Happy New Year, everyone. I wish you the very best for 2023. I present to you the Big Bear that sits in front of the the Comstock Building in Reston, the occupants of which include Google, Neustar, and IFC.
Here is a photo of the Comstock Building, designed by the late-architect Helmut Jahn. The building is rated as LEED Silver, a globally recognized symbol of sustainability achievement, and has 365,000 square feet of office space.
The Comstock Building sits across the street from Comstock’s newest project at Reston Station, which will include a JW Marriott hotel, high-end apartments, retail shops and a cinema. Below is an artist’s rendering of the complex. Everything is within walking distance of the Reston Metro Station.
This image, captured from Google Earth, shows the area outlined by the orange rectangle that was razed to make way for the project.
Photos from the Construction Site
Here I present a few photographs of the Reston Station site described above. I took them on December 30, 2022, with a Leica SL2 and a Leica Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-90 zoom lens. I counted a total of seven cranes on the site. The first photo shows six of those cranes.
The next few photos show the helter-skelter of the site.
Conclusions
This is the second post of a construction site within a month. Why am I drawn to these sites?
I think it has to do with the transformation–from raw materials to finished buildings–as it occurs before my eyes. It starts with site clearing, continues with site excavation, and follows with construction of buildings from the ground up.
One can only imagine the planning process involved before the construction begins. Applying for permits, attending planning and design meetings with local boards, collaboration among and between architects and engineers to design the buildings, for example. An army of people then makes their vision a reality. I’m sure all parties derive satisfaction from the fruits of their labor.
In my previous post on “From Start to Finish,” I was able to highlight some of the people involved in the construction. This current project focuses more on a major building project with a total of seven cranes at work simultaneously.
It is a photographer’s delight. I can stand back from the dust, dirt, and cacophony to capture the process of building a complex commercial site. I am an observer making decisions about what parts of this complex reality I want to capture.
The area around the Reston Metro Station is being developed at a rapid pace, and will change the character of Reston. I plan to return to the site often to monitor its progress.