The Riverplace Tower is a 28-floor office building on the south bank of the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida . At the time of its construction, it was the tallest building in the state of Florida and was the defining landmark in Jacksonville's skyline. On April 18, 2012, the American Institute of Architects 's Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as the Riverplace Tower / Formerly Gulf Life Tower .
20-587: Riverplace or River Place may refer to: Riverplace Tower , a skyscraper in Jacksonville, Florida, United States Riverplace (JTA Skyway) , a JTA Skyway station in Jacksonville, Florida Riverplace, a housing and office complex across from Saint Anthony Main in Minneapolis, Minnesota RiverPlace , a neighborhood located on the waterfront in downtown Portland, Oregon River Place , Detroit Topics referred to by
40-400: A cash offer of $ 9.0 million from Gate Petroleum . Shortly thereafter, Gate began a multimillion-dollar renovation of the entire building and renamed it Riverplace Tower . Building occupancy was 40% when the sale closed; within two years from the completion of the renovation, it had soared to nearly 95% and the building was restored to its former prominence. The banner sign at the top of
60-621: A roof and outer wall structure. In this example there are no supports or visual obstructions inside the structure. Some of the first suspension structures were bridges . The first iron chain suspension bridge in the Western world was the Jacob's Creek Bridge (1801) in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania , designed by inventor James Finley . The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California,
80-408: Is a structure which is supported by cables coming from beams or trusses which sit atop a concrete center column or core. The design allows the walls, roof and cantilevered floors to be supported entirely by cables and a center column. Another type of suspended structure, suspended catenary, uses outer-wall concrete columns angled away from the center with a cable system strung between them suspending
100-424: Is an example of a suspended structure . The building gets structural support from the central core and the external vertical beams, which leaves a more open internal space. There are two tapered columns on each side of the building. Cross beams connect the vertical columns to create a skeleton which allows the cantilevered floors. The concrete grid on the outside of the building is the only support needed to hold up
120-411: Is another example of a suspension structure. Much like the suspended building structure, towers hold the weight and cables support the bridge deck. In the case of suspension bridges, there is "tensional force" transferred to the columns. Minimal interior visual obstruction is a feature of all suspended structure buildings. The architectural method creates a visually striking open space in the interior of
140-470: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Riverplace Tower The Auchter Company , Jacksonville's oldest general construction contractor, built the 542,000 ft Gulf Life Tower for the Gulf Life Insurance Company in 1966. It was designed by the notable architect, Welton Becket and KBJ Architects . When completed in 1967, it
160-838: The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute went through the arduous process of selecting the Seven precast concrete "Wonders". Their choices were: the Department of Housing and Urban Development Headquarters in Washington, D.C.; Gulf Life Tower in Jacksonville; Disney World Monorail in Orlando, TransAmerica Pyramid in San Francisco; Aurora Justice Facility and Municipal Center in Aurora, Colorado; Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Tampa Bay, Florida; and
180-625: The Blue Cross-Blue Shield Parking Structure in North Haven, Connecticut. According to an Architecture article in Time Magazine , "(the) Gulf Life, placed in a shoddy, chaotic part of Jacksonville, is a tonic for its area, acts as an organizing beacon. And the bold Alcoa building …makes a positive contribution to San Francisco. Both buildings thus achieve excellence." Suspended structure A suspended structure
200-539: The building on October 31, 2014 to CFLC Replace LLC in Glen Allen, Virginia for $ 29.0 million. The building was sold on December 1, 2016 to LCP Riverplace LLC in Glen Allen, Virginia for $ 53.4 million. The building was sold on December 22, 2021 to 1301 Riverplace Owner, LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut for $ 73.2 million. The structural system consists of precast concrete floor plates and a poured concrete core. The building
220-523: The building originally displayed "Gulf Life" in 1967. After Gulf Life was acquired by American General in 1991, it was changed to "SouthTrust", and the structure was known as the SouthTrust Building . When SouthTrust and Wachovia merged in 2005, "Wachovia" signage was installed, but it was removed January 22, 2011. Since 1968 until its closure in 2016, the University Club of Jacksonville occupied
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#1732869710800240-508: The building's top floor. There were approximately 1,300 members: business executives of both genders; older, long-term associates; and young professionals. The private club was available to members and their guests, or ClubCorp affiliates. The facility was a hub for networking and entertaining clients, as well as providing conference rooms and offices for conducting business in private. The club also offered two full service athletic facilities; one co-ed and one for men only. Gate Petroleum sold
260-518: The center column, cables are used to support the roof system and the walls. Cables run down from the top of the tower to support floors. The external skeleton of the structure is a type of curtain wall which also is supported by cables. Suspended structures often allow much light to enter, because of the unobstructed interior. An example of a catenary -shaped suspended structure is the Eero Saarinen designed Dulles International Airport . The roof of
280-417: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Riverplace . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Riverplace&oldid=1059676105 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
300-483: The structure is made up of suspension cable which stretches across angled concrete columns. In the design of Dulles airport, the floor, the columns and the roof all work together to allow the walls and ceiling to float. This leaves a large open space for the building. The Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo is an example of a cable suspended structure. The roof system is a large span and the structure has been called "one of
320-406: The structure, leaving the interior completely available for use. Each of the exposed beams consist of fourteen precast units held together with high strength post-tensioned steel cables. The beams cantilever 42 feet from the columns as they taper upward and inward. The color of the concrete façade comes from White quartz sand and white cement bonded to the surface. The Gate River Run Hall of Fame
340-401: The structure. The load for the suspended structure is either a suspended catenary or is supported by truss-work carrying the weight of the building through a building core. Suspended structures of the center column type utilize high-strength cable to suspend or support the floors. In some cases beams are cantilevered out from the concrete column at the center of the building. From the top of
360-529: Was established in 2002 and is permanently located on the concourse level. Memorabilia from the event, which began in 1978, is on display, and a five-minute video gives visitors an overview of the race. Plaques for each of the 12 persons inducted into the HOF are on display. Savour is a public restaurant located on the second floor of the tower, and it offers an excellent view of the river and northbank through its glass, north-facing wall. In honor of its 50th anniversary,
380-505: Was merged into American General Life of Houston in 1991 and the Jacksonville Gulf Life Tower was unneeded and destined to be sold. American General wanted $ 30 million, but the building was 24 years old and no longer a class "A" property. Several prospective buyers looked at the building, but the property stayed on the market for more than two years. For tax reasons, American General was desperate to sell during 1993 and accepted
400-551: Was the tallest precast, post-tensioned concrete structure in the world. It remained Florida's tallest for five years until Miami's One Biscayne Tower was constructed in 1972. It was Jacksonville's tallest for eight years until the Independent Life Building (now the Wells Fargo Center) was built in 1974. As of 2023, Riverplace Tower is the fifth tallest building in Jacksonville. Gulf Life Insurance Company
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