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65 Monroe Center

BigPlayJ

By BigPlayJ
in Grand Rapids

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
Posted

I noticed the ripple effect in person and only confirmed it through your photos. :)

Joe

I think one issue that may be causing the rippling effect might be the brick underneath. If you remember back up a few posts or pages, they laid sleepers on top of the brick, and then applied the panels.

I got word from the developer that the black panels are the final product, but that several of them are going to replaced.

BTW: Make sure you click on the image to see the larger version. Most of the ripples go away when you do that. I have to also add that ever since my camera fell on the ground a few times, the clarity hasn't been as good as it used to be. :whistling:

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suydam Hamlet

suydam

Posted
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Not to mention that they don't all even line up properly. I looks like someone went crazy with a Bedazzler on this thing.

:offtopic:

Wow, you don't read "Bedazzler" every day.

Also... just FYI: Don't click taht link with your volume anythong over "mute" if you're in an office like me. The crazy Bedazzler lady just lept out of my speakers and annoyed my co-workers.

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jbr12 Hamlet

jbr12

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Just walked by so I could judge in person.... still not a fan.

I understand the brick surface below created a unique problem when trying to get even, level blocking to attach the new skin to. In that light, I think it would have been important to select a material that would have been forgiving. I like the 'design' but the execution is bad. None of the edges or corners of the Parklex is even. The majority of the corners were warped up, giving the material a 'oil canning' look and that is bad. As others having noted, the rivets are oddly spaced, some have them down the middle, some don't. I'm hoping when the product is finished it is more consistent. The black material does indeed look like a substrate material, not a finished product and as I mentioned in the pictures, the color is not a consistent flat color. It absorbs light differently throughout that makes it look kind of strange.

I also wonder how the Parklex will hold up to the constant salting it will receive around the sidewalk area...

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

Posted
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I haven't seen it in person, but I like it. Perhaps in person the odd spacing of the fasteners is more irritating.

I'm not sure where the "odd spacing" is coming from. The screws are all evenly spaced. :dontknow: There's only that one double row that goes up the middle of the panels on the West side, but that's it. One thing that the installers have to be super cognizant of though, is that at a ground-floor installation where people can actually get really close to the building, the screw "pairs" have to be lined up with ultra-precision, or it will be noticeable. If this building were set back 20 - 30 feet, it wouldn't be an issue. It looks like they eye-balled some of them, instead of measuring and placing the screws exactly across from each other.

I agree too with jbr12 that a more forgiving and hardier material may have been a better choice to help hide the inconsistencies in the brick. It does look different in person though, so check it out if you haven't seen it yet. Also remember that the flashing hasn't been added yet, so some of the rough edges will be covered.

edit: in looking at the picture again, most of the screws look pretty good.

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jbr12 Hamlet

jbr12

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I'm not sure where the "odd spacing" is coming from. The screws are all evenly spaced. :dontknow:

There are a couple of odd rows and columns that caught my eye immediately when I was walking by. That, paired with the just sheer number of the rivets are what I find to be unfortunate. I'm assuming the rivet spacing comes per the manufacturer and they are required to be that close together. All of the exposed 'shinies' are distracting. I'm just not a fan at all....

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AlexPKeaton Burg

AlexPKeaton

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Posted

I'm not sure where the "odd spacing" is coming from. The screws are all evenly spaced. :dontknow:

edit: in looking at the picture again, most of the screws look pretty good.

Here's my crude MS Paint critique to point out what we're talking about. The red circles point out an inconsistency at the "T" intersections. There's always a screw in the corner of each panel, and usually a screw at the same position in the adjacent panel. In the middle red circle there are screws adjacent to both corner screws, but in the left and right circles they just centered a single screw on the opposite panel. In the blue circle they didn't even bother to center it. The green circle shows some uneven spacing, likely because of the irregular width of one of the panels, but it's still distracting. And, of course, the big WTF is the line of screws that aren't even at one of the seams.

fugly.jpg

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

Posted
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It brings up an interesting question. For you developer types out there, have you ever been headlong into a project and realized "this looks horrible"? I wonder how many times a project looks good on paper, but it ends up looking like garbage in real life, and even the developer realizes it. I can imagine it happens more often than we think, and I can imagine it would be terrible. Maybe some developers want to throw themselves under the bus before we even get to them. ;)

Joe

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sfloria Whistle-Stop

sfloria

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I really liked the original sketch. I thought it was going to be a nice representation of the old facade with a new twist at the entrance. But the way it has been executed is just awful. I agree about the mis-alignment of the screws along with the odd arrangement of the cut lines around some of the windows. This was one of my favorite buildings downtown and has now gone in the worst buildings list. I can only hope that the specs for the installation called for better quality so it will have to be reinstalled with better precision.

429651383_4e68b6971e_b.jpg

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mgreven Hamlet

mgreven

Posted
Posted

Just talked to a friend working on the "siding" project. Didn't really want to bring up the "glowing" reviews here since I assume he's just doing what the plans said. I asked if that was the final siding and he said, "Yep, almost done." That's what it's gonna be, folks.

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d8alterego Whistle-Stop

d8alterego

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You can now hear the collective sigh of many dissapointed planeteers... :cry:

Look at it this way guys, maybe this new trend in siding (given a few projects) will catch on in 5 to 10 years and then we will change our minds and think it looks great! :dontknow: Remember, trash today can be art tomorrow! I am holding out hope that when finished, it'll grow on us because of its character.

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Prankster Burg

Prankster

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Posted

You can now hear the collective sigh of many dissapointed planeteers... :cry:

Look at it this way guys, maybe this new trend in siding (given a few projects) will catch on in 5 to 10 years and then we will change our minds and think it looks great! :dontknow: Remember, trash today can be art tomorrow! I am holding out hope that when finished, it'll grow on us because of its character.

You must be one of those "glass half full" type of people. :thumbsup:

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I'm not sure what I would do if I were the developer. There are still condos to be sold in the building, and the look of the siding might be a detriment to sales (imagine every potential buyer asking: "does the real siding still need to go on?"). And the supplier is probably going to charge for for the siding and the install, even if you switch it out. It probably meets the "specs" of the material, and the supplier can probably say that it looks exactly as the sample we showed you.

I think I'd bite the bullet and have new material installed. In my experience, it's better to take the short-term pain of fixing a mistake, than it is to live with the pain of constantly being reminded of that mistake. Especially on such a high-profile corner. People will never let you live it down.

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PHTPL Unincorporated Area

PHTPL

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Posted

It would have been nice if they had rehabbed this building, and added the additional floors, to resemble the work done at the former post office on Commerce St. I believe it's now the Aveda cosmetology school.

What used to occupy 65 Monroe?

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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It would have been nice if they had rehabbed this building, and added the additional floors, to resemble the work done at the former post office on Commerce St. I believe it's now the Aveda cosmetology school.

What used to occupy 65 Monroe?

Nothing recently. It was a bank at one time.

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