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Duke Energy Center - 48 Story Office Tower in Charlotte

dubone

By dubone
in Charlotte

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Yeah, I think you're right. It's more obvious on the right side on the big picture.

I can say with certainty the support towers will not become part of the structure itself. We've seen the actual handle and if you see pictures of it from angles, that slant already exists. Not to mention their girth is much wider than the construct of the rest of the handle (and is a completely different material). Here is the handle in its entirety, they just haven't put up all of it.

112025379.jpg

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JayGee Hamlet

JayGee

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I can say with certainty the support towers will not become part of the structure itself. We've seen the actual handle and if you see pictures of it from angles, that slant already exists. Not to mention their girth is much wider than the construct of the rest of the handle (and is a completely different material). Here is the handle in its entirety, they just haven't put up all of it.

112025379.jpg

It doesn't appear that they built it in the same orientation as it is installed either.

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Eastman Whistle-Stop

Eastman

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A cool slideshow/pictures with some unique views. All I had was a blackberry to take pictures with so I'm sorry about the quality, but I didn't have time to grab a camera. Please do not use these photos without my permission. Enjoy. :thumbsup:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39040755@N05/...ith/3590506635/

Ok QCkid, I was having a crappy morning and you made it one of the best. Thank you!

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HopHead City

HopHead

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Great work QCKid... I will have to say, I'm definitely surprised by the amount of work they have already completed on the inside of the tower. It looks like a data center in a few of the pics is all but done. Obviously the electrical work is pretty far along as well. The views around uptown are pretty cool too... And once again that lot where the baseball stadium and park were to go still looks so bare :(

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UrbanFuture Whistle-Stop

UrbanFuture

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Great work QCKid... I will have to say, I'm definitely surprised by the amount of work they have already completed on the inside of the tower. It looks like a data center in a few of the pics is all but done. Obviously the electrical work is pretty far along as well. The views around uptown are pretty cool too... And once again that lot where the baseball stadium and park were to go still looks so bare :(

A lot of the mechanical infrastructure is in place and functioning, including air conditioning and power systems in the server, generator, electrical control, and battery rooms. Unfortunately, a lot of the redundant systems will not be used by Duke, as they were planned for and necessary for Wachovia trading floor systems, which will no longer be there. (Trading floors are 140K sq ft total in the midrise). The mechanicals were fascinating though, just for the trading floors, they had to burn through several power and cooling systems before battery backups kicked in. Batteries can power the building at full load for enough time for the diesel pumps to kick on and pump diesel from sublevel tanks to the diesel generators. In other words, it was a very very very stable server and trading setup in the back of house. I think there is still about a year left in terms of the interior build out, especially now that the tenant mix has changed, and each will be using their own contractors typically. The pictures didn't do the executive floors view complete justice, those will be some truly great office backdrops. The data centers are really almost finished, they were loading the power systems down for tests when we walked through, stressing them on purpose before they give them the ok to prep the room for server move in. All the boxes in the server room pictures are all air conditioning and power systems, server towers will be installed between all of the current boxes. Also, the interior elevators are functioning and run to the 49th floor. (THANKFULLY, 51 stories yesterday would've been rough on all stairs)

Certain parts of the building felt secure like an underground bunker. :blink: The mechanical areas are massive and complex. All of the tower systems are noticably quiet as well, including all exhaust and cooling towers, as they had to maintain residential noise standards because of the planned condo tower. The thought and care that went into planning the project is truly mind boggling. I am trying to think what else I can remember off the top of my head... that's it for now.

One of the first comments when we stepped out onto the 51st floor below the handle was how many surface and bare lots there were, common thought between most people on this board, but it is painfully obvious from above, as I'm sure InitialD and friends can attest to from their aerial tour of Charlotte. I too wish the park and/or baseball stadium was there to help fill in 3rd ward.

REASON FOR EDIT: Clean up some sentences.

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sleightofhand Hamlet

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A cool slideshow/pictures with some unique views. All I had was a blackberry to take pictures with so I'm sorry about the quality, but I didn't have time to grab a camera. Please do not use these photos without my permission. Enjoy. :thumbsup:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39040755@N05/...ith/3590506635/

That was awesome! Especially at the end with the pictures from up top. Thanks for sharing!

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I'm not sure if someone else posted this, but I believe there is a second "level" of handle still to be added to the top of this, so the handle will appear wide and taper even thinner.

Yup I said that at the top of the page that they hadn't finished the entire handle.

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Eastman Whistle-Stop

Eastman

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Yup I said that at the top of the page that they hadn't finished the entire handle.

It would appear that they are installing that now, as in prepping it, they have been welding a great deal on one side. From the pics it looked like that would be one cool space in the lower part of the sloped area, with many curved balconys looking towards downtown. If this was the 70's that would be a swanky restaurant. :shades:

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UrbanFuture Whistle-Stop

UrbanFuture

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Unfortunately not. I wish there was one too. There is a restaurant on the 27th floor of CLT plaza, and there's the City Club on the 31st and 32nd of the Interstate Tower for those that can find a way in with a member.

The tower is not built for an observation deck as of right now. While I know it can be retrofitted, I find a hard time figuring out how they will do it. The elevators would have to be re-fitted to be secure access to all the business floors, the top 3 inhabitable floors have a large atrium that covers one side of all three, and the cost to staff an observation deck probably wouldn't break even after the first rush of people to check it out. This in conjunction with the knowledge that many systems in the building are simply being abandoned after install because of costs to operate them without true needs by Duke, I just don't see them shelling out the money to get a deck in there.

Now, I hope I'm wrong. :silly:

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Condoze34 Crossroads

Condoze34

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QC, awesome slideshow. It is amazing how much design and engineering have gone into the angled / bridged top of this structure. It must have added an incredible amount of extra cost to the building. Wachovia spared no expense in making this their signature tower. The bridge structure will face the airport directly, making a grand impression to arrivals and passer throughs at CLT.

The construction history of this building will be like a microcosm, telling the story of the boom and bust of Charlotte's banking duopoly in a very condensed time period. It make me wonder if another structure of this magnitude has ever been started in this country by a company that did not survive long enough to occupy the structure it began. This will be a story for the ages in Charlotte. We are all witnessing a significant piece of history in the construction of this tower.

The story behind this tower makes it even more incredible. Hopefully it will come to stand for Charlotte's resilience and ability to adapt, evolve, and thrive once again. Regardless of how we got it, thank goodness that we did.

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UrbanFuture Whistle-Stop

UrbanFuture

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I'm tired of seeing the top of this building naked! I want to see it done!

haha, it should speed up soon. The final concrete will be poured on the 51st floor as soon as the "handle" is secured and all supporting steel work is in place. They can't pour the last floor until all of the vertical steel on either side of the handle/building is in place because they are going to be pouring over the bottom of the beams ultimately. Once that is done the rest of the skin should go decently quick.

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