
Standing out from its neighborhood of reflective glass office boxes, Rudolph’s seventeen-story tower expresses its construction, a system of stacked and interlocked precast concrete beams and columns, infilled with horizontal strips of bronze glass. Four pairs of flat and deep columns rise on each long side, extending above the top floors as if awaiting future additions, while creating an airy skyline. Spandrel beams are notched into the pilasters and cantilever out at the short ends to further deconstruct the structural box. This was the first all-precast concrete building in the Southwest and one of the first uses of reflective, mirror glass for solar heat protection before insulated glass became available. Three buildings were initially proposed in a master plan (1966–1969); only this building and the gardens and serpentine pool were completed. When the building was converted in 2005 to affordable apartments for seniors, the original window areas were subdivided into small units of blue glazing, corrupting the balance of horizontal lines and the color harmony of glass and concrete in the original.