Founders Tower, Skyscraper in Oklahoma City, United States
Founders Tower is a 275-foot (84 m) cylindrical skyscraper of 20 floors northwest of downtown Oklahoma City. Its ten-faced facade measures 92 feet (28 m) across up to the 19th floor and widens to 108 feet (33 m) at the 20th, where a folded-plate concrete roof forms a zigzag crown and leaves the restaurant floor free of load-bearing columns. Cantilever balconies sit at the vertices from floors 3 to 14, with wider balconies from 15 to 19.
The building was constructed in 1964 by United Founders Life Insurance Corporation as an office space. In 2006, it underwent a major renovation to convert it into residential units.
The tower's name comes from United Founders Life Insurance Corporation, which built it and kept offices there. Its Googie design, inspired by the Space Needle and Frank Lloyd Wright's Price Tower, was meant to draw attention to a site then surrounded by mostly rural land. The restaurant on the 20th floor, now The George Prime Steakhouse, no longer revolves.
Founders Tower stands northwest of downtown Oklahoma City, not in the centre, so reaching it means a short drive from the central business district. The tower is a private condominium building; the 20th-floor restaurant space, once revolving, is not open to the public as an observation deck. Visitors mainly see the structure from outside, where the turquoise glass and zigzag crown are visible from the surrounding streets.
The top floor originally housed one of only a few revolving restaurants in US office buildings, with panoramic views of the skyline. This restaurant is no longer operating but reflects the building's ambitious early use.
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