Rainier Tower, Modernist skyscraper in downtown Seattle, United States
Rainier Tower is a 41-story skyscraper completed in 1977, rising from an 11-story concrete pedestal that tapers inward toward the ground. Above the flared base, the shaft is clad in pale stone or concrete with closely spaced vertical fins and dark recessed window strips. The base covers only 25 percent of the footprint of the upper floors.
Architect Minoru Yamasaki completed this tower in 1977 for Rainier Bank, drawing on design principles he developed while creating the World Trade Center in New York. Its construction marked a shift in how Seattle approached downtown development and urban architecture.
Seattle residents call it the "Beaver Building" because the tapered base looks like a trunk gnawed by a beaver; some also call it the "golf tee." The tower and the former underground Rainier Square mall took their name from Rainier Bank, merged into Security Pacific in the 1980s and later into Bank of America. The University of Washington renamed it back to Rainier Tower in 1995.
The tower stands at 1301 Fifth Avenue, on the block bounded by Fifth Avenue, Union Street and Fourth Avenue, across from the IBM Building. The tapered pedestal leaves the sidewalk open beneath the overhang, so the base can be walked around and viewed from below. The underground Rainier Square mall was demolished in 2017, so there is no longer a shopping level to visit.
The inverted pyramid shape was a rare architectural innovation when completed, designed to maximize usable space on a constrained city lot. This unusual geometry demonstrates how architects solved practical limitations through creative structural design rather than conventional approaches.
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