Misplaced Pages

#131868

26-549: The Frost Bank Tower was designed by Duda/Paine Architects, LLP and HKS, Inc. It carries the highest logo in the city at 420 ft (128 m). This advertises the San Antonio –based Frost Bank , whose Austin headquarters and insurance division are in the building. Tenants in the building besides Frost Bank include the Austin offices of Morgan Stanley , Ernst & Young , and PIMCO . The silvery blue color glass facade

52-418: A McCormick & Schmick's restaurant. Frost Bank Tower topped out on May 28, 2003, including the final concrete pour and the hoisting of a 30 ft (9.1 m) cedar tree onto the top of the building as part of the topping out ceremony. A tin cross was also ceremonially embedded into the concrete on each floor. In August 2003, the total cost of the building was estimated at $ 137 million. It became

78-531: A coffee shop , and a dry-cleaner . Following the builders tradition, a tin Christian cross was embedded into the concrete of each floor during construction, with the last being added on May 27, 2003. The idea came from a story of an immigrant who worked on construction during the 1940s in New York City . Also, a 30-foot (9.1 m) cedar tree was hoisted to the top of the mechanical penthouse during

104-473: A fairly steady pace from the first to sixteenth floors, when the terrace level was reached on April 20, 2007, nearly a year after construction started. Activity slowed, but then quickened after the setback floor was finished. Spire assembly started on November 14 and was affixed in position 6 days later. This made the tower officially taller than its predecessor, the Frost Bank Tower . The building

130-528: A polarized response upon its completion. Austin American-Statesman columnist John Kelso compared the building's crown to an enormous set of nose hair trimmers. Jeanne Claire van Ryzin, a Statesman art critic, opined that the "jagged form of the crown looks more like a riff on the post-modern ornamentation of the 1980s than any kind of newly inspired form." Austin Chronicle readers voted

156-474: A pronounced setback at the sixteenth story, to avoid obstructing a Capitol View Corridor . The building was first proposed by the Atlanta, Georgia -based Novare Group and Austin based Andrews Urban LLC in 2006 as a 520 ft (158 m) 40 storied tower. However, as an attempt to increase units, more floors were added. Construction began on June 20, 2006 after the plan was approved. Floors were added at

182-587: Is located in Downtown Austin , Texas at 360 Nueces Street. The building itself stands 581 ft (177 m) tall with 44 floors, 430 condos, and over 14,000 sq ft (1,300 m ) of retail space. The building topped out in November 2007, and construction was officially completed on May 22, 2008. 360 Condominiums was the tallest building in Austin from January 15, 2008 to June 29, 2009 when The Austonian surpassed it. The tower also became

208-535: The 2006 Rose Bowl , when the Austin-based University of Texas Longhorns defeated the USC Trojans . More than 200,000 sq ft (60,960 sq m) of glass was used for the facade of the building alone and 45,000 sq ft (13,716 sq m) of glass was used in the crown. The building also contains an 11 level parking garage with spaces for more than 1,400 vehicles . The Frost Bank Tower's design received

234-522: The September 11 attacks . In March 2003, Frost Bank announced plans to move its downtown Austin operations into the skyscraper, signing a lease for 52,000 sq ft (4,800 m) of office space and becoming the building's lead tenant; in response, Cousins Properties renamed the building after the bank. The building's retail space was fully leased in April ;2003 with the addition of

260-535: The Architect of Record, the Frost Bank Tower is considered one of the most recognizable buildings in Austin. The building starts with a rectangular shape on the ground that eventually becomes a square point in the crown. The base of the building is expressed in honed finish limestone while the main superstructure of the building is a blue low-e glass skin , which is a thicker type of glass, that covers

286-571: The Frost Bank Tower as the "Best New Building (Past Five Years)" in 2004, 2006, 2007, and 2008. It was also voted for best architecture in 2004 and 2005. The newspaper also said that the "owl face of the Frost Bank Tower" helps keep Austin " characteristically weird ". The tower was awarded the 2005 International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) Award of Merit for lighting design by Cline Bettridge Bernstein Lighting Design for its "second set of narrowly focused accent lights that showcase

SECTION 10

#1732800983132

312-762: The acquisition of Miami-headquartered educational design firm HADP Architecture, Inc. In 2014 HKS launched a year-long public campaign to commemorate the firm's 75th anniversary. In 2017, HKS expanded its footprint with the acquisition of a New York City Design Studio. As of 2015, the firm employs more than 1000 people, making it one of the largest architectural firms in the United States and has completed services on structures valued in excess of $ 69 billion, with more than $ 12 billion of construction currently underway. This list includes projects in which HKS collaborated with other architecture firms. 360 Condominiums The 360 Residential Condominiums skyscraper

338-483: The building from Block 42 Congress Partners called for a 352 ft (107 m) tall building with 27 floors, the Cousins Properties design called for a 515 ft (157 m) tall office building with 33 floors, over 500,000 sq ft (46,000 m) of space, and a plaza. The building was to be the first new high rise on Congress Avenue in two decades. Initial clearing and demolition of

364-469: The building site on the intersection of 4th Street and Congress Avenue . At the time, the city block included a row of brick buildings and the Mexic-Arte Museum . In June 1999, plans for a 27-story, 495,000 sq ft (46,000 m) office and retail building were unveiled by the joint venture that would occupy three-quarters of the block, replacing the brick buildings and preserving

390-497: The entire tower. The Frost Bank Tower is one of only two places in the world with blue low-e glass skin, the other being the Reuters Building in New York City , which was the earlier structure. The folded panes of the building step back to create a segmented pyramidal form. Lighting covers the crown, where a section of the building 150 ft (46 m) lights up, and sometimes changes color for special occasions, such as

416-669: The formation of a nonprofit architectural research group, Center for Advanced Design and Evaluation. In 2011 HKS saw rapid expansion. In October HKS released an announcement it had acquired the interior design firm Maregatti Interiors LLC in Indianapolis . The HKS Science & Technology Practice was formed after the firm acquired Earl Walls Studios in San Diego, California. HKS also opened new locations in Chicago, Denver , New York, and New Delhi , India. In 2012 HKS announced

442-725: The hospitality design firm Hill Glazier Architects , located in Palo Alto , California. The firm also opened offices in Miami, Nashville , Oklahoma City , and Chennai , India. HKS expanded its global presence in 2008 opening offices in Abu Dhabi and São Paulo , Brazil and again in 2010 with an office in Shanghai , China. In 2008 HKS acquired that part of the Ryder HKS joint venture it did not already own. In 2010 HKS announced

468-547: The museum. Development of the site was complicated by the lease on the museum and municipal limits on building heights to preserve views of the Texas State Capitol . Block 42 Congress Partners acquired all of the land required for the project by August 1999, but ultimately sold the 1.7-acre (0.69 ha) lot to Cousins Properties in January ;2001 for $ 13.8 million. While the initial design for

494-558: The preexisting buildings on the site began in November ;2001. Work on the project continued despite an ongoing recession , rising office vacancy rates in Downtown Austin , and a downgrade of Cousins Properties's stock rating by Merrill Lynch in response to the project's announcement. Construction of the tower began on November 27, 2001; at the time, the building was the tallest in the U.S. to begin construction after

520-763: The tallest residential tower in Texas, surpassing The Merc in Dallas before the Austonian also took that title. Currently, it is the fourth tallest building in Austin after The Independent , The Austonian , and the Fairmont Austin . The Austin 360 Condominiums Tower was developed by Billy Holley and Judd Bobilin of Novare Group and Andrews Urban LLC, designed by Preston Partnership LLC, sales managed by Kevin McDaniel and built by JE Dunn Construction . It features

546-645: The tallest building in Austin, Texas , and the fourth tallest building outside of Dallas and Houston , Texas, (excluding the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio ). The 99 ft (30 m) crown atop the building was ceremonially illuminated for the first time on the night of January 21, 2004. Over 700 people attended the event, including Turan Duda, the skyscraper's lead architect. After Austin's skyscraper construction boom, which began in 2007, Frost Bank Tower

SECTION 20

#1732800983132

572-412: The topping out ceremony. At the time of its construction in 2004, the Frost Bank Tower was the tallest building in Austin. In 2023 it fell to the 9th tallest completed building. The building covers most of its block, which is located near the center of downtown at 4th Street and Congress Avenue . When it was completed, along with its location in the skyline, matched with its height, excited Austinites and

598-578: The vertical mullions at the setback near the building top" and "monumental custom sconces that add scale and create a welcoming frame around the opening portals of the lobby". The building also won the 2003 Texas Construction Magazine Award of Merit. The Frost Bank Tower contains a wide variety of amenities . Such amenities in the building include conference facilities, building concierge , 24-hour cardkey access, fully equipped fitness center , state-of-the-art telecommunication systems, tenant controlled HVAC , upscale restaurants, deli / carry-out restaurants ,

624-528: Was first used on the Reuters Building in New York City . Cousins sold the building in 2006 to EQ Office for $ 188 million before the building was sold to Thomas Properties Group the same year. In 2013, ownership of the building transferred to Parkway Properties . The building is currently owned by Endeavor Real Estate Group. Beginning in 1998, a joint venture composed of Civitas Investments, Highgate Holdings, and T. Stacy & Associates (collectively Block 42 Congress Partners) consolidated tracts of land at

650-821: Was known as a centerpiece to the skyline. HKS, Inc. HKS, Inc. is an American international architecture firm headquartered in Dallas , Texas (US). The firm was founded in 1939 by Harwood K. Smith. In 2002, HKS expanded its international presence by opening HKS Arquitectos in Mexico City to serve its Latin American clients. In 2006, HKS acquired the Stein-Cox Group and Trinity Design to have presences in Phoenix, Arizona and Detroit, Michigan, respectively. In 2007, HKS expanded their hospitality architectural design services and also acquired

676-563: Was soon surpassed in height by the 360 Condominiums at 581 ft (177 m) in 2008. As of March 2011, it is the 54th tallest building in Texas . In 2006, Cousins Properties sold the building for $ 188 million to EQ Office , which eventually sold it to Thomas Properties Group . Currently, there are many notable tenants in the building, including Frost Bank, Morgan Stanley , Ernst & Young , PIMCO , UTIMCO, and Heritage Title Co. Designed by Duda/Paine Architects, LLP with HKS, Inc. as

#131868