Devon tower architect draws inspiration from area Devon tower architect draws inspiration from area
By Steve Lackmeyer and Jack Money
Published: August 21, 2008
The Proposed 54-story Devon Tower will be one of the tallest skyscrapers west of the Mississippi, but its lead designer, Jon Pickard, looked to the neighboring 11-story Colcord Hotel for much of his inspiration.
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"One of the key founders of skyscraper design, in fact, the gentleman responsible for much of the Colcord's terra cotta design, is the architect Louis Sullivan,” Pickard said. "And when Mr. Sullivan spoke of a skyscraper, he preferred the skyscraper as where every inch should be a proud and soaring thing — that it should, with great exaltation, reach to the sky without a dissenting line.”
Pickard's design attempts just that, even as he also looked to other components in the downtown Oklahoma City skyline, including First National Tower. The 33-story tower, built in 1931, inspired the planned Devon Tower's diamond-shaped faces at the very top.
The tower will have a three-sided footprint so that it will have no back door and can be viewed in the round from all points in Oklahoma City.
"A skyscraper has a different attitude,” Pickard said. "It is an attitude that embraces issues beyond just the pure, rational solutions to a problem. It looks at how a building fits into the city, and what it says about public values.”
To that extent, Pickard said, yet another downtown icon, the Crystal Bridge at the Myriad Gardens, influenced the round, glass rotunda with a visible steel superstructure that will serve as a key entry for employees and visitors.
Pickard calls the rotunda, 100 feet high and 100 feet across, the heart of not just the new Devon Tower, but perhaps all of downtown.
"You have a tough climate,” Pickard said. "And we need to compensate for that. This space will rise up 120 feet and will allow people to come together.”
Pickard said the rotunda is designed to welcome outsiders who might want to use it for public gatherings or simply to cross through from Harvey Avenue to the Myriad Gardens. Restaurants and shops will call the area home, similar to what exists with the atrium at Leadership Square.
When people will look up at the glass rotunda, they will see not just a skylight, but also walkways connecting to the tower.
The rotunda is part of a six-story "podium” that stretches west to Hudson Avenue. Just the podium alone would be a significant addition to downtown. Designed at 400,000 square feet, the building will house auditoriums, classrooms and offices and is almost as big as Chase Tower or the former Kerr-McGee Tower.
Pickard said the podium and the tower itself are designed to provide open views for a 2.5-acre park that will front Sheridan Avenue and the Colcord Hotel.
The roof of the podium likely will be lined with plantings that will capture rainwater and allow it to slowly seep back into the city's storm sewer system.
"What you can see we have not done is create a big, high-rise corporate building that was surrounded by security and did not embrace the city,” Nichols said. "In fact, what we have done is to create exactly the opposite — a building that surely houses our employees, but down at the ground level, where citizens work, eat and dine, it is wide open to the public. ... We tried to design a building that embraces the city and is open to its citizens to enjoy as much as possible.”
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Thanks, Cody, that makes sense. I think we can safely say that this tower will incorporate the latest technological adavances. I wonder, in this day of increased awareness of terrorism, what kind of security systems will be involved in the construction and operation of this skyscraper.
Rob- I didn't see anyone answer your question in regards to the height differences. I believe that the reason that Devon is a similar height to other buildings that have more floors has to do with the floor to ceiling height on the office levels. The rule of thumb that is taught is that most buildings are 10' tall for every floor (that would make Devon about 540 to 600'). However, Devon will have 10 feet between the floors and ceilings alone, and then additoinal space for the sub-floor mechanical systems. This makes it much more than the general 10 feet per level. Another factor may be the "podium", but I doubt that it would make this extreme of a difference. I haven't done the math to check if this explains it all or not, but it is a major reason for this building being so tall despite being "only" 54 floors.
This won't be just the tallest in OK, but the tallest in the region - Devon Tower will be 4 feet taller than Dallas' tallest...hmm a coincidence, I think not! You'll have to go all the way to Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, or LA to find one taller.
I have always appreciated OKC's "limited" skyline and will continue to do so even while residing here in Texas. Devon's flower will add to a blossoming metropolis. Thanks Devon this is truly a class act, I'm sure I'll make the trip to OKC more than once just to see what it looks like.
It's about time. Once this building is complete, I will no longer have to drive approx six miles to see a freakin skyline appear before my eyes, except along i-40 on the west side. Other cities like Chicago or Dallas have skylines that can be seen for 40 miles. I wish there were more buildings, like the atlanta skyline type. That would be awesome.
It will be a dramatic addition to the skyline. From what I've read about the desire to welcome the community, it could join Bricktown in humanizing a downtown that, at one time, was a sterile collection of office buildings surrounded by vacant streets when the sun went down. Kevin, if that design is what you suggest, it's the best-looking one I ever saw. But, even viewed with that peculiar attitude, it's got plenty of company. The Empire State Building, the Sears Tower, the Washington Monument and several existing downtown Oklahoma City buildings for example. You could add nearly every lighthouse in the world to the list. I guess some people look at a building and see what they want to see.
There is some developers coming down tomorrow to look at my property in downtown OKC 400,500,600,700 block between Reno and Main to put in a galleria shopping mall. This Devon building is just the beginning
I grew up in Western Oklahoma during the 70's. Back then, many oil companies moved to a lot of the little towns out there. They would scrape off a pad and build a cheap metal building knowing that once the price of crude hit the skids they would be gone. The building that Devon plans to erect in OKC makes a resounding statement about not only the present economic health of our state and the energy industry but what they perceive the future holds for our city and state. No cheap metal buildings and no leaving!
natalee, devon will be adding an additional 5 stories (for a total of 10) to the west parking garage and it will also connect to the podium/rotunda. It will be a devon only garage so that will open up 1500 additional spaces throughout downtown that devon employees currently occupy.
