499 replies to this topic

[kenkuhl]

Not that the final lighting is on yet, but here's a photo I shot tonight showing Pier One with City Center, Mallick, and Cash America included.

[mosteijn]

Awesome!!!! Good to see we have another dilligent photographer on the forum!

[John T Roberts]

Ken, it is a shame we couldn't have coordinated. I went to a meeting and took my camera and tripod. It ended a little before 9:00 PM. Instead of the skyline in the background, I chose to silhouette the building against the sunset.

[UrbanLandscape]

It looks crazy awesome as a silhouette!

When is said ceremony?

[mosteijn]

Either they don't test the lights on sunday, or it was too early, but they hadn't lit the top section today. I took a picture anyways, just to see how my tripod would perform. I'm quite impressed, I need to go take more night pics!

[John T Roberts]

Jonny, they were doing more tests over the weekend. Look at how many of the levels have lights on in the center section of the building. Only two floors are not lit on the west side which is different than it was on Monday night.

Night photography is fun and challenging. You did take a very good picture from the west. Let's keep watching the building to see what happens next.

[normanfd]

And to think the people at the Fort Worth Weekly don't like the building? What on earth are they thinking? I only wish it were taller.

[hipolyte]

Great photos, guys. I like the building too. As for FW Weekly's opinion, it's always easier to criticize others efforts, much more difficult to actually weather the storms required to create something new.

[Willy1]

Wow - have y'all seen the crown lit up the last couple of nights? The building is incredible at night with the top lit up. I like the building better at night than during the day! The lights are bright enough that they almost light up the sky around the building. I can't wait for a cloudy night... the clouds over the building will reflect the light I'm quite sure. I also bet the building looks cool from the air at night. I can't wait to see the Tower's crown lit up... FW is going to look great at night when that happens.

[mosteijn]

You mean, they've started testing the entire crown now? Might I inquire as to what time you saw this event...my tripod is already out the door.

[John T Roberts]

If anyone sees a major portion of the building illumintated, you should either take a picture, e-mail one of the photographers on the forum, or post something here so we can all rush down there.

Thanks for letting us know and I'm sure that Jonny, Ken, and myself will probably be downtown tonight attempting some photos. It's a shame that we can't coordinate and meet to take pictures.

[kenkuhl]

Of course they'd start lighting the crown as soon as I go out of town. I'm in LA until Tuesday, otherwise it would be great to meet up to take night photos. Hope you get some good ones!

[John T Roberts]

It was also unfortunate that my errands, classes, and other things took me to the southwest side of town over the week and I was home before 8:30 every evening. My latest night was for my weekly continuing education at TCU, and I'm so close to home that didn't go anywhere else after the class. It ended a little late, but I think I walked in the door around 8:00, not really late enough to tell if Pier 1 was illuminated.

[John T Roberts]

The lights are on right now. They are so bright that you could see them on the east side of the building this afternoon when the front started coming through.

If the weather doesn't get too bad, I might be interested in meeting someone from the forum at dusk today to shoot. I won't be willing to go out in the rain and a thunderstorm, so we need to check the weather.

[mosteijn]

As you can tell from the time it says on the post, I don't think it's going to work. But I hope you get a good picture, me salivating is starting to interfere with the functionality of the keyboard

[Willy1]

Yep, she's all lit up. I saw it the first time Thursday night about 10 PM. And I was out until 2 AM and it was still lit up so I'm assuming this was not some sort of test. I think Pier One is lit up for good. And, yeah... the lights are REALLY bright. They sort of dominate the skyline. Hey, she might not be as tall as we would like, but she sure does blast a strong beam of light into the night sky over the upper west side. It's a really beautiful building at night. And, it looks really great right next to the Cash America building with its illuminated crown. I'm telling you... when the Tower is done and its crown is lit, it's going to make a huge difference in FW's night time skyline. I wish the Burnett Building would add some sort of attractive crown and light it up at night. I hope someone takes some good pics of the building tonight. I would, but I don't have a digital camera. (I know, I know...)

[John T Roberts]

Willy, what you are seeing is a test. The lighting on the crown is uneven and some of the lights are pointing directly outward. Tonight, the lower levels of the setbacks were not illuminated. Compare the picture I will post tonight with the rendering, and you will see that the lighting is not the final product.

Willy, you should have joined us, anyway. Even if you didn't have a camera, you still could have met the two of us that showed up.

