This building is an abomination. I have no idea how it went through multiple iterations and still ended up passing with this skin. It is completely out of character with downtown Providence. It would be much better suited for a highway office park like those found along Route 128. The architect should be ashamed!

Ugh, what a disaster! I work very close to the new building and all I heard for months was the pile driver boom, boom, booming all day. They've excavated the ground along American Express plaza, aside the Bella Vista. After a few weeks of nasty weather the ground began to collapse. The street and sidewalk have even pulled away from the old AmEx building and one day I watched as the workers scrambled to pile fill along the 'wall' to keep it from crumbling. I also watch the silt piling up and the construction debris floating in the Providence River every day. Despicable!

You trippin...that joint looks BANGIN downtown. Is Jonathan going to be saying the developers of 110 Westminster should be ashamed of themselves once their new glass tower goes up?

At first I was also hesitant about the style of the GTECH building. However, as time has passed I have grown more and more fond of it. Yes, it is very different from the current architecture in the area, but I feel as though it provides a very interesting addition to Waterplace Park and makes the area feel much more urban. GTECH and its future neighbor, the Waterplace Condos, will do wonders for foot traffic and density in the area.

It seems as though the citizens of Providence seem to initially have a hard time accepting anything outside the box, whether it comes in the form of a glass building, a polo field, or a significantly tall building. I feel as though this pessamistic attuitde is slowly turning however; it just needs a little push.

People doubted the mall, and look what it did for our city. I personally ask the citizens of Providence to step outside their comfort zone, stop being so pessamistic about everything that goes on in this city and have some pride in where they live.

Providence isnt in the 18th century anymore!! Its good to mix modern with the old architecture. Anyays.. we dont need anymore office parks along 95... gtech will add to Pvd's tax base and will hopefully attract other companies to relocate here!

Word.

Never woulda happened with Buddy. Thanks, FBI!

When you leave a comment on a part-time, highly-managed blog, you takes your chances. My 'word' and comment were directed to Jonathan, not any of you gtech shills.

What makes the Mall work is the fact that it integrates with the overall architecture of the city. The Courtyard hotel blends beautifully with the old Union Station buildings.

The gtech building is gross, like some horrible 1960's strip mall -- completely without imagination or even thought.

I can only hope it is not so ugly as to supplant as my most hated building in town the Old Stone Bank/Washington Trust building which should be imploded instantly.

And if 110 Westminster is a piece of doo-doo like this, then we will condemn it as well.

PS, Big J, your attempt at sounding 'down' comes across as fake and lame. At least in print. You sound like the Disney channel.

I would like to clarify my point. I have no issues with glass buildings, per se. I come from Minneapolis originally, a city built on glass modern. I have a problem with this building in particular. If one considers examples of the architecture surrounding this site, one will notice that it is richly detailed with rhythem in the fenestration and a respect for the classical formula of a heavy base/pedestal, the body, and the cornice.

Now I'm not looking for a classical building. I would be just as upset about that. What I am looking for is a good interpretation of what is happening around the site, a respect for its surroundings. Take for example the new credit union up the street. Here is a great building that interpreted its surroundings and acted accordingly without copying, giving us modern architecure with a nod to history.

When all you have is glass, as in the case of the GTech building, it is important that the detailing of that glass carry the building. For example, the John Hancock tower is Boston is in the center of the historic Back Bay. Here the modern and the historic work in tandem. The detailing in the design of the building and its relation to site are all impecable. In this case I do not see that it is so. Proportion and color do very little to mask the fact that this skin was the easiest way to resolve the exterior, and that is the only reason it is there.