Believe it or not, this 23-story reinforced-concrete tower in Downtown Providence, Rhode Island, was designed by the same firm as the Empire State Building in New York City! The Old Stone Bank Tower (now known as Textron Tower for its largest tenant) was designed in 1969 and completed in 1972 from plans by the New York architectural firm of Shreve, Lamb & Harmon, as the new headquarters and offices for the Old Stone Bank in Providence. The bank was originally located in a stately stone building nearby on South Main Street, before expanding operations into this new skyscraper, the fifth tallest in Rhode Island. The exterior of the tower is formed by a grid of aggregate concrete containing deeply recessed, dark windows inside. At the street, the tower sits elevated behind a podium of marble, harming its street condition. Architecturally, the break in the grid for the exposed corners is a nice touch, and while some say the building is “reminiscent of prison architecture”, I feel that there are much worse examples of architecture. What do you think?
I think a standard concrete and glass skyscraper is sitting on what looks like a random group of refrigerators. There’s no real relationship between the base and its burden. Not only that but the refrigerators do not actually look like they are supporting the tower due to the space between the two elements. Oh, it’s magic, I get it.
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I do see the “refrigerators” now but would argue that the tower design is better designed than almost all of the 1980s-1990s developments that went up in Downtown Providence. The base is definitely a missed opportunity at the ground level, but likely a reflection of how the Downtown was at the time, underinvested. A thoughtful re-work of this base to make it connect better with the street would be a great project!
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The aggregate concrete and recessed windows construction is very similar to some of the office buildings in Crystal City, Virginia that are likely from the same era. I was employed there for many years and am thus very familiar with the buildings.
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