First Interstate Center

The First Interstate Center is a Modern Style skyscraper designed in 1983 by The Opus Grup, and built between 1984 and 1985, for a reported $20.0 million dollars, in Billings, MT.

First Interstate Center is not the only name you might know this building by though. The building is, or has also been known as First Interstate Tower.

Its precise street address is 401 North 31st Street, Billings, MT. You can also find it on the map here.

The First Interstate Center is the tallest of four buildings that make up The Transwestern Plaza complex..

The Opus Grup was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

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 First Interstate Center a reality:

• Joel Long as the Main Developer
• Mike Capser as the collaborating Artist

The First Interstate Center 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 So that's not to say the First Interstate Center appeared old or outdated when it was completed, but The Opus Grup certainly did not take many risks when it came to choosing the design style.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 First Interstate Center uses a framed tube-in-tube structure , with steel columns and concrete and steel slabs.

A framed tube-in-tube structure uses a central core, known as inner tube, which usually holds stairs, lifts and installations, and a perimeter of columns around it, which form the exterior tube. The interior tube is tipically more massive (often made of reinforced concrete), and the exterior tube is "lighter" (made of steel or concrete columns). Both tubes are conencted via horizontal elements which make up the floors and also transmit any horizontal froces from the facade to the core.

The facade employs a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame at the edges of the floor slabs. The perimeter columns are set back slightly from the facade, allowing them to remain independent of the curtain wall system.

This configuration enables a completely free design of the curtain wall, unencumbered by structural elements, thus providing greater flexibility in aesthetic choices and maximizing the visual impact of the exterior.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features reflective glass floor-to-ceiling windows with thin aluminum frames divided into two panes, a short one at the bottom acting as the spandrel, and larger ones above it.

The terrace crown, where the mechanical rooms are located, is finished with taller panels made of the same material.