One Woodward Avenue
One Woodward Avenue | |
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SmithGroup | |
Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building | |
Location | 1 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan |
Coordinates | 42°19′44″N 83°2′44″W / 42.32889°N 83.04556°W |
Part of | Detroit Financial District (ID09001067) |
Designated CP | December 14, 2009 |
One Woodward Avenue, formerly known as the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company Building, is a class-A office skyscraper in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. Located next to the city's Civic Center and Financial District, it overlooks the International Riverfront and was designed to blend with the City-County Building across Woodward Avenue, Huntington Place, and the former Ford Auditorium to the south.
History
Minoru Yamasaki designed the new headquarters for the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company in 1962. The Michigan Consolidated Gas Building was his first skyscraper, and he used elements from this design for the original World Trade Center in New York City. His design for McGregor Memorial Conference Center at Wayne State University is also highly regarded by architects.[2]
In the 1980s, the building became the American Natural Resources Building when that company was formed as the parent of Michigan Consolidated Gas. At this time, a pedestrian bridge was added over West Larned Street at the 14th floor to connect the ANR offices to Michigan Consolidated, which had relocated to the adjacent Guardian Building. When the ANR offices moved from the building in the 1990s, it was given its current name.
In December 2012,
October 28, 2014, Fifth Third Bank announced plans to relocate its Michigan Regional Headquarters from Southfield to Downtown Detroit in what will be named the Fifth Third Bank Building at One Woodward. The bank occupies approximately 62,000 sq ft (5,800 m2) of the structure and has also pledged an investment totaling $85 million to the city of Detroit to accompany the transition to its new regional headquarters.[4]
Architecture
The main structure sits on a raised platform that conceals the loading dock and service entrances. It contains 26 usable floors, a double-height mechanical penthouse, and one floor below ground, reaching a height of 430 feet (130 m) The lobby rises two stories from the base and is enclosed by glass panels framed in chrome. Accent panels have the same hexagonal design as the window frames on the upper stories. The lobby walls are recessed from the building facade to create a loggia on all four sides of the building. The floor of the loggia is covered with white marble cut in a hexagonal design and flows uninterrupted to the interior lobby floor and up the walls of the elevator banks. The ceiling of the main level consists of coffered square panels that have a recessed light fixture. Beneath each light bulb, a four-armed anodized aluminum frame holds a blue plexiglass sphere that diffuses the light and casts color onto the white floor. These specialized light fixtures, which Yamasaki developed with the assistance of sculptor Lee DuSell, were meant to portray the jet of blue flame often seen with gas appliances.[5] Yamasaki had meant the light fixtures to be a tribute to the clients, and original tenants of the building; The Michigan Consolidated Gas Company.[5]
The two elevator lobbies have a dropped ceiling that rises to a gable point and again reflects the windows of the upper stories. The lobby holds only planters and a security desk, against the original wishes of gas company executives. In their request for designs, they wished the lobby to include a showroom for gas appliances with a large sign proclaiming Gas is best, the company's slogan at the time. During his presentation, Yamasaki was able to convince company leaders that the clean lines of an unadorned lobby would enhance the company's image more than a showroom. For this reason, the newsstand traditionally seen in large office buildings is located on the lower level.
Yamasaki commissioned
The façade of the structure consists of piers clad in white marble that tie into the base and divide each side into four bays. The windows of the upper floors are only 12 inches wide and set into pre-cast panels made of concrete and marble chips that cover two floors. Although the windows extend nearly floor-to-ceiling, their narrowness avoids the feeling of
Air-conditioning and mechanical equipment on the roof are concealed by a similar lattice work and also illuminated after nightfall. During much of the year, the lighting is white; however, the color is changed for special events, being red and green during December and red, white, and blue prior to the
Gallery
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One Woodward Avenue in the Detroit Financial District
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Façade
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Pedestrian bridge between One Woodward and the Guardian Building
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Detail of the top of One Woodward Avenue
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Façade looking up from Woodward Avenue
See also
References
- ^ "One Woodward Avenue". Skyscraper Center. CTBUH. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
- ^ AIA Detroit Urban Priorities Committee, (1-10-2006).Top 10 Detroit Interiors, Model D Media
- Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com. December 3, 2012. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
- ^ Pinho, Kirk (October 28, 2014). "Fifth Third Bank to move 150 employees downtown as part of $85M investment in Detroit". Crain's Detroit Business. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
- ^ ISBN 0814341209.
- ^ Pat Zacahrias (September 5, 1999). "Michigan History - Monuments of Detroit". The Detroit News. detnews.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved June 14, 2007.
- ^ Sternberg, Laura. "'Spirit of Detroit Statue' (aka Jolly Green Giant)". about.com. Retrieved September 17, 2010.
- ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.
- ISBN 0-8143-1665-4.
Further reading
- Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.
- Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Architectural Sculpture of America, unpublished manuscript.
- ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.
External links
- "Emporis building ID 118518". Emporis. Archived from the original on December 22, 2015.
- "One Woodward Avenue". SkyscraperPage.