RSA Battle House Tower

Rsa Battle House Tower
  1. About the RSA Battle House Tower in Mobile
  2. Architect and team
  3. Architectural style
  4. Spaces and uses
  5. Structure and materials

The RSA Battle House Tower is a Contemporary skyscraper designed by TVS Associates, in association with Smith Dalia Architects, and built between 2003 and 2006, for a reported $220 million dollars, in Mobile, AL.

Its precise street address is 11 North Water Street, Mobile, AL. You can also find it on the map here.

Although the RSA Battle House Tower is owned by the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), which is the retirement system for public employees in the state of Alabama, the building is not governmental in the sense of housing state or federal offices. Rather, it is a real estate investment of Alabama's retirement fund.

The base of the tower harmoniously integrates with the historic architecture of the Battle House Hotel, whose classic-style facade contrasts with the modernity of the skyscraper.

Building's timeline

Construction begins
2003
22
Construction completed
2006
19
years ago
2025

Architect and team

TVS Associates was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design, in association with Smith Dalia Architects.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the RSA Battle House Tower a reality:

  • Stanley D. Lindsey & Associates, Ltd. in charge of Structural Engineering
  • Beers Skanska, Inc. as the Main Contractor
  • Thyssen Krupp as the company in charge of the elevators system
  • Retirement Systems of Alabama as the Main Developer
  • HESM&A in charge of MEP Engineering

Architectural Style

The RSA Battle House Tower can be categorized as a Contemporary building.

Contemporary style architecture builds on top of the principles of Modernism and Postmodernism, but incorporates other variables which might not have been that important in the past, but certainly are today, such as technology, sustainability, inclusivity, and others.

From a historical point of view, it is hard to categorize things from a not-so-distant time, and therefore we choose to categorize most buildings built after the year 2000 as "Contemporary". It is possible that as time goes by and we, as a society, gain perspective on the things happening today, we'll be able to look back and recategorize all these buildings into more concrete subsections, some of which might not even exist today.

That being said, and even thought being a contemporary building, probably taking advantage of modern materials, construction techniques, and technology, the design of the RSA Battle House Tower is inspired by the art-deco style.

Spaces & Uses

The RSA Battle House Tower reaches an architectural height of 669ft (204m), 745ft (227m) if you count the antenna. It has a total of 35 floors, served by 30 elevators.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 2006, the RSA Battle House Tower has been a mixed use building. It incorporates 2 main uses, which are commercial, and hotel spaces.

The building is distributed as follows: 3 floors dedicated to the lobby, 4 floors to the hotel, 25 floors to offices, and one service floor. The remaining 2 floors correspond to the illuminated crown and the spire that top the building.

During the construction, the old Battle House Hotel was restored and incorporated into the new building, becoming part of it

 

About the Hotel

The hotel is a 4 stars category hotel, with a total of 238 rooms available to the public. The name of the hotel is The Battle House Renaissance by Marriott Mobile Hotel & Spa. You can learn more about the hotel by visiting their website here.

745ft (227m)
669ft (204m)

Materials & Structure

The RSA Battle House Tower uses a frame structure made of reinforced concrete columns and beams.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade of the building however, is load bearing. This doesn't imply that it is a traditional load-bearing wall. Rather, it means that the structure's exterior pillars have been pushed to the very edges, becoming integrated with the facade, and therefore, technically, a part of it.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features reflective glass with aluminum frames arranged in several bays on each side. These bays are defined by vertical columns clad in light-colored panels, accentuating the building's height.

At the top, a glass and steel spire crowns the building, creating a silhouette reminiscent of the Art Deco masterpiece, the Chrysler Building in NYC. This elaborate crowning illuminates at night, serving as an unmissable beacon in the city's skyline.

At ground level, the entrance is clad in black marble, complemented by a landscaped plaza on the south side.

Other materials found at the RSA Battle House Tower include, makore wood, used for the deep brown panels in the elevators, and white Italian marble, also used in the elevators to contrast with the dark colored wood.

Sources

  • en.wikipedia.org
  • web.archive.org
  • www.mobile.org
  • forum.urbanplanet.org