I mean, I’m pretty sure they’re not screening it because… there is zero screening shown in the very renders they provided before this project even started hahahaha
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That makes me happy. Thank you for sharing this.
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Literally why do this? Like just put a panel in the hole. Insane
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I mean, at the very most, it appears they’ll be putting a metal “screen” (whether it be solid or mesh, remains to be seen) immediately surrounding all the mechanical roof equipment… but the squares of the parapet wall, itself, surely do not have any screening. That’s what I’m referring to. You’re still going to see the metal screening from those un-filled squares in the parapet wall. So it’s not going to look much different than it does now, I’d imagine - just a metal wall inside of a fence, essentially - vs multiple metal boxes inside of said fence (the “fence” refers to the openings in the parapet wall). You can even see exactly how it will appear in this very image included:
I think the “screening” some are hoping for is literally some sort of glass within the openings of the parapet wall, itself - because IMO a metal wall immediately surrounding the mechanical equipment but not around the actual outer edge of the parapet wall is hardly legit “Screening” in the sense that you can still see that there’s stuff on the roof behind the parapet. So it’s technically screening by definition that it’s “hiding” the mechanical, but pretty half-assed and bare-minimum (again, IMO).
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There is only one solution to this problem - don’t look up. Just don’t look up. 
Eyes level with the street.
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That wall is poured concrete that is part of the building itself. All the mechanical gubbins is on top of that and outside of that on the roof itself.
Based on the document shared above I now think it’s pretty definitive that they will be adding screening to the outside wall of the rooftop. They currently even have 2x4 makeshift fencing up because without any screening you could literally just walk straight off the rooftop.
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Based on that, maybe @Jake is right, because that poured concrete wall covers each of those views, but as you can see in my pic, it is open on the south-facing side (currently has a plastic tarp covering the opening). I don’t know what to think now, honestly, but we will know soon enough.
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sigh … I will once again refer to the very image of the final render that the project developers themselves shared of this very building:
The outer parapet wall IS NOT SCREENED and you WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THROUGH IT lmao
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Such a travesty given the design of the rest of the building.
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The design chosen might’ve come from the idea of phase 3 or phases 3-4 (private development portion) blocking that side in the future. Those buildings were planned to be up to 20 stories.
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For what it’s worth, as I passed by under Hargett I looked up at the parapet and, from that angle directly below the building, you mostly see empty sky through the gaps.
The problem is mainly when viewing from a distance. Which is still valid, but I really enjoy the view from directly below. I find the structure looks a little bland from a distance regardless, but at street level you can better appreciate the giant glass foyer and details like the curved fins on the McDowell side.
Overall, I don’t think I care about screening or no, it’s a cool building and I like that my commute route places me right under it every week.
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come on bro, we don’t trust renders on this forum. they are constantly changing. the city’s renders didn’t show the mechanical equipment at all. my educated guess is, that’s because they don’t want this ugly box interrupting the most unique design feature of the building.
maybe if we complain enough now to the right people, someone will make something happen.
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If y’all can sway the City to pony up extra money for screening after the fact, I’ll eat my shoes. Raw and unseasoned.
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Like I said before, paint it all Disney’s blending/bye bye blue.
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There’s probably a legit reason it’s screened only on 3 sides. Red Hat Building is the same way. Sad if you’re looking up from the losing side (appears to be from the South that’s the losing view for new city building), but Red Hat looks good from 3 of 4 sides, and this one will, too. Would’ve been nice if they picked maybe West to look unfinished instead of seeing it from the park and the money shot.
I’ve always thought it was weird that the Red Hat mechanical stuff is open to the East, it looks so odd. Maybe mechanical access or something? I’ve always thought it still looked unfinished or under construction, or something “fell off” but I like going with our new forum adjective: TRAVESTY!
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That’s not CIP, it’s architectural precast, you can see the steel backup in the picture.
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I was just talking about this with my penguin wife. We both hate that gap side on the Red Hat building. Looks so unfinished. And of course it’s facing east raleigh LOL
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I hope they put in sea foam green 
screening!
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