John Tyler Building, a state office building, takes up an entire trapezoidal block. The shape is so irregular that Architecture Richmond comments it is “a site without a single right angle.” The site is also on a steep incline, so the building might be viewed as seven or 11 stories, depending on which corner you’re […]
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Riverfront Plaza is a pair of red granite-faced office towers overlooking Kanawha Canal and James River, just east of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The 20-story near-twins sit atop a parking garage. Name: Riverfront Plaza Location: 901 & 951 East Byrd Street Year Completed: 1990 Architect: HKS Inc. Style: Postmodern SAH Archipedia: Riverfront Plaza
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Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters, a massive block of white concrete and black glass, is next door to the Science Museum of Virginia – quite a contrast in styles. And, true to its function, VDMV is set amid acres of blacktop parking. Name: Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles Location: 2300 West Broad Street Year
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Westrock-CoStar Building was erected in 2009 by paper/packaging firm MeadWestVaco as its new corporate headquarters. The company later changed its name to WestRock, and leased space in its HQ to CoStar, a real estate company. CoStar has since purchased the building, and announced plans to build a 26-story skyscraper next door. That structure would become
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VCU Children’s Pavilion got mixed reviews (see links below), but I was fascinated by the way it reflected and fractured the sky and neighboring buildings. It’s dynamic abstract art that changes with the sun, clouds and your own motion. Do the top and bottom clash? Do the odd angles annoy? You be the judge. Name:
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Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is among Richmond’s tallest buildings, and visually a near-twin of Dominion Energy’s One James River Plaza building, which was demolished in 2020. The skyscraper was designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the architect who designed New York’s ill-fated World Trade Center towers. Interesting factoid: Almost half of the building’s total square footage,
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Institute for Contemporary Art, aka Markel Center, is part of the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Monroe Park Campus. The ultra-modern design is also ultra-environmentally conscious, with green roofs, geothermal heating and cooling, and glass insulating walls combined with recycled metal panels. Name: Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU, Markel Center Location: 601 West Broad Street
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Gateway Plaza is an aluminum and glass high-rise office building overlooking Kanawha Plaza. Visually, the building appears to be three stacked boxes, each with a different façade treatment. Along South 9th Street, the slim office tower has a retail and lobby base. The western section has a metal-skinned parking garage base, surmounted by an office
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Hailed as a “significant new project” when built, Williams Mullen Center got faint praise from architecture critic Architecture Richmond: “The building’s exterior does not mar the cityscape, but it does fall somewhere short of beauty.” Maybe it’s a matter of taste. Personally, I like the way it plays visually with neighboring James Center and Gateway
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Continental Building seems best known for its next-door neighbors: the crinkled-aluminum Markel Building to the west and the Willow Lawn shopping center to the east. Yet, it’s a surprising (though modest) piece of architecture. The entire three-story building is raised on stilts a la Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye – providing shaded parking. The high arched
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