[John T Roberts]

I now have pictures of the crown of the building illuminated. Dismuke was the only forum member that showed up for the impromtu shoot. I had to call him and ask him to tag along, otherwise I would have done this by myself. Dismuke, I give you a big "thanks" for coming with no notice.

The lighting pattern is just a test. There are still several setbacks on the building that need to be illuminated and the lights on the crown need to be adjusted.

Pier 1 Place before total darkness:


Pier 1 Place with the skyline in the background as twilight settles in:


Closeup of the building:


And finally for grins , here's Cash America with The Tower and Burnett Plaza in the background.

[gcarey]

Great pics John. It's funny what an illuminated building can do for a skyline isn't it? Pier One Place looks awesome great.

[John T Roberts]

Garrett, an illuminated building really helps a skyline. The Tower will also have an illuminated top when it is completed. At the current time, they are starting to build the new roof structure up there.

[Willy1]

Hey John,

Great pics! The lights on the building look different than they did Thursday night. I don't know what they did, if anything, but they seemed much brighter the other night. Are they changing the lights around during the test phase? Any idea when the building's lighting will be finalized?

I went downtown tonight and pointed out the building to the friend from Dallas who was with me. He likes the building too - but commented on how short it is. Leave it to the guys from Dallas to rag on our new building for being too short. Then again, if built in Dallas, Pier 1 probably would hardly even be noticed. Anyway, he also suggested that it would be cool of they were able to change the color of the lights for special occassions like they do with the Empire State Building... Red, White, and Blue for the 4th of July... Red and Green at Christmas, all Red on Valentines Day... Pink and Green for Easter... etc. I thought that was a pretty cool idea.

I also think the Tower lighting is going to add A LOT to the skyline since it will be so much higher in the skyline than the Pier 1 lights. I hadn't noticed the construction of the new Tower crown. But, I can see it from my front yard so I'll check it out tomorrow. Any idea how long it will take to build and light the crown on The Tower?

Again, great pics John...

[mosteijn]

Simply amazing !!! I hope this (and The Tower and 714 Main) is a wakeup call to all the other office buildings downtown to get creative with their lighting schemes. I think I need to take a picture soon.

[John T Roberts]

Willy, it will probably take at least 3 months to visually complete the crown on top of The Tower. It will actually take much longer than that to put all of the mechanical equipment, piping, electrical, etc. inside it. You have to remember that all of the building's mechanical systems that used to be housed on levels 5, 36, and 37 are now going to be placed on part of 37, 38, and 39 (roof of screen). I don't know when they plan to light the top. I would suspect that it would be late fall or early winter before it is illuminated (maybe later). Look at Pier 1, it is now one month from the opening of the building and the tests are just now being run on the illumination plan.

Jonny we also know that 714 Main will have some kind of illumination that keys off of its neighbor. Check FW Business Press Article on 714 Main for additional information.

[mosteijn]

Here's my contribution, I liked the effect the clouds had on most of these:





Skyline impact (from Amon Carter):



From I20@Bryant Irvin:



Also, if you look at the building in the next few weeks, at night, you'll notice workers inside the crown most likely doing lighting tests, but they make for interesting shadows when viewed through the frosty glass. Ah, if it was legal for minors to marry skyscrapers, I would propose to this one

[JayRay]

Thanks, Donnie.  I was by there today and they have now removed the last construction trailer and they are taking the project signs down.

Thought you all might be interested to know that the first groups move into the building this Friday (8/6).

[John T Roberts]

They are moving fast with finishing up. Thanks for the information, JayRay and welcome to the forum.

[JayRay]

They are moving fast with finishing up.  Thanks for the information, JayRay and welcome to the forum.

N/P...Been lurking for a while, thought I'd finally throw in some FYI.

As an employee of P1 I have access to a lot of images/info/etc (even some from my cell phone that I took from inside, this past Friday). However I don't know how "public" I can make the info. I'll ask around and see if I can divulge any of the images/power-point presentations/etc of the new building.

One thing I have definitely not noticed on this forum was a link ot the Pier1 website about the new building: www.Pier1Place.com .

[John T Roberts]

I thought at one time there was a link to the building's web site. I looked and I didn't see it. Anyway, thanks for posting it. You wouldn't happen to know when the building will be illuminated in its final form?

