OKC Community Foundation HQ

[Spartan]

OKC Community Foundation Headquarters
1100 N Broadway (10th & Broadway)
cost=$2,000,000
architect=Hornbeek Blatt Architects
finish=3rd Quarter 2007
sq. feet=20,440
acerage=2.4



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County Assessor Record
Gallery

[Urbanized]

In the late nineties this was a long-vacant empty lot owned by Kerr-McGee. Design of this building was not without controversy as the building had the round entrance plaza cutout that kept the building from remaining at zero setback all the way to the corner. Round entrance plaza is designed to echo the round stamped concrete intersections lining the Automobile Alley district.

[Spartan]

It's also constructed out of EIFS. This project's best feature is the modern brick facade along Broadway.

This site was also identified as the #1 most important site for downtown infill in an early 2000s report (was it the 2005 Downtown Housing Study? or an A-Alley study?) I believe.

[Urbanized]

Are the columns around the plaza EIFS? For whatever reason I was thinking they were cast stone. It was built after my time there...

[Spartan]

I seem to remember that the controversy centered more around the building material (EIFS) than the actual shortcoming of meeting the form-based building code.

[Urbanized]

Happened to drive by last night & hopped out to take a closer look. The columns are definitely cast stone, but the curved section above them and the parapet detail on the corner above the second floor are indeed EIFS.

But I do recall quite a bit of controversy surrounding the setback issue also. That was interesting to me at the time, because there had been some discussion early in the Automobile Alley Main Street days regarding development of that specific corner, and the zoning at the time required a 25' sight triangle at all corners, meaning it was actually (and ridiculously) ILLEGAL to build at zero setback all the way to a corner. Fortunately that was changed, but it illustrated again how auto-centric we had become.

[Spartan]

Ah, good to make the distinction, I didn't realize any of it was cast stone. You're probably disappointed because you didn't realize any of it was EIFS, however I'm actually pleasantly surprised because I didn't realize any of it was not EIFS...

When you set your standards this low, you don't come away disappointed as often, and then you might just be surprised occasionally..LOL

[musg8411]

I drive by this building everyday and the parking lots never seem to have more than a couple cars. Apparently they have 706 million in assets, per their website. With Auto Alley making such great strides, it seems there will be no fix for having a building like this will no street interaction. A few years later and this building would have never been allowed to built in this manner. Hopefully they will lease some of their empty lots to some of the buildings that are being developed next door.

[HangryHippo]

I really don't mind this building. Is it my favorite? No. But it's a nice building that's well-maintained. Why do you say there's no fix for having a building like this?

[musg8411]

I really just think it breaks up the potential flow of retail, restaurants, and such. By no fix, I meant they likely aren't going anywhere anytime soon. I do agree that they keep it clean and it is a nice building. Just surprised me at how empty the parking lots always seem and since the most commonly used entrance is in the back, the building lacks any activity on the street sides.

[wsucougz]

What drives me nuts is they tore down the building next door to add parking when they clearly didn't need it then, and still don't. Real stewards of the city.

[UnFrSaKn]

The same intersection back in the day.



Today Street View

This building is what used to be on that site. Anyone surprised at all?



Home State Life Insurance

[Pete]

The only good thing about that parking lot is it's good overflow for the Womb and all the restaurants on 9th Street.

Then do have a large grassy area along Broadway to the south of the building that needs to be developed.

[Pete]

Community Foundation to add a building
By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record September 12, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Community Foundation submitted a construction application Monday to expand its corporate offices in Automobile Alley.

The foundation is adding a three-story, 15,000-square-foot building south of its existing 18,500-square-foot office.

The office entrance faces NW 10th Street and N. Broadway Avenue. The new building will sit at NW Ninth Street and N. Broadway Avenue, covering the entire lot.

Architect David Hornbeek and his team at Hornbeek Blatt Architects designed the addition, which will be built by Lingo Construction. Hornbeek designed the existing office as well. Construction will start in January, said Jana Speelman, the foundation’s communications director.

“Since we moved into our building in 2007, our programs and our services to the community, and the community’s request for public meeting space has just grown, and far exceeds our community capacity,” Speelman said. “We have every square inch of building occupied.”

She said the building will have a lot of meeting space. The existing building will be redesigned, creating more public use areas.

She said the final construction costs are still being calculated, though the building will be fully funded.

“We have internal administration funds that have been accumulated for administrative needs,” she said. “We’re very lucky that we have that administrative fund.”

The renderings were being finished Monday in order to make it on the Downtown Design Review Committee’s Oct. 20 agenda.

Hornbeek said he knew 10 years ago that he would have to design an addition one day.

