MainPlace Tops Out in Houston

If you're interested in what's happening in Houston or Southeast Texas, then HAIF is the best web resourced there is.

Today there's a note and press release about the latest Hines project, MainPlace topping out.

The 46-story skyscraper is the latest building in the revitalization of the city's downtown.

You can read all about MainPlace in this forum thread.

Here's a photo that was posted on the forum:

Landmark Chicago Skyscraper Redevelopment Complete

Got a press release today stating that the major renovations at 330 North Wabash are now complete.  You may remember 330 as the Chicago's old IBM Building or One IBM Plaza, Mies Van Der Rohe's massive black slab along the Chicago river that used to loom so menacingly over the Sun-Times building before it was neutered by Donald Trump.

There have been complaints on the internet from people who think the treatment of the lobby has been rather ruthless, but for the 99% of Chicagoand who only see this building from afar, no damage has been done.

The building is interesting to watch at night because the top dozen floors form a black hole in the city's skyline while office lights tinkle and burn in other buildings around them.  It's because that section of the building is being redeveloped as a luxury hotel.  There is no opening date for that hotel yet.  At a public event about six months ago, the developer said he was in no hurry to complete the project, especially considering the state of the economy.

You can see more than a thousand Chicago architecture landmarks at Chicago Architecture Info (our sister site).

The full press release about the redevelopment of 330 North Wabash follows:

America's Highest Subway

Don't look down for America's newest Subway -- look up.

No, it's not an underground train -- it's a Subway restaurant, built into a shipping container and now perched atop the naked steel of what will one day be New York's Freedom Tower (also known as One World Trade Center).

The new boxed lunchstand will allow steelworkers to take a break and get some food without having to go all the way back down to the ground.

Check out the video from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey:

Pix: London 2012 Olympic Construction Update

The Olympic Delivery Authority, which is responsible for overseeing the construction of the venues for the 2012 summer Olympic Games in London has released a series of aerial photographs showing the progress so far.  

Click on a photo to see it full-size.  Read the full press release after the photographs.

All photos are © ODA.  Courtesy of London 2012.

New aerial images show Olympic Park progress as IOC Coordination Commission visits London 

23 November 2009

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has today released new aerial images of construction work on the Olympic Park showing the ‘big build’ firmly on track as the project enters its toughest year.

The images show the east London skyline being transformed by construction progress on the ‘big five’ venues – the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre, Olympic Village, Velodrome and International Broadcast Centre/Main Press Centre (IBC/MPC). The images have been released as the International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission visits the capital for a progress update on London’s plans for staging the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

ODA Chairman John Armitt, said: 'With construction work on the Olympic Park approaching its peak, the "big five" venues are already becoming landmarks on the east London skyline and show how much progress has been made since the IOC Coordination Commission visited earlier this year.

'The external structure of the Olympic Stadium has been finished and the completion of the Aquatics Centre roof gives us an exciting glimpse of what will become the "gateway to the Games" and the Olympic Park’s most iconic venue. Work is also racing ahead in the north of the Park with the first residential plot of the Village structurally complete, the huge frame of the IBC/MPC in place and the striking architecture of the Velodrome taking shape.

'The Olympic Park "big build" is firmly on track but we are not complacent and these new images show the sheer scale of the project and the challenges ahead as we enter our toughest year in the project.'

Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee, said: 'In a little under 1,000 days time, the eyes of the world will fall upon this part of east London. The area is being transformed, creating new communities, new housing, and state- of-the-art sporting facilities.

'It is abundantly clear from these photographs that this piece of regeneration is well under way. Over the next year or so, we look forward to seeing the ODA continuing its excellent work so far and seeing the Olympic Park come to life – both for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in 2012 but also for generations to come.'

Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell said: 'The Olympic Park has really started to take shape since the IOC Co-ordination Commission’s last visit with several of the key elements of the build now complete and venues like the Olympic Stadium and Aquatics Centre making a real impact on the London skyline.

'I am confident that we have the measures in place to make sure that this good progress continues, as we head into the most intensive and challenging phase of construction.'

The images released today show how much the Olympic Park has changed since the IOC Coordination Commission visited London in April this year. A new fly-through video of the Olympic Park, narrated by Jonathan Edwards, was also released on the London 2012 website today. The video and latest aerial shots, taken earlier this month, show:

The Olympic Stadium’s external structure completed with work starting on the lifting of the cable-net roof All five new bridges around the Stadium island lifted into place and the first trees planted The wave-shaped Aquatics Centre steel roof structure weighing more than 3,000 tonnes lifted and lowered into place, along with the completion of the concrete dive pool and work well underway on the two 50m competition and training pools The huge steel frame of International Broadcast Centre (IBC) completed and the Main Press Centre (MPC) coming out of the ground The steelwork forming the distinct double-curved structure of the Velodrome approaching the halfway point The first residential block in the Olympic Village structurally complete and work well underway on all other residential plots The foundations of the Handball Arena nearing completion The Energy Centre taking shape and the Primary Substation building finished – the first building on the Park to be completedWork well underway on 21 of more than 30 new bridges to be built in the Park.