[JayRay]

Been in the building now for two weeks. When we first moved in, we only had a CO (Certificate of Occupancy) for just the few flores that our move group would occupy. In fact, we only had the CO for our floors by a day or two. So now, two weeks later, much construction is still going on with none of the floors being fully completed.

FYI the large fountain originally planned to go in front of the building won't be happening, I'm assuming this is a temporary move to cut costs/etc.

For any architects out there who think a floating floor in an office building is a good idea...please reconsider. I think they may make flip-flops or slippers a required part of our dress code so that we don't disturb the entire floor by just walking to the bathroom...

[John T Roberts]

JayRay, your comments are interesting regarding floating floors. We've installed them in many projects and haven't had any trouble with dress shoes, boots, and heavy footware. Do you think this is just a problem in your new building?

[JayRay]

JayRay, your comments are interesting regarding floating floors.  We've installed them in many projects and haven't had any trouble with dress shoes, boots, and heavy footware.  Do you think this is just a problem in your new building?

The floors, or "levels" as they're called in the new building are tremendously loud, in general. (I can only imagine how bad it's going to be for the call center staff when they move in...especially since they have very short cube-walls.) I think the problem with the sound from the floating floors is compounded by just the sheer loudness of the environment in this new building. All main surfaces (walls, ceilings, obviously-floors) are almost completely flat and smooth. Without any control surfaces to deflect/abosorb the sound, it carries tremendously. At City Centre (and every other office building I've been in) the lights and other fixtures are built into the ceiling, thus giving sound some areas to get "stuck" in and not just bounce off and down. All the lights and other fixtures in the new building are suspended from the ceiling via cables. I also think padding (or the lack thereof) is also an issue. These new cubicle walls s either have very little padding or none at all; you can feel the inner, metal, suport structures when you run your hands along them. Again, not so with the cubes in our old building. The floor padding is also almost non-existent. It was a neat idea to have the floating floor so that each cube would have it's own controllable floor HVAC duct, but taking everything else into account, the floor needs a lot more padding for both comfort and sound-deadening.


On a side note... how hard is it going to be to flip over the giant 'M'-shaped crown of the building so that it's a giant 'W'. If you don't know what I'm talking about, think about who Pier 1's CEO is and then consider the third-richest man in the world who just bought big-time into Pier1 this week...

[Thurman52]

What is this floating floor you are talking about? Is this a raised floor for cabling HVAC etc to run underneath?

Did they not buidling white noise devices into the ceilings? These devices offer great sound softing, not sure how they work, but I have seen them used in call center environments that you barely hear the person in the next cube.

My office has the raised floors for cabing etc, and yes at times the you can hear people running down the hallways, but it's normally quiet.

[JayRay]

What is this floating floor you are talking about? Is this a raised floor for cabling HVAC etc to run underneath?

Did they not buidling white noise devices into the ceilings? These devices offer great sound softing, not sure how they work, but I have seen them used in call center environments that you barely hear the person in the next cube.

My office has the raised floors for cabing etc, and yes at times the you can hear people running down the hallways, but it's normally quiet.

Yep, your description is accurate.

One thing about the hvac in this new building is that the ducting appears much more sound-insulated. At city centre, you never really noticed how loud the airflow was until it turned off at 6 pm. There was a substantial difference in sound volume between when it was on and off (but not something you noticed at all until the switch was made.) In the new building, the hvac is completely silent. Perhaps the low-level white noise created by the ducting in the old building also contributed to its "quietness."

Our current customer service call center is located in one of of the re-done Tindall buidings on the East side of downtown. It's extremely nice with hardwood flooring and exposed beams in the walls and ceiling. There they make extensive use of white-noise generators which seem to help a lot. I've overheard comments from some call-center managers that they didn't want the white-noise generators hanging from the ceiling in the new building as it would mess up the aesthetics. Can we say form over function?

[John T Roberts]

JayRay, the white noise generators can be placed in the ceiling or even above it. The reason why they hang down at Tindall Square is due to the fact the structure is exposed and everything is visible. They have to be exposed there in order to function properly.

I have toured your new building, and they are certainly filled with hard surfaces which will also add to the noise. You are also correct in the assumption that the old recessed parabolic light fixtures with a return air slot around them help in absorbing some of the noise. The light fixtures in your space are pendant mounted (that's what we call them when they hang down from the ceiling) and even though their surface area is small, they do tend to reflect the sound back downward. When I did the tour of the building, I thought sure that the guides mentioned that you had a white noise system. I also toured RadioShack one month earlier, and I may be confusing the two projects.

