NEW CONSTRUCTION / CITATION

Entry Name: First National Bank at Metro Crossing, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Firm: RDG Planning & Design
Owner(s): First National Bank
Photographer: Tom Kessler

Located directly off an interstate, nestled between river casinos and strip malls, the building seeks to strike a balance with the surrounding area. The architects employed a 160 foot point supported glass cavity wall that is internally lit with colored RGB LED’s. Patterns of local prairies grass and flowers shine through the glass, attempting to ground the building to it’s site.

The owners sought to use the building as a billboard, which led to the lit glass wall solution, while keeping the rest of the structure relatively tame to blend in with the surrounding strip mall architecture it is made of brick and stucco.

Jury Comments: A bank on a commercial strip starts with a big idea that both organizes the plan and sets the material tone of the project. The overscale glass fin slices through the building mass, and then reappears within to set the palette for interior spaces.