Renaissance Center - Architecture

Architecture

The centerpiece is the 73-story 727-foot (221.5 m) luxury hotel with 1,246 rooms and 52 suites (1298 total guest rooms). Its height is measured from its main Wintergarden entrance on Atwater Street which faces the International Riverfront where the complex measures 14 feet (4.27 m) taller. Entirely owned by General Motors, the complex has 5,552,000 square feet (515,800 m2) of space. The main Renaissance Center complex rises from a 14-acre (5.7 ha) site. The complex is designed in the Modern architectural style with glass as a main material.

Famous for its cylindrical design, the central hotel tower's diameter is 188 feet (57 m). A lighted glass walkway radiates the mezzanine level and encircles the base of cylindrical hotel tower for ease of navigation. This ringed glass walkway is about 12 feet (3.7 m) wide and has a circumference of approximately 660 feet (200 m) or about one-eighth of a mile around. The ringed walkway's diameter is approximately 210 feet (64 m). It links to several other walkways in the complex. The five-story Wintergarden atrium leads into the central area which has an eight-story atrium lobby with artificial ponds, rounded concrete balconies, and terraces. Floors 71 through 73 include the Coach Insignia, an upscale restaurant with a lounge area/observation floor where the view extends for over 30 miles (48.3 km). The hotel has no floor labeled 7, 8, or 13. The hotel features a major conference center with 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) of meeting space including a Renaissance Ballroom for up to 2,200 guests with 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) for events, one of the largest in the United States.

John Portman designed the five-building rosette with interior spaces. In 1977, its central tower opened as the tallest hotel in the world. It remains the tallest all hotel skyscraper in the Western Hemisphere. The smaller cylinders on sides of all the towers house the elevators. The four surrounding 39-story office towers (100-400) each reach 522 feet (159 m) and have a total of 2,200,000 square feet (204,400 m2) of space. Each 39 story tower has a base five-story podium structure with 165,000 square feet (15,300 m2) for retail space for a total of 660,000 square feet (61,000 m2). A portion of the central atrium area houses GM World, a show case for GM vehicles. Two 21-story towers (500-600), designed by Portman and constructed in 1981, reach 339 feet (103 m). GM gained control of Towers 500 and 600 in 2001. Tower 500 has 307,300 square feet (28,550 m2) of office space and an additional 14,485 square feet (1,350 m2) of retail space. Tower 600 has 304,200 square feet (28,260 m2) of office space and an additional 35,730 square feet (3,320 m2) of retail space.

Towers 100 and 200 are along Jefferson Avenue. Towers 300 and 400 are along the main Wintergarden/Atwater Street entrance facing the Riverfront. Tower 200 contains the Riverfront 4, a four-screen, first-run movie theatre, on the third floor of the tower. The Renaissance Club, a private club founded by Henry Ford II in 1987, is located on the 36th floor of the tower. The GM Renaissance Conference Center is located on the second floor of tower 300.

In December 2001, the General Motors Wintergarden retail atrium was unveiled. Designed by Skidmore Owings & Merrill, it rises 103 feet (31.39 m) tall at its highest point opening direct access to the International Riverfront. In addition, the five-story Wintergarden atrium area, added in 2001, has 150,000 square feet (14,000 m2) devoted to retail with 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2) of contiguous main floor exhibit space which was used by the media during Super Bowl XL.

The design is consistent with the themes of Brutalist architecture, especially in the heavy massing of concrete on the lower floors, but the 2001 renovation has softened those features.