IBM Building, Office building in Ward Village, Honolulu, United States

The IBM Building at 1240 Ala Moana Boulevard is a roughly cube-shaped office block whose upper floors are wrapped in a concrete brise soleil of projecting vertical fins, lit magenta in the photograph and set above a recessed base of dark glass. Designed by Vladimir Ossipoff, it opened in 1962 with 61,961 square feet of space.

IBM announced the building on February 29, 1960, and construction began by July 1961 under architect Vladimir Ossipoff, with Hawaiian Dredging & Construction as contractor for Victoria Ward Limited. It opened in 1962 at 1240 Ala Moana Boulevard and was dedicated on October 10, 1962, with Governor William F. Quinn speaking. General Growth Properties bought the site in 2002 and proposed demolition in 2008; public backlash saved it, and Howard Hughes Corporation, which bought the area in 2010, renovated it into a Ward Village sales center that reopened on January 25, 2014.

The outer shell carries a pattern that recalls punch cards from early computing machines while also drawing on motifs from Pacific island traditions. This dual reference appears in the geometric arrangement of the concrete elements, which merge both technical and regional design ideas.

The building now serves as an information and sales center for the Ward Village development project and can be visited during regular business hours. The ground floor is directly accessible from the sidewalk and offers an overview of the planned residential projects in the area.

The continuous concrete grille fulfills several functions at once by blocking direct sunlight, preventing water accumulation, and deterring birds from nesting on the facade. This technical solution arose from the need to adapt the building to the tropical climate of Hawaii without relying on mechanical shading.