Just wondering what they will do with the Galleria parking garage and parking spaces (that were just renovated/built, by the way) that this space will be displacing. Parking is already hard to come by, so I hope a large parking garage is included in these plans!
Awesome! I remember more than just a few articles in the DOK recently about how OKC was more than 20 years away from a new skyscraper. It was exactly this kind of old-style thinking that had gotten Oklahoma stuck where it was. Now keep focusing with a vision for the future, not the mistakes of the past.
That's really admirable of Devon to make it a point to build an inclusive facility, one that everyone can appreciate and even use, at the ground level. I was just thinking how it would be a shot in the arm for the skyline but, not being in Oil n Gas, I would never really use it. With the atrium, though, I might saunter over there a time or two. Thanks Devon for being a community benefactor.
Fernando, I think you're referring to Houston's 75-stories skyscraper downtown. There's also a Houston suburban structure that's 901 ft./64 stories. These height/stories figures aren't adding up in comparison to the Devon structure. Are there any architecture students out there that can explain the discrepensies?
Every day on my drive home I look at the downtown OKC skyline and think we need more buildings. This building will add a much needed boost to our skyline. I can't wait to see this building get started.
Thoughtful, Oklahoma City - Aug 21, 2008 at 8:49 am
This building is well and truly lovely! I'm sure the very latest in tornado safety features will be implemented. (Guess who saw "It Could Happen Tomorrow" on cable the other night and now frets about an F-3 or worse hitting downtown?)
I am happy about this building. Congrats to Devon. How about changing the building height to at least 1,003ft. to make it taller Texas'(JPMorgan Chase Tower) tallest.
We should be happy that Tulsa will no long have Oklahoma's tallest building. This building when finished will be 257 ft. tall than the BOK Tower, oklahomas tallest.
Looks like a beautiful addition to our improving Downtown. A design workshop on Saturday is mentioned but the time and place are not. Am I missing it somewhere?
On February 17, 2009, all analogue television transmitters will go off the air and the new digital TV system will take its place. How will this apply to this situation? It plays an important part for electricity generating capaticty of OG&E and supporting such large increases in the load. On that day in 2-2009, 10 full power television stations will turn off millions of watts in power used. Can you imagine what it will do to OG&E's bottom line when with the flip of a switch they loose $150,000 per month in revenues? Each station has around a $10,000 per month bill just for a transmitter site. This project will help offset those losses. So, in effect, Devon could save us from a rate increase. And I get credit for DTV-2009 education points.
Sparky (Mark), Oklahoma City - Aug 21, 2008 at 6:17 am
At the heart of the new Devon headquarters is a glass tower, which will dwarf the entire downtown Oklahoma City skyline.
Reflecting pools at its base are designed to make it appear as if the tower will be floating on water, architect Jon Pickard said. A wall at the base of the tower will be transparent, allowing passersby to view into the 35-foot-high lobby. Lobby finishes will include a stone floor, wood or stone wall panels and what Pickard said will be "elegant lighting.”
Typical office floors in the 54-story, 925-foot skyscraper will have 10-foot ceilings and raised access floors for wiring and under-floor air distribution. The exterior cladding will incorporate the latest technology in glazing and mullion technology.
The uppermost cap of the tower will taper in slightly to enhance its proportions and produce a soaring form in the skyline, Pickard said. The cap also will conceal mechanical systems from public view.
During Wednesday's presentation, Pickard turned down the auditorium lights and lit up a model of the building to show how it will define the skyline at night.
"We would like to do something that is appropriate,” Pickard said. "We are going to do it in a responsible way. We're not going to put a thousand klieg lights up there and do silly things.”
Here to stay
When asked about the possibility that Devon could be bought and moved to Houston (as happened with Kerr-McGee), Nichols quickly dismissed the possibility.
"As far as someone acquiring Devon, that is always a possibility,” Nichols said. "But in my experience since 1971, I've never seen any oil and gas company be bought by someone where that company either did not have a problem or did not want to be bought. And I assure you, we do not have any problems, and we do not want to be bought.
"I used to say, ‘Over my dead body,' but my wife Polly persuaded me to stop saying that.”
Landscaping and the gardens
At a cost of $750 million, the new Devon headquarters will add millions of dollars to the city's tax increment financing district, which can be used to pay for public improvements downtown.
Devon Chairman and Chief Executive Larry Nichols said his company will only request a fraction of the TIF dollars generated by the project for creation of a 2.5-acre park that will front Sheridan Avenue, across from the Myriad Gardens.
The area will consist of a lawn, shade trees and fountains. The design by James Burnett and Murase Associates calls for a "living pool teeming with aquatic life.” A public green will accommodate between 1,500 and 2,000 people during special events. At the western edge of the park, a pavilion will rise up from what is called "a skin of water” and will provide a shaded space for festivities and picnic lunches.
Nichols hopes a significant amount of the TIF dollars generated by the project will pay for an overhaul of the Myriad Gardens, which already has seen an upgrade of its water stage funded by Devon. Nichols said his landscape architects also will be charged with assisting the city and the Myriad Gardens Foundation on possible improvements.
"It is a beautiful park, but there are not a lot of people in it,” Nichols said. "There are some design flaws where the city over time really didn't have the money to do what needed to be done.”
Nichols said discussions are already under way, and a design workshop Saturday will invite the public to tell landscape architects what they would like to see added to the park. "Restaurants, ice skating rinks, dog parks ... they have a list of 30 or so different features you could put into that park to really make it work,” Nichols said. "Our hope is, when you really see what an urban park can do, it will create that much more enthusiasm for the long-term plans the city has for the really big park in the Core to Shore area.”
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