The Building That Changes Color

There's a new tower on Cincinnati's skyline and it has a unique feature.

- The 8th and Sycamore tower under construction, now known as "Encore."

In life, we develop routines. My morning commute always starts with a podcast. Often, I find myself listening to one about "the unnoticed architecture and design that shape our world," a.k.a. 99% Invisible. I like the show because I love learning about architecture, design, and the built environment, but I can't say I'm educated enough on the subjects to be a critic. I'm usually so content to see new development replacing empty space or parking lots in my hometown that I don't get overly critical of how it looks. I was happy just to see The Banks finally get started even if the architecture itself isn't regarded as particularly aesthetically pleasing. 

75% of the time, I catch a bus to work in Downtown Cincinnati, the other 25%, I'm using my car. My bus stop is on 8th St., right across from a new development. On the days I drive, I always park in the garage of said development, because it's easily accessible, quick, and never full. Despite passing by the same areas every day, listening to Roman Mars and his crew tell stories is a reminder to keep looking around. I've watched this new residential tower come closer to life over the past year and while I may not have the background to be an architectural critic, I have to say I wasn't overly impressed. I liked that it was tall, modern, and replaced an aging parking garage, but the brown/copper exterior felt ugly. I figured it was just the underside of the building, that eventually a true exterior would be placed over the drab, almost rust looking metal. Yet, as time went on, I kept walking by and thinking: "it's not really going to be brown, is it?"

Then one day, from a few blocks over, I noticed the building was green. "Some sort of paint primer," I thought, figuring they were finally going to make the exterior look better. However, the next day, it looked brown again. Then, yesterday morning, I made a point to look closely.

I saw both colors. 

I realized that as you walked around and adjusted perspective, the color of the building's exterior changed. I reached out to my friend David Cole, an architect originally from Cincinnati who now resides in Seattle. He theorized that the surface may feature a product known as "Spectra and Sparkling," something the manufacturer describes this way:

"Brilliant, iridescent colours found in nature were the inspiration for Spectra colours. Through special colour pigments, various colour gradients of gloss and depth are created. Depending on the type of pigment and viewing angle, enchanting colour effects with highlights and interesting colour gradients add new visual dimensions."

Realizing now that the exterior surface was a unique feature and not just a drab color, I no longer disliked the brown-ish hue of the building (or green depending on where you're standing). I found an appreciation for it.

- The building appearing "brown" from the corner of 7th and Sycamore.

- A block south at 6th and Sycamore, the building displays a more "green" color.

Now realizing this detail, I think the building's an incredibly unique feature of the urban core. It's something cool to point out, something different, and adds a new dynamic to the skyline. As David would tell me, it's "pretty bold for Cincinnati," a city that has a love affair with brick.

In fact, it may have originally been planned with a different exterior in mind. The architecture firm behind it describes the planned materials as "regular concrete structure." Their rendering of the finished product shows the adjoining garage and residential tower featuring similar looking surfaces:

As the project nears completion, though, the exterior surfaces appear different from what was originally displayed. 

- Differences in exterior surfaces between the parking garage and residential tower, also showing the difference in colors based on perspective.

The 8th and Sycamore development has now been named "Encore." The entire facility features a 500 car garage, 131 residential units, and 7,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground floor. It was designed by local firm John Senhauser Architects, who have also created several other notable and beautiful structures in the area.

Here's a video of what it's like to walk down the block and see the color's shift (pardon the handheld, Blair-Witch-style of filming):

True to form, the good folks over at UrbanOhio.com have been discussing the color changing exterior for awhile. Despite walking past this for a year, it took me awhile to notice it. While it was already great to see an impressive mixed-use development land in a somewhat sparse area of the Central Business District, the building's exterior adds something genuinely unique, while still subtle and not overly flashy. I've reached out the Senhauser firm, hoping to hear about their inspiration for adding a unique element to the building. If I hear back, I'll add an update here.

Here's to hoping the city takes notice and sees a vision inspired by Senhauser's creativity. It's time to rid the urban core of the surface lots surrounding this new building and pursue more bold ideas.

More views of "Encore" and its color shifting perspectives:

Above: The building as seen midway down a neighboring block, appearing "brown."'

Below: Further down the block and around the corner, the building appearing "green." Facing west, the colors become even more vibrant as the sun sets.

Above: Both colors seen while standing on the corner of 8th and Sycamore Streets.

Below: Crossing 8th St. and slightly adjusting perspective, the building seems uniform in color.

"Encore" nearing completion as seen from the remains of the mostly demolished, and historic, Dennison Hotel Building: