• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

TOWERS

Austin city life since 2007.

  • News
    • Condo Projects
    • Neighborhoods
  • Listings
    • Austin Condo Guide
  • Newsletter
Search
You are here: Home / Blog / Gensler’s 600 Guadalupe Tower Might Not Be Blue, Thank God
Search suggestions: gensler • design • architecture

Gensler’s 600 Guadalupe Tower Might Not Be Blue, Thank God

James Rambin September 19, 2017 Comment

Photo courtesy of Gensler.

Ever noticed how like, every new tower announced downtown is blue? If it’s not solid blue, it’s beige with blue accents or something. I’m no expert, but there’s apparently a good reason for this: 

Blue and green glass are the most energy efficient which is why it’s all we use. Difficult to satisfy energy code with other colors.

— Car Free Austin (@CarFreeAustin) September 15, 2017

But this might be a specious argument — if green glass is also efficient, where’s our 333 Wacker Drive? Why’s blue the default color for a glass tower? Compare the Fairmont Bejing to the Fairmont Austin, for instance: 

The Fairmont Bejing (left) and the Fairmont Austin (right). Photo courtesy of Fairmont Hotels / Photo by James Rambin.

Okay, so the Bejing hotel looks kinda like a rose gold grain elevator — at least someone’s taking chances and experimenting with interesting colors!

Anyway, with the announcement and subsequent renderings for the (extremely sweet-looking) Gensler-designed tower planned at 600 Guadalupe, I basically expected blue as the default — see, they’re brainwashing us!

I dunno, looks pretty blue to me. Photo courtesy of Gensler.

But there might be a chance for something at least a little different. George Blume, a designer at Gensler, is an Instagram must-follow — he posts great material about all the firm’s projects, but lately he’s showing off the 600 Guadalupe tower, both in renderings and physical models. Take a gander at his latest post: 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BZMGc7Cl5UR/?taken-by=blume_george

In the comments, you’ll find this:

Viracon is an architectural glass manufacturer that specializes in the glass substrates and coatings used for the curtain walls in modern towers, and the use of low-iron glass means an increase in clarity — the presence of iron oxide in glass causes a greenish/bluish tint that’s more noticeable as the element’s concentration increases.

Viracon’s selection of coatings for its glass panels also impact the color of a building’s exterior — let’s take a look at some coating colors on low-iron glass from the company’s catalog:

Photo courtesy of Viracon, Inc.

So some of them are blue, but some of them aren’t! Blume’s comment about the building having a “subtle silver sheen” is promising, but it’s a little unclear whether that’s just a silver sheen on a building that, in the end, is still kinda bluish. A straight-up silver building, on the other hand, would be super neat.

But either way, I’ll take what I can get! At least until some visionary architect drops plans for a rose gold building. That’ll be the day.


EDITOR’S NOTE: For the concerned readers reaching out about this particular take of mine, I haven’t forgotten that the sky is blue. The argument that all of downtown’s towers are blue just because they’re reflecting the sky is dishonest when you look at a photo of the skyline and see how many different shades of blue are represented — meaning there’s more to these colors than the dang ol’ sky.

My point is that a blue glass curtain wall tower is the Toyota Corolla of skyscraper design — yeah, the color of the sky impacts the reflected color of a glass panel, and makes circumventing this physical aspect of reality cost extra and require additional design considerations, but that doesn’t mean architects are just throwing up their hands in dismay and designing blue buildings because our planet’s atmosphere has a gun to their heads. C’mon.

Related

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 78701, architecture, design, idle speculation, towers

About James Rambin

James is an Austin native, but tries not to brag about it. Email him anything at james@towers.net.

48 SE East Avenue #2508
Austin, TX
Photo of 48 SE East Avenue #2508, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 8722079)
$865,000
33
  • Lot Size
    66 sqft

  • Home Size
    803 sqft

  • Beds
    1 Bed

  • Baths
    1 Bath

View Virtual Tour
Previous Post: « Spotted: Austin’s PARK(ing) Day Makes Parking Spaces Public on Congress
Next Post: The Downtown Austin Alliance’s Vision Survey Needs Your Hottest Takes »

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  •  Schedule a showing

Featured Buildings

  • 360 Condos
  • Austin City Lofts
  • The Independent
  • The Shore Condos
  • 70 Rainey

FEATURED Listings

5924 S Congress Avenue #12
Austin, TX
Photo of 5924 S Congress Avenue #12, Austin, TX 78745 (MLS # 8592590)
$599,000
37
  • Lot Size

  • Home Size
    1,608 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    4 Baths

View Virtual Tour
70 Rainey Street #1408
Austin, TX
Photo of 70  Rainey Street #1408, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 2400059)
$1,995,000
39
  • Lot Size

  • Home Size
    1,434 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

View Virtual Tour
360 Nueces Street #1216
Austin, TX
Photo of 360  Nueces Street #1216, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 6124051)
$875,000
36
  • Lot Size
    131 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,117 sqft

  • Beds
    2 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

View Virtual Tour
1700 Ullrich Avenue
Austin, TX
Photo of 1700  Ullrich Avenue, Austin, TX 78756 (MLS # 6581028)
$695,170
27
  • Lot Size
    6,709 sqft

  • Home Size
    1,066 sqft

  • Beds
    3 Beds

  • Baths
    2 Baths

3205 Holton Street
Austin, TX
Photo of 3205  Holton Street, Austin, TX 78702 (MLS # 2917084)
$1,850,000
34
  • Lot Size
    7,062 sqft

  • Home Size
    2,571 sqft

  • Beds
    4 Beds

  • Baths
    4 Baths

48 East Avenue #1608
Austin, TX
Photo of 48  East Avenue #1608, Austin, TX 78701 (MLS # 9928914)
$825,000
10
  • Lot Size
    17,904 sqft

  • Home Size
    803 sqft

  • Beds
    1 Bed

  • Baths
    1 Bath

austin condo report

Footer

LEGAL NOTICE

TREC Information About Brokerage Services (pdf)

Texas Real Estate Commission Consumer Protection Notice


TOWERS realty

Austin Condos For Sale

Agents

Downtown Buildings

Luxury Towers

  • Four Seasons Residences
  • W Hotel & Residences
  • The Austonian
  • 5 Fifty Five at Hilton

Most Popular

  • The Shore
  • 360 Condos
  • Seaholm Condos
  • Spring Condos
  • Milago Condos

New Construction

  • The Independent
  • 70 Rainey
  • Austin Proper
  • Fifth & West

Loft Style

  • Austin City Lofts
  • Brazos Place
  • The Sabine
  • Plaza Lofts
  • Avenue Lofts
  • Brazos Lofts
  • Brown Building

Resources

  • Austin Condo Guide
  • Condos For Sale
  • Condo Buyer FAQ
  • Property Search

Featured

Archives

Austin city life since 2007 · Newsletter · About · Contact Us · DMCA · Privacy Policy · SLAPP · Copyright © 2007-2022 TOWERS.net · All Rights Reserved
 

Loading Comments...