Tycon Center
Encyclopedia
Tycon Center is a development in Vienna, VA, owned at the time of its inception by James T. Lewis Properties. It is also known as Tycon Towers 1. The original intent was to build three towers, curved in plan, with curved parking structures behind each one. The building was designed by John Burgee
Architects with Philip Johnson
. Mr. Johnson used round brick-clad column details similar to previous projects. Only the first building of the three proposed was completed as part of the original project.
The office building is 17 stories, brick on precast panels trimmed with limestone
sills, lintels
and keystones
. The granite
clad lobby has a 3-story space. The top level includes a barrel vault
skylight across the building's width. Known locally as "The Shopping Bag" because of its distinctive shape. It has three levels of underground basements totaling 500000 square feet (46,451.5 m²).
Construction of the project was completed in 1986. It used 4500 Steel tonnage.
Tycon Towers used over 1.25 million brick. 700,000 of those brick were special shapes used primarily in building the massive columns. The brick is from Belden Brick Company
's Belcrest line, renowned for their quality and consistency.
John Burgee
__notoc__John Burgee is an American architect noted for his contributions to Postmodern architecture. He was a partner of Philip Johnson from 1967 to 1991, creating together the partnership firm Johnson/Burgee Architects. Their landmark collaborations together included Pennzoil Place in Houston...
Architects with Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
. Mr. Johnson used round brick-clad column details similar to previous projects. Only the first building of the three proposed was completed as part of the original project.
The office building is 17 stories, brick on precast panels trimmed with limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
sills, lintels
Post and lintel
Post and lintel, or in contemporary usage Post and beam, is a simple construction method using a lintel, header, or architrave as the horizontal member over a building void supported at its ends by two vertical columns, pillars, or posts...
and keystones
Keystone (architecture)
A keystone is the wedge-shaped stone piece at the apex of a masonry vault or arch, which is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allowing the arch to bear weight. This makes a keystone very important structurally...
. The granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
clad lobby has a 3-story space. The top level includes a barrel vault
Barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault or a wagon vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve along a given distance. The curves are typically circular in shape, lending a semi-cylindrical appearance to the total design...
skylight across the building's width. Known locally as "The Shopping Bag" because of its distinctive shape. It has three levels of underground basements totaling 500000 square feet (46,451.5 m²).
Construction of the project was completed in 1986. It used 4500 Steel tonnage.
Tycon Towers used over 1.25 million brick. 700,000 of those brick were special shapes used primarily in building the massive columns. The brick is from Belden Brick Company
Belden Brick Company
The Belden Brick Company is an American manufacturer and distributor of brick and masonry-related construction products and materials. Founder, Henry S. Belden , chartered the company in Canton, Ohio as the 'Diebold Fire Brick Company' in 1885 on the Belden farm...
's Belcrest line, renowned for their quality and consistency.
Project Team
- Owner: Tycon Development Corporation
- Engineer: Guido & Fernandez
- Steel Contractor: Glen Construction Company
- Structural Steel and Fabrication: Cives Steel Company
- Architectural Precast: Smith Midland
- Steel Modeling: Mountain Enterprises Mtent Inc.
- Project Manager: Tom Bellingham
- Project Architect: Alan FordAlan Ford (architect)Alan B. Ford, AIA, is an architect and author best known for his work on K-12 sustainable schools.A regular contributor to architectural journalism, Ford is author of Designing the Sustainable School and co-author of A Sense of Entry: Designing the Welcoming School...
, AIAAmerican Institute of ArchitectsThe American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image... - Project Architect for the parking structure: Monty Mitchell
- Project Design: Betsy del Monte
- Brick Supply: Potomac Valley Brick
- Masonry Contractor: United Masonry
- Water treatment: Arc Water Treatment Company
External links
- Picture and brief history
- Picture
- Structural Steel tearsheet and construction photos
- Photo (page 13)
- Steel Modeling company
- Failures of Design in Edge Cities
- Tycon Tower I Inv. Ltd. Partnership v. John Burgee Architects, 651 N.Y.S.2d 637, 234 A.D.2d 748 (N.Y.A.D. 3 Dept., 1996)
- Tall Talk Of the Town; Tysons' Towering Landmark Turns the Corner to Comment
- VIKA, Inc - Buildings currently constructed
