Here we are at the Mile High Tower. It is more formally known as the Norwest Bank Center. Denver’s most conspicuous skyscraper is the 1981 addition. It is part of a complex of related structures. These structures occupy three city blocks. They sit along East 17th Avenue at the base of the tower.
The Mile High Tower’s core is I. M. Pei’s Mile High Center. It is located at 1700 Broadway. This site once housed Capitol Hill developer Henry C. Brown’s mansion. Later, silver king Horace A. W. Tabor lived here.
Developer William Zeckendorf originally complained about Pei. He thought Pei “wasted” space. Zeckendorf referred to the exhibition hall, plaza, fountains, pools, and shops. But, Zeckendorf later complimented Pei. He said, “You’ve doubled the equity.”
Pei’s corner tower has interwoven vertical and horizontal panels. The panels covering columns and spandrel beams are dark gray cast aluminum. Panels hiding heating and cooling conduits are off-white porcelain enamel. Pei himself did much of the design work. This was one of his first high-rise commissions.
The Mile High Tower was completed in 1956. It functions as an office building. It stands 89.9 meters tall. That’s about 295 feet. The Mile High Tower has 23 stories. It was renovated in 1984.
Pei’s barrel-vaulted roofs have been replaced. Glazed framed arches now connect the buildings. They echo the beak in Philip Johnson’s taller structure to the east. The new construction presses setbacks to the limit. It sacrifices pedestrian comfort and scale for profitability and size.
Inside the Mile High Tower, an airy, fourteen-story atrium soars. It rises above a bar and restaurant. There are even trees and some in-house sparrows. The interior is finished in opulent materials. These include imported marble and onyx. The various marble claddings are especially lavish. They customize the bank of elevators in the Neo-Renaissance great hall. The glass atrium arcs at the base. This mirrors the arc at the top. The arc dropped accumulated snow and ice on the sidewalks below. Heating coils were later installed.
One of Denver’s first post-war skyscrapers is here. This International Style building originally had a large plaza. It featured a waterfall and pool. When Johnson added the atrium, the entire plaza was lost. This caused consternation among critics.
The office tower is “a pearl of the International Style”. It has survived but much was “vandalized”. It was “marred by the attachment of a vaulted glass lean-to”. This addition was stacked halfway up two sides. This compromised the integrity of the original, free-standing tower.