Mainplace: The Pipe Wrench That Ate Downtown Houston

MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

The new MainPlace website features a bunch of snazzy new and revised rendered views of Hines’s 46-story Downtown office tower. Also included: plans of the building showing 2 street-level retail spaces — big enough maybe for a sushi restaurant plus a small postcard shop for tourists.

Promised to come soon on that website: videos. We hope they’ll play up some of the 1950s-era Japanese horror movie theming going on in a few of the new images.

After the jump: Plans! Sky Gardens! Shiny Glass! Run for your lives!

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Something frightening is spotted by helicopter:

Aerial View of Downtown Houston, Showing New MainPlace at Main and Rusk

Beware MainPlace!

MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Sky Garden, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

“I scoop up people and trees in my giant wrenching jaw and then crush them!”

Okay, so they get a nice view of East Downtown before they are crushed:

View East from Sky Garden, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

“But then I spit out their bones onto the 11th-floor parking-garage roof garden below!”

Aerial View of Parking Garage Roof Garden, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

“My skin is sharp-edged and impenetrable.”

Closeup View of West Facade, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Curtain Wall, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Curved Curtain Wall, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Yeah, we get the idea.

The trees on the east facade have apparently been axed already:

Rendering of MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Nighttime View of MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Here’s the corner of Main and Rusk:

Light Rail Line at Main and Rusk, MainPlace, Downtown Houston

And the lobby entrance on Rusk:

View of Rusk St. Lobby Entrance, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

The only retail facing Rusk is at the far end of this block:

View from Rusk St., MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Below, a site plan. Main St. is on the left:

Site Plan, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

And a plan of the 11th floor, showing the garden on top of the parking garage:

Plan of Parking Garage Roof Garden, MainPlace, Main and Rusk, Downtown Houston

Thanks to a helpful reader, following this HAIF discussion thread, for the tip!

4 Comment

  • This is a great asset to Houston to have this building. More and more new large scale buildings are employing LEED criteria and obtaining the certifications.

  • another welcome addition 2 the h-town skyline
    hine’s is a 1st class corp. I am looking forward
    2 main st. transformation+ hine’s other project
    on main st.& texas groundbreaking as early spring of 2009

  • Yeah, I think I see it now.

    nom nom nom…

  • This building is superb. They built this gorgeous structure in the middle of downtown. Over buildings that were no good anymore. Go check how many buildings have been emploded downtown in the past 5 years to build safer better buldings for people to work and be successful and live life; to make Houston a better quality of life and bring more jobs for families and college graduates and smart innovative people. That’s a benefit to American democracy. Who would think otherwise? Go check Houston website they are spending millions in trees along the Houston bayou. So look around, it’s a good thing :)