One Nationwide Plaza

One Nationwide Plaza is a 40-story skyscraper in Columbus, Ohio that serves as the corporate office headquarters of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company. It is part of the complex of buildings known as Nationwide Plaza.

One Nationwide Plaza
General information
StatusComplete
LocationColumbus, Ohio
Coordinates39.968462°N 83.002449°W / 39.968462; -83.002449
Completed1977

Nationwide outgrew its 246 North High Street Building by the 1970s and work began on a new headquarters for the company. In 1977, the 485 ft-tall (148 m) building was completed. The building is located at the corner of N. High Street and what is now Nationwide Blvd. on the northern edge of downtown Columbus, Ohio.

Design

The building was designed by Brubaker/Brandt (the same firm that designed Rhodes State Office Tower, the tallest building in Columbus) and Harrison & Abramovitz.[1] The façade is dark vertical steel ribs bordered by white limestone ends (akin to the World Trade Center) and follows the modernist style. Blue spotlights light the exterior at night, mimicking the blue box logo of Nationwide Mutual Insurance. In December the interior lights are set so that it reads "happy holidays" to observers of the building, with thematic messages similarly displayed during other holidays and special events. The glass elevator on the side of the building is an express elevator, skipping most office floors, that once went up to a restaurant on the 38th floor of the building, called One Nation. One Nation lasted many years, but closed in 1997, and the glass elevator is permanently out of service.

One Nationwide Plaza was the first of several buildings known collectively as Nationwide Plaza:

  • One Nationwide Plaza, completed in 1977
  • 280 Plaza (also known as Two Nationwide), completed in 1981
  • Three Nationwide Plaza, completed in 1988
  • Four Nationwide Plaza (215 N Front St), bought in 1998 [2]
  • 10 W. Nationwide Blvd, completed in December 2012

Other elements at Nationwide Plaza include Dean Jeffers Park and its decorative fountains, titled Nationwide Fountain.

Under construction, 1977
Exterior elevator
Holiday lights

References
  1. http://www.emporis.com/application/?nav=building&id=1nationwideplaza-columbus-oh-usa
  2. http://apps.franklincountyauditor.com/ParcelSheet/010-024396-00
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