Chase Tower

The Chase Tower is a Modern Style skyscraper designed by Welton Becket & Associates, in association with Guirey, Srnka, Arnold, & Sprinkle, and built between 1970 and 1972 in Phoenix, AZ.

Chase Tower is not the only name you might know this building by though. It is common for companies to want to attach their names to iconic buildings when they move in, or for the general public to come up with nicknames, and this one is no exception. The building has changed names several times over the years, and is also known as:

• Valley National Bank Building between 1972 and 1992.
• Valley Bank Center between 1993 and 2005.
• Chase Tower from 2005 until this day.

Its precise street address is 201 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ. You can also find it on the map here.

The tower originally included a public observation area on the 39th floor, but it was closed during several redevelopments. Today the highest accesibe floor is the 38th.

Welton Becket & Associates was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design, in association with Guirey, Srnka, Arnold, & Sprinkle.

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 at the very least we know that there was one other part involved, that was Henry C. Beck Company as the Main Contractor.

The Chase Tower can be categorized as a Modern Style building.

By their own nature, the Modern and International Styles can still look current, even in contemporary buildings. So that's not to say the Chase Tower appeared old or outdated when it was completed, but Welton Becket & Associates certainly did not take many risks when it came to choosing the design style. This made the building look more "classic" and integrated within the city's architecture.

The Chase Tower uses a frame structure made of steel columns and steel and concrete slabs.

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 uses a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame, typically by being attached to the edge of the floor slabs. The curtain wall system connects to the slabs using brackets, anchors, and mullions, which transfer the loads imposed by wind and temperature changes, to the building's primary structural elements.

This setup allows the curtain wall to accommodate differential movement between the facade and the structural frame, such as thermal expansion, floor deflection, or sway from wind forces. This system's integration with the slab edges also allows for continuous insulation and weatherproofing layers.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features a dark-tinted glass curtain wall with white frames.

From a volumetric point of view the building is made up of 4 volumes. 3 of these volumes utilize the mentioned curtain wall, while the fourth, which also works as the building's core, housing stairs and elevators, is clad in light-colored concrete panels.