[SurplusPopulation]

I am not sure how long it has been up, no more than a day or two I would imagine, but they have installed a sign along the eastern edge of the property. I only caught a glance of it as I headed into downtown. It has chrome letters spelling out Pier One on a free-standing base that is shaped with roughly the same angle as the top of the building.

[John T Roberts]

I saw the sign this week, also. I walked up to it today and it is not complete. There is a smaller one at the corner of Forest Park Blvd. and 5th Street. The chrome letters sit in front of an aluminum background. Neon tubes are located inside the letters. On the side of the sign, is a glass panel similar to the top of the building with lights inside. This will throw a band of light to the side of the metal panel and will also illuminate the drive. A smaller tower sits at the opposite side of the drive. So far the sign has not been illuminated at night, but here is a daytime shot.

[mosteijn]

I saw the sign last night, it's looking sleek!

[John T Roberts]

I've found out more information about the lighting tests on Pier 1 Place. They will continue to do aiming and testing of the lights over the next several days to weeks. A press release is scheduled to be issued stating the night all of the lights will be turned on. There will not be a lighting ceremony.

Edited by John T Roberts, 09 September 2004 - 08:25 PM.

[kenkuhl]

some photos I took this week:

[John T Roberts]

Wow! It looks like they almost have the whole thing lit! I may try to get down there tonight to take some shots.

[mosteijn]

Those are awesome, ken, thanks!

I was kind of hoping they would have a lighting ceremony like the one at Frost Bank in Austin, but I guess I'll just have to live with a press release.

[John T Roberts]

There is one saving grace. Maybe we could all meet up and have a forum photography shoot.

[mosteijn]

Sounds good to me! It would have to be before the 20th, since I begin driver's ed then (FINALLY!!!)

[John T Roberts]

The sign was illuminated last night; however, I was not too impressed. It just looks like most typical signs of this type. The building was not illuminated last night.

[John T Roberts]

The Star-Telegram has an article on Pier 1 Place in today's Tarrant Business. It also contains several photographs of the building.

http://www.dfw.com/m...ess/9650887.htm

According to the article, the tower will be illuminated completely for the first time on Wednesday evening.

[John T Roberts]

At 8:45 on September 15, 2004, Pier 1 Place was illuminated for the first time. 360Texas and his wife Pat, Doug, Gdvanc, and Surplus Population joined me to take pictures. However, because the lighting took so long, only Doug stuck it out with me to get shots. The crown of the building is absolutely beautiful and with the lights aiming upward, there is a shaft of light above the building. I did get one picture that showed it fairly well, but after driving around the building, I think to better capture it, I need to change vantage points.

Below is a shot with the reflection of Pier 1 Place in the Trinity River:


This is a shot from the levee of the river taken at the same vantage point as the rendering:

[KevCoz]

Nice photos, John. I wish that I could have joined you tonight, but my schedule wouldn't allow it. Hopefully, I'll make it next time.

[John T Roberts]

Thank you, KevCoz. I apologize for the short notice, but I didn't find out until Monday. I do plan to go back out and catch the building with a little light to the sky. The pictures turn out much better then. Also, I want to go out when it is totally dark and shoot the building on axis with its short end. From that vantage point, the shaft of light above the building is much more pronounced. I did get one shot of the beam of light above the building.

[Urbndwlr]

It really is looking great at night. Now that both buildings are complete, we can compare the Frost Bank Tower in Austin (aka 4th & Congress) with Pier 1 Place in Fort Worth. Both were designed by the firm Duda Paine in Durham, NC.


Upon seeing the design plans I thought Austin's crown made their building superior, however I think the Pier 1 turned out better. It is a much cleaner design. Unfortunately Pier 1 is 200 feet shorter (but only about 100K SF smaller) because Frost Bank Tower sits atop a garage.

IMO, the Frost Bank tower crown is an innovative, excellent design, however something seems wrong with the way it fits with the rest of the building. I cannot put my finger on what is wrong - perhaps the ratio of crown size to building height?

[360texas]

Pat @360texas took this image around 7:30p I think John said this was the main Confrence Room and it appears to be occupied by a few folks (obviously we were not invited).