Fifth Third Center

The Fifth Third Center is a Postmodernist skyscraper designed by Miller & Reeves, and built in 1998 in Columbus, OH.

Its precise street address is 21 East State Street, Columbus, OH. You can also find it on the map here.

The building was added as an extension to the Beggs Building, an Art Deco high-rise originally constructed in 1928. The Fifth Third Center was constructed on the adjacent lot in a complementary design and the two buildings were joined to form a single structure.

The building underwent a major restoration between 2020 and 2023. The architect commissioned to undertake this restoration was NBBJ .

Miller & Reeves was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

The Fifth Third Center can be categorized as a Postmodernist building.

The Fifth Third Center was completed in 1998. By 1998 the Postmodernism movement was experiencing a transition. Critics argued that Postmodernism, initially a rebellious and innovative style, had become formulaic and commercialized, and so the trend started moving away from blending historical styles, irony, and playful ornamentation, and begun to give way to emerging architectural trends concerned with more present matters such as technology, ecology or sustainability.

The Fifth Third Center uses a frame structure made of 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.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features terra cotta and blue-tinted glass. The reflective blue glass gives the building a sense of modernity, while the terra cotta provides a more antique feel. The terra cotta panels feature ornamental patterns on spandrels and cornices, linking the new building with the art-deco history of the preexisting structure.