First Hawaiian Center

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For First Hawaiian Tower on 1132 Bishop Street in Honolulu, see Hawaii Pacific University.

First Hawaiian Center is the tallest building in Hawaiʻi. Located at 999 Bishop Street in downtown Honolulu near Bishop Park, the First Hawaiian Center is the world corporate headquarters of First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaiʻi's oldest bank and multi-billion dollar company established by Charles Reed Bishop, consort of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.

First Hawaiian Center features the 24,000 square feet (2,200 m²) of open plaza, park space and waterways in the middle of downtown Honolulu's financial district cityscape of towering commercial buildings and congested streets. It is within walking distance of the Aliʻiōlani Hale, Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace, Hawaiʻi State Capitol and ʻIolani Palace. Considered a "unique marriage of commerce and the arts," First Hawaiian Center features three floors devoted to the Contemporary Museum for an art gallery of local Hawaiian works.

1 Development
2 Architecture
3 See also
4 Resources

[edit] Development

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First Hawaiian Center was completed and opened in 1996 by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Hawaiian Bank Walter A. Dods, Jr. With over 645,834 square feet (60,000 m²) of space and a height of 429 feet (131 m), the building cost over USD $175 million to construct. The architects were from the firm Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates, famous for building Sothebys's Worldwide Headquarters and the World Bank Headquarters. They are currently building the Shanghai World Financial Center, Shanghai's tallest building when completed.

[edit] Architecture

First Hawaiian Center planning was met with controversy as Hawaiʻi residents became concerned about the effect skyscrapers would have on the natural beauty of the Hawaiian landscape. Architects compromised with the use of Hawaiian architectural principles used in most contemporary Honolulu urban projects like those employed by architects of the Hawaiʻi Convention Center. Metaphoric designs were used in reference to natural phenomena found in Hawaiʻi.

Two distinct architectural forms resulted in the compromise, one for the makai side facing the ocean and one for the mauka side facing the mountains. Horizontally louvered windows framed views of the sea and the horizon while vertically proportioned windows faced the mountains. A great deal of effort was made to incorporate as much natural light into the building interiors.