The new building will not match the existing office, but it will complement it, he said.

“There are no buildings that are a block long and of the same façade in Automobile Alley,” he said.

The buildings will connect, though. There will be a southern entrance that can be used as needed, but guests will still be encouraged to come through the original entrance at 10th and Broadway.

If approved by the DDRC, it would be the second new building under construction in Automobile Alley. The committee did not approve a four-story building at NW 11th and Broadway Avenue. The developer took his application to the Board of Adjustment, which approved the application. The original design had to include more brick to meet the district’s historic guidelines.

[Pete]

[CS_Mike]

While it's certainly good to see another building take the place of an empty lot, I hope they consider incorporating something to front Broadway that would encourage some manner of street-level activity. That will be a pretty long stretch of dead space if they don't.

[Pete]

Here are the renderings for the 3-story addition:

[AP]

I like that.

[2Lanez]

Looks great. Maybe more regular activity on that side of Broadway would be nice, but aesthetically that building is great.

[soonerguru]

Looks a bit like the St. Anthony addition.

[Teo9969]

The thing about street interaction is that's not always about literally having a place to interact with (i.e. enter and do business with). The fact that you can see into that space makes it interact immensely more interactive than the old portion of the development. Place some cool art things right by the windows and all of the sudden you'll get pedestrians stopping and taking pictures. That would rightly be viewed as being as successful as a bar with a patio. There are people who would rather consume a beautiful piece of art behind glass on the street than a cocktail on a beautiful patio (like Sidecar's)...I'm not one of those people, but you get the idea

[Spartan]

Looks a bit like the St. Anthony addition.

I can see it. Or the new OCPD / courts complex.

[warreng88]

Foundation to start construction on new building in early 2017

By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record December 21, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The Oklahoma City Community Foundation will start construction on its 15,000-square-foot addition late in 2017’s first quarter, said Nancy Anthony, executive director.

The project is slightly off schedule after it took two Downtown Design Review Committee meetings to get the addition approved. During the first meeting in October, architect David Hornbeek presented a building design that featured a glass front, capstone promenade columns and metal awnings.

He said he purposely designed the building so it did not match the existing structure. The new building will sit directly south of the community foundation’s current headquarters at NW 10th Street and N. Broadway Avenue.

“We believe the change keeps the side of the street from being one entire long block building,” he said.

But Downtown Design Review Commissioner Nathaniel Harding was the only person to like the building. The other commissioners did not think it met the downtown design framework or the Automobile Alley historic district guidelines.

Automobile Alley building owner Steve Mason and architect Rand Elliott also expressed concern about the building. Elliott even brought his own rendering of what the addition could look like and fit the Automobile Alley guidelines.

“This is a suburban building being placed in an urban setting,” Elliott said.

Hornbeek said the criticism was subjective. He said the downtown framework says a building should not emulate the surrounding area.

“If you want (a building that mimics the area), you need to change your (downtown) guidelines,” he said.

This is the second time this year that the Automobile Alley historic district guidelines have been questioned in a meeting. The district’s guidelines were created more than 20 years ago, but they are not in city code, said Lisa Chronister, principal planner in the city’s current planning and urban design division.

If an architect is looking up city design codes, the Automobile Alley design guidelines are not required to be integrated, based on city ordinance. But that will likely change, Chronister said. She said the city planning office is revisiting the Automobile Alley guidelines and could reincorporate them into the downtown design ordinance.

The committee’s job is to evaluate the project based on the city ordinance, and the Automobile Alley historic district guidelines are not part of city ordinance.

She said the Planning Department does advise people to meet with the Automobile Alley business association or the historic district design committee if they are building or renovating a structure in the area. But the DDRC gives the final approval to the design.

“Automobile Alley (business owners) do not have any formal role in the design review committee’s work,” she said. “Their role is similar to that of any adjacent property owner.”

Hornbeek’s business partner Tony Blatt brought the project back to the DDRC’s December meeting. The design incorporated the committee’s previous suggestions like punched-out windows, brick colonnades instead of capstone, and a brick front rather than glass. This created a more horizontal look, rather than a vertical aesthetic.

Blatt said the team added terra cotta panels as well, rather than the metal accents as seen previously.

Mason said the Automobile Alley group approved this rendering.

“This is a much-improved design,” said Betsy Brunsteter, DDRC’s chairwoman.

Editor’s Note: This story was updated on Dec. 22.

[Colbafone]

Wait wait wait. So not only did Rand Elliot NOT like someone else's design, again, he mocked up his own design for the building? What an incredibly douchey thing to do.


Does anyone have the newer "better" renderings?

[Pete]