211 West Fort Street
Encyclopedia
211 West Fort Street is a skyscraper
in Detroit, Michigan
. Standing at 27 stories, construction began in 1961 and it was occupied in 1963. The building stands at the southeast corner of Fort Street
and Washington Boulevard. It was constructed adjacent to the Detroit Trust Company Building, designed by Albert Kahn in 1915, as offices for the Detroit Bank and Trust Company
, later known as Comerica. The bank occupied space in the building until 1993, when it moved to One Detroit Center. In the courtyard between the two buildings is a sculpture based on the bank's logo at the time.
The building is designed in the international style
, with dark-tinted windows set into precast concrete frames. The frames project from the facade giving the building a distinctive grid pattern. Mechanical equipment is located on floors 8 and 27th floors. Floor 27 is double-height and enclosed by a wall recessed from the grid to create a colonnade which is illuminated at night. The building's address "211" is displayed along the roof line. This replaced earlier signs for Detroit Bank and Trust and Comerica. On the eighth floor, louvers replace glass in the concrete frames giving a uniform appearance to the facade from floors 2 through 26.
The two-story lobby is enclosed by glass and is recessed on the north and west sides allowing for a covered arcade on two sides. Elevator banks and other interior walls are covered by black granite and floors are travertine. The site slopes from north to south allowing for a service entrance and parking garage at street level facing Congress Street.
The building currently houses offices for the Detroit Economic Club
, Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, the United States Attorney and several other tenants.
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
in Detroit, Michigan
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
. Standing at 27 stories, construction began in 1961 and it was occupied in 1963. The building stands at the southeast corner of Fort Street
Fort Street
Fort Street may refer to:*Fort Street, North Point, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong*Fort Street , a Michigan highway*Fort Street High School, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia*Fort Street Mall, Downtown Honolulu, Hawaiij...
and Washington Boulevard. It was constructed adjacent to the Detroit Trust Company Building, designed by Albert Kahn in 1915, as offices for the Detroit Bank and Trust Company
Comerica
Comerica Incorporated is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, USA. It has retail banking operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Michigan and Texas; and select business operations in several other U.S...
, later known as Comerica. The bank occupied space in the building until 1993, when it moved to One Detroit Center. In the courtyard between the two buildings is a sculpture based on the bank's logo at the time.
The building is designed in the international style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
, with dark-tinted windows set into precast concrete frames. The frames project from the facade giving the building a distinctive grid pattern. Mechanical equipment is located on floors 8 and 27th floors. Floor 27 is double-height and enclosed by a wall recessed from the grid to create a colonnade which is illuminated at night. The building's address "211" is displayed along the roof line. This replaced earlier signs for Detroit Bank and Trust and Comerica. On the eighth floor, louvers replace glass in the concrete frames giving a uniform appearance to the facade from floors 2 through 26.
The two-story lobby is enclosed by glass and is recessed on the north and west sides allowing for a covered arcade on two sides. Elevator banks and other interior walls are covered by black granite and floors are travertine. The site slopes from north to south allowing for a service entrance and parking garage at street level facing Congress Street.
The building currently houses offices for the Detroit Economic Club
Detroit Economic Club
The Detroit Economic Club, headquartered at 211 West Fort Street in downtown Detroit, Michigan, was formed in 1934 as a platform for the discussion and debate of important business, government and social issues...
, Bankruptcy Court of the Eastern District of Michigan, the United States Attorney and several other tenants.