May 25, 2009
Renderings of Finished TCC Campus Project
By: Kevin Buchanan
We’ve now gotten hold of some renderings of the “finished” Tarrant County College project in Downtown on the Trinity Bluffs. TCC, even having moved into the former Radio Shack headquarters to the west of the courthouse, has announced plans to finish the currently in-progress buildings on the bluff, and build the infamous sunken plaza next to them.
Above, the site plan for the sunken plaza. The plaza includes a water feature that runs under Belknap to the two buildings on the bluff, as well as a small building.
This is the view of the finished complex from the Tarrant County Administration Building next to the Family Law Center (at right).
Also presented in these renderings are an option scenario, showing ways to “dress up” the rather bleak appearance of the development. Here, we’re seeing louvers added over the concrete of the building diagonally across from the courthouse, trees installed along said building, and glass guardrails replacing concrete walls in parts of the plaza’s surroundings.
Here is the view of the sunken plaza from the corner of Weatherford & Commerce.
The same view, with the same changes above.
The view of the larger buildings from the courthouse.
The same view, with the building altered with louvers over the corner, vines climbing the blank walls, and trees along the Commerce elevation.
The view looking down Belknap.
The same view, with the altered louvers on the northwest building.
The view from the new Belknap bridge looking into the sunken plaza. Stairs lead down from Weatherford. A new building rises on the eastern side of the plaza next to the water feature.
The same view, with an optional glass guardrail next to the building instead of the concrete wall (on the left).
The same view, with the glass guardrail and louvers wrapping the building’s northwest corner.
A view of the bluff buildings, as the original plan showed. Extensive blank walls at street level.
An alternate option, attempting to dress up the blank walls. Louvers have been added to the corner, vines are added to the walls, and a row of trees is planted down the Commerce front. The trees are an improvement along one side, as they move the sidewalk in and create a barrier between pedestrians and traffic.
Looking into the sunken plaza from Weatherford. Stairs lead down from here, and a large ramp leads down from Commerce.
The same view, showing the altered louvers on the buildings seen before. Vines have also been added to the blank wall of a small building down in the plaza.
The view of the plaza & buildings from near Calhoun.
The same view, with the alterations as before.
These renderings finally give us an idea of what we can expect when/if TCC goes ahead with finishing the initial phase of the original bluffside campus. Our thoughts on the architecture on display – well, we’ve ranted before. Seeing the plans to add louvers and vines to the blank walls of the structures brings to mind a quote:
“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.”
–Frank Lloyd Wright
So, what do you, The Readers, think?
I’m sorry, but that has got to be one of the ugliest bits of architecture I’ve seen in Fort Worth. It’s cold and stark – like something you’d find in a Soviet Bloc cityscape. Looking at the rendering with the Courthouse in view, it’s clear how architecturally insensitive these folks were to their surroundings.
Don’t get me wrong, modern has its place. Like The Modern, for example. But this is crap.
It would be ridiculous if the city allowed such a waste of space to occur.
Concrete + glass + August in Texas = death by heat stroke. Just awful.
I love it. I think it actually compliments the courthouse. The biggest atrocity in the city right now is the dirt field next to the courthouse that has been that way for some time. I can’t imagine anything going there but some kind of public space – and the sooner the better. It may not be perfect, but it is infinitely better than what we have now.
I really hope someone else buys these properties before TCC can desecrate downtown any further.
I really don’t like it. Don’t think it fits into the urban landscape at all. The model they should have followed is something like the Univ. of Washington branch campus in downtown Tacoma. The urban setting is similar to the site in Fort Worth and also on a hillside. They did a far better job of integrating the campus into the streetscape and also renovated a variety of unused old buildings for campus use. And probably spent less money. Take a look:
http://www.tacoma.washington.edu/campus_map/bldg_gwp_wcg.cfm
Click on the building names on the sidebar to the right to see photos of the various campus buildings.
I guess I would be able to weigh in more objectively if I didn’t have to look forward to watching my professors lug overhead projectors from room to room at the NE campus because some of them don’t work.
Or if they actually wired the whole campus for WiFi.
Or didn’t take 6 months to renovate the bathrooms in the Library.
Is Louvers the french word for vines?
This is not good. This is not good at all.
Mark, louvers are those horizontal slats that are going over the windows.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louver
“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advice his clients to plant vines.”
–Frank Lloyd Wright
Should it be “advise”?
Add my vote to the nay column.
David,
Yes, it should. I’ve corrected the typo. Thanks! That’s what we get for posting on a holiday, I suppose.
Wow, what an eyesore! Put up a big wooden fence and call it Heritage Park Annex. I am not surprised with all the negative comments and who ever said these buildings would look better at an angle are nuts! It is a shame that taxpayer money has to be spent this way
@ Kent from Waco – “And probably spent less money.” I could not imagine a university spending more money than TCC did for this project. With the cost of the TCC campus estimated at $1,538 per square foot, the University of Washington would have to pave their sidewalks in gold to compete!
Personally, I wish they’d done a real urban campus – regular buildings on regular city blocks, interacting with each other and the street like normal buildings ought to. Instead, we’re getting this quasi-’70s un-urban weirdness that’s absurdly expensive.