We have a lot of folks that are passionate about building color palettes so I thought I’d start this thread as a place for everyone to talk about their preferred colors as well as design and general appearance choices in new construction buildings.
I’ll pull in some posts related to this to get this topic going.
Seafoam green all the way.
I think this community gets a bad rep just because of a color choice! Let’s see how it leases up and then judge. I bet it leases up fast and the residents are happy; regardless of sea foam green.
I just can’t dredge up the hate for this one. I think it looks better than most of the Glenwood South 5-over-1s. The Cabarrus frontage is actually attractive. Even the seafoam is pretty inoffensive imo.
We’re definitely picking on a fairly small detail. Certainly we’re mostly appreciative of the density and quality/detail we know Kane’s will put into this project.
I think it’s mostly an inside joke on here at this point. The mishmash of materials is what’s ugly, like that pile of white siding. The seafoam green is just the crowning detail.
Right! It’ll lease up, and residents will be happy to help fill the west side.
You wont see that ugly green from the inside!
It’s a joke, but so is the design of this building 
. Of course it’s going to lease up. Every apartment building in downtown is close to fully leased (with the exception of retail in some cases) because of location and demand, not appearance. And it’s not like any of them are winning any design contests, I think we can all agree.
Having spent most of my life in Miami, I even appreciate seafoam green as a color! It just makes zero sense in this application, along with the five different siding materials, a bunch of disparate styles of windows, multiple styles of balconies, etc. all in a unimpressive attempt to dress up a behemoth.
I just hope the retail spaces fill up and don’t sit empty for years.
Not sure why that matters…
I guess it matters in the context of developers not doing any better with design if they can build this and fill it up with happy residents 
Indeed. And that’s the only attractive side of the entire building. It least one of the ugly sides will soon be hidden from sight by Phase 2. Unfortunately, nothing will ever cover the potentially most hideous side that faces the train tracks 
I’m sure they will fill it up but will anyone be truly happy paying 1500-1800/month on a studio apartment with sea foam green exterior?
I think the sad but obvious truth is that, yes, people will be ‘happy’ paying for this jumbled archi-mess due to its desirable location and that’s the joke (on those who care…).
Right, which is why the residents opinion is irrelevant. The building sucks in almost every way.
I don’t disagree that it lacks the finer details I would expect to pay for those prices, therefore I will not be a resident 
I want more futuristic designs like in Japan and Germany. We need to attract architects from those places and bring them to Raleigh.
Let’s have both!
Also… we visited an exhibit in the design museum in London last year about an urban designer who used a lot of bright colors and shapes. It wasn’t really my style, but one thing that stuck with me was a section about a kind of secluded area (can’t recall, an underpass or a tube station, something like that) where crime was more likely. They were doing studies on how cheerful design and bright colors appeared to help reduce crime.
The gist of the theory, as I understand it, is that crime is closely correlated with lower foot traffic (fewer witnesses), and this has a spiraling effect… you reach a low threshold of traffic, the place becomes ‘dangerous’ and visitors drop even more, overall crime increases. By simply designing a more inviting space, even just painting some benches and walls, the space became less visually scary and helps avoid that spiral, reducing crime rates in that area.
All that to say, it really changed my perspective on the importance of art and design in urban spaces. Street art, sculptures, and color really have practical value for resident safety.
