass curtain wall above a dry-stacked stone rainscreen podium.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete transfer slab with sloping pilotis supporting the upper tower load.
- Spatial scale
- Large multi-story commercial or residential tower hovering over a multi-level pedestrian podium.
- Lighting
- Bright daytime sun casting sharp shadows beneath the deep cantilever and under the podium overhang.
- Atmosphere
- Dynamic and monumental, balancing grounding earth tones with weightless reflective glazing.
- Environmental context
- Urban street setting adjacent to lower residential scale heritage architecture, creating a contrast in scale and massing.
- Spatial experience
- The building creates a dramatic urban threshold, contrasting a heavy grounded podium with a floating, highly reflective upper tower.
- Composition rhythm
- Asymmetrical vertical rhythm driven by angled cylindrical columns and a stepped horizontal podium terrace.
- Style reading
- Contemporary structural expressionism
- Program
- Mixed-use residential or commercial tower
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture
- Materials
- stone, glass, painted-steel, concrete
- Visual identifiers
- cantilevered-tower, angled-pilotis, stone-podium, unitized-glazing
- Style tags
- contemporary, expressionist, high-tech
- Visual tags
- cantilever, mixed-use, podium-tower, urban-infill, high-rise
- Geometry
- Stacked composition consisting of a heavy stepped stone podium at the base, an open intermediate terrace supported by angled pilotis, and a cantilevered multi-story glass volume above.
- Facade system
- Unitized glass curtain wall above a dry-stacked stone rainscreen podium.
- Structural guess
- Steel or concrete transfer slab with sloping pilotis supporting the upper tower load.
- Spatial scale
- Large multi-story commercial or residential tower hovering over a multi-level pedestrian podium.
- Lighting
- Bright daytime sun casting sharp shadows beneath the deep cantilever and under the podium overhang.
- Atmosphere
- Dynamic and monumental, balancing grounding earth tones with weightless reflective glazing.
- Environmental context
- Urban street setting adjacent to lower residential scale heritage architecture, creating a contrast in scale and massing.
- Spatial experience
- The building creates a dramatic urban threshold, contrasting a heavy grounded podium with a floating, highly reflective upper tower.
- Composition rhythm
- Asymmetrical vertical rhythm driven by angled cylindrical columns and a stepped horizontal podium terrace.
- Style reading
- Contemporary structural expressionism
- Program
- Mixed-use residential or commercial tower
- Perspective
- Exterior Facade
- Discipline
- architecture