Phoenix Financial Center

Phoenix Financial Center
General information
Type Office
Location 3443 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, Arizona
Coordinates 33°29′17.05″N 112°4′22.7″W / 33.4880694°N 112.072972°W / 33.4880694; -112.072972Coordinates: 33°29′17.05″N 112°4′22.7″W / 33.4880694°N 112.072972°W / 33.4880694; -112.072972
Construction started 1964
Completed 1968
Management Grubb and Ellis
Technical details
Floor count 19
Design and construction
Architect Wenceslaus Sarmiento
Main contractor Henry C. Beck Co.

The Phoenix Financial Center consists of a high-rise office building and two adjacent rotunda buildings located along Central Avenue in the Midtown district of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. They were built in 1963 by the Financial Corporation of Arizona. Ground was broken for the facility in September 1963 and the complex was dedicated for opening on September 28, 1964.[1]

Detail of the upper floors of the building facing southeast, showing the "punchcard" design.

The tower fronts Osborn Avenue and is commonly referred to locally as the "Punchcard Building," due to aesthetic similarities between the building's southeastern facade and a computer punch card. Originally, the main tower consisted only of 10 stories; the extra nine were added in 1972.[2] The design included provisions for erecting a second tower that was a mirror image of the first on the north side of the property, but was never built (this area is currently a visitor parking lot).

View from Northwest showing the South rotunda. A portion of the tower and North rotunda are also visible.

The two rotundas front Central Avenue and are mirror images of each other. They consist of two stories and a basement, and utilize glass around most of the circumference. Each has a stained glass star at the top of the dome of slightly different designs.

The Phoenix Financial Center is an example of International style architecture, featuring many elements of Googie design. The architect of the building is Wenceslaus Sarmiento. The building is said to be the site of a "fallout-proof" time capsule which was set to be opened in 2012, but the capsule has never been found.[2]

The complex is located close to the Park Central station of METRO Light Rail, which contains displays detailing the history of the Phoenix Financial Center as well as other buildings in the area.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Defining Downtown at Mid-Century: The Architecture of the Bank Building & Equipment Corporation of America". recentpast.net. Retrieved 2013-10-14.
  2. 1 2 "Modern Phoenix: The Neighborhood Network". modernphoenix.net. Retrieved 2011-12